The
family of a construction worker killed while building a Florida State
University dorm last summer has filed a wrongful death suit against the
university and his employer.
Plumber Travis Miller, 25, was killed Jul 28, 2014 after he was crushed in a materials elevator at the Woodward Avenue construction site where a new FSU dormitory complex was being built.
His family’s attorney Sidney Matthew contends that the construction contractors and supervisors and FSU were negligent in boarding up the exposed window of the elevator. Matthew said they all had a duty to ensure a safe work site or advise a third party of unsafe conditions.
Culpepper Construction Company, Benchmark Erectors, Fleck Exterior, Miller’s Plumbing and Mechanical, the FSU Board of Trustees and shift supervisors are named in the suit, which is seeking damages in excess of the $15,000 jurisdictional limit.
When he was crushed, Miller was seated on the edge of a window opening near the the elevator, which carries supplies and people up the exterior of the building and is dismantled when the job is over.
In his court filing Tuesday, Matthew points to deviations from established safety plans and Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations in creating barriers between workers and open window and floor openings on job sites.
He said the absence of those barriers, which led to Miller’s death, comes down to two different scenarios.
“It’s a conscious disregard for putting up the guards and the barriers from the get-go or someone removed the guards and barriers and did not replace them,” Matthew said. “There appears to be some evidence for both.”
All four companies were cited by OSHA, which issued citations for serious and willful safety violations and could come with fines totaling $150,000.
Culpepper Construction Co. and Miller’s Plumbing were issued citations for willful safety violations, while Benchmark Erectors and Fleck Exterior were issued serious citations for exposing their employees to the same hazard but were not connected to Miller’s death.
“Culpepper and Miller’s management acknowledged workers were exposed to a serious safety hazard, but failed to ensure all four sides adjacent to the material hoist structure were protected adequately,” said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA’s area director in Jacksonville at the time of the citations. “The employers’ inaction and lack of commitment to a safe workplace has caused this tragic loss.”
In the initial FSU Police Department report of the incident, Culpepper employee and elevator operator Roger Bentley told officers he was lowering the elevator for the last time before lunch and stopped three times on the way down because of a “weird feeling that told him to stop the elevator,” prior to it crushing Miller, the report says.
He told police he had seen people leaning in the window in the past and scolded them to stay away because it was not safe, the police report said. The area was normally covered but had been unbarricaded when window contractors started framing the window a month before Miller’s death.
Calls to Culpepper for comment were not returned Wednesday.
Matthew said Miller’s parents are still shaken by their son’s death, but hope it goes toward making a better work environment for others.
“It’s the worst experience that any parents can go through,” Matthew said. “The purpose of this is to bring transparency and accountability so that this does not happen to other people. His life needs to stand for something, and their needs to be attention given to the issue of safety.”
Plumber Travis Miller, 25, was killed Jul 28, 2014 after he was crushed in a materials elevator at the Woodward Avenue construction site where a new FSU dormitory complex was being built.
His family’s attorney Sidney Matthew contends that the construction contractors and supervisors and FSU were negligent in boarding up the exposed window of the elevator. Matthew said they all had a duty to ensure a safe work site or advise a third party of unsafe conditions.
Culpepper Construction Company, Benchmark Erectors, Fleck Exterior, Miller’s Plumbing and Mechanical, the FSU Board of Trustees and shift supervisors are named in the suit, which is seeking damages in excess of the $15,000 jurisdictional limit.
When he was crushed, Miller was seated on the edge of a window opening near the the elevator, which carries supplies and people up the exterior of the building and is dismantled when the job is over.
In his court filing Tuesday, Matthew points to deviations from established safety plans and Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations in creating barriers between workers and open window and floor openings on job sites.
He said the absence of those barriers, which led to Miller’s death, comes down to two different scenarios.
“It’s a conscious disregard for putting up the guards and the barriers from the get-go or someone removed the guards and barriers and did not replace them,” Matthew said. “There appears to be some evidence for both.”
All four companies were cited by OSHA, which issued citations for serious and willful safety violations and could come with fines totaling $150,000.
Culpepper Construction Co. and Miller’s Plumbing were issued citations for willful safety violations, while Benchmark Erectors and Fleck Exterior were issued serious citations for exposing their employees to the same hazard but were not connected to Miller’s death.
“Culpepper and Miller’s management acknowledged workers were exposed to a serious safety hazard, but failed to ensure all four sides adjacent to the material hoist structure were protected adequately,” said Brian Sturtecky, OSHA’s area director in Jacksonville at the time of the citations. “The employers’ inaction and lack of commitment to a safe workplace has caused this tragic loss.”
In the initial FSU Police Department report of the incident, Culpepper employee and elevator operator Roger Bentley told officers he was lowering the elevator for the last time before lunch and stopped three times on the way down because of a “weird feeling that told him to stop the elevator,” prior to it crushing Miller, the report says.
He told police he had seen people leaning in the window in the past and scolded them to stay away because it was not safe, the police report said. The area was normally covered but had been unbarricaded when window contractors started framing the window a month before Miller’s death.
Calls to Culpepper for comment were not returned Wednesday.
Matthew said Miller’s parents are still shaken by their son’s death, but hope it goes toward making a better work environment for others.
“It’s the worst experience that any parents can go through,” Matthew said. “The purpose of this is to bring transparency and accountability so that this does not happen to other people. His life needs to stand for something, and their needs to be attention given to the issue of safety.”