JUNE 22, 2015
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU)
The restaurant where a woman was killed in a dumbwaiter late last year has agreed to pay a reduced fine after a government investigation.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the WingDam Saloon & Grill on N. Shore Drive in Fountain City recently agreed to pay $5,000.
It did not contest a fine that OSHA had proposed, but requested an informal conference on the matter.
An OSHA representative met with the company, and the two sides entered into a settlement agreement.
OSHA had proposed a $7,000 fine for the business in May. A report from OSHA said the food elevator at the business "was not equipped with mechanical locks and electric contacts on the hoistway access door."
It went on to say that would have been to keep the car in the machine from moving while employees reached inside to load and unload items.
A Fountain City police report shows that Brooke Baures, 21, of Chetek died of severe head trauma and that her brainstem and left cerebellum were destroyed.
The Winona State University student was working as a bartender for a banquet at the saloon on December 1, 2014 when the accident happened.
Crews permanently removed the food elevator days after Baures was killed. Police said there was no crime involved.
A payment plan that OSHA laid out called for the business to pay $3,000 Tuesday and the other $2,000 at the end of July.