OSHA Fines Wal-Mart $7k for Trampling Death of Seasonal Employee
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OSHA has fined Wal Mart $7,000 for the December 2009 trampling death of Jdimytai Damour. Mr. Damour was a temporary/seasonal security guard at a Wal Mart store located in Long Island. The AP reported that he had been on the job for about a week, when he was knocked to the ground by overzealous shoppers and trampled to death, after opening the doors to the store on Black Friday.
OSHA explained that the fine issued to the store was the maximum allowed for insufficient crowd control. The incident occurred on November 28, 2008. Negotiations against the large retailer took approximately five months.
Frank Eltman, writer for the AP provided that:
The Nassau Country District Attorney, Kathleen Rice announced in earlier this month that its office was ending its investigation against the Wal-Mart since the company agreed to establish a $400,000 fund for victims of the Black Friday incident and to give $1.5 million to various local non-profit groups. Wal Mart also agreed to improve its crowd management at post-Thanksgiving sales.
Andrew Libo, an attorney representing Mr. Damour's family in a lawsuit against the retailer, called OSHA's citation "a step in the right direction with regard to holding irresponsible corporations accountable for their actions."
Initial reports of the incident provide that the Wal-Mart employees had formed a human chain at the front of the store in an effort to slow down the massive rush of people, which clearly did not work.
The father of the victim has expressed his disappointment with the DA's decision to settle with the retailer. The family's wrongful death claim is still pending.