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Dive brief:
- The estate of late steelworker Samantha Deschenes has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Portland, Ore.-based Andersen Construction after Deschenes’ job transfer, according to the June 10 complaint filed in U.S. Circuit Court Multnomah County in Oregon.
- The complaint was filed by Deschenes’ mother, Carol Ruvolo. It alleges that Deschenes was working on the Benson Polytechnic High School modernization project in Portland on May 30 when a forklift rolled over her. The machine caught and crushed her, and she was rushed to the hospital for surgery on a ruptured aorta. Despite the surgeons’ best efforts, Deschenes suffered an irretrievable lack of oxygen and life support was withdrawn on June 1.
- Ruvolo and Deschenes’ estate are seeking approximately $25.5 million in damages for violations of the Oregon Safe Employment Act, state workplace safety laws and for the negligence that allegedly led to Deschenes’ death, according to the complaint .
Diving knowledge:
Deschenes, at the time of the accident, was a union ironworker employed by Tigard, Ore.-based REFA Erection, a subcontractor of Andersen Construction on the Benson project, according to the complaint. She was 33 years old.
The complaint alleges that Andersen was negligent in its security efforts and failed to protect its employees. Specifically, plaintiffs allege that Andersen:
- Failed to adopt and implement policies and procedures to prevent impact incidents like the one that killed Deschenes. In 2022, 149 construction workers died after fatal contact with objects or equipmentaccording to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- There have not been adequate personnel at Benson’s workplace to properly monitor and supervise the work.
- It has failed to enforce its own policies regarding the operation of forklifts and equipment.
“Every accident on a construction site is preventable, and that’s especially true with a general contractor like Andersen. This death should never have happened,” said Joe Piucci, an attorney with Piucci Law who is representing the plaintiffs.
Andersen Construction is one of the largest construction companies in Oregon, according to reports from the Daily Journal of Commerce in Portland. Major projects completed by its Portland office include the original downtown Hilton Hotel, the Kaiser Westside Medical Center and the Cosmopolitan Tower, according to the firm’s website.
Andersen Construction declined to comment.
