Catalina Estillado was killed by her employer, ABC Polymer Industries LLC.
The case, highlighted by a wrongful-death claim by her surviving spouse, Crescencio Pablo, points to willful misconduct by Estillado’s coworkers, who allegedly removed safety measures on critical machinery. This incident raises profound questions about workplace safety and employer responsibility.
Estillado’s fatal accident occurred while operating machinery designed to be safeguarded with specific safety features, including a security gate electronically linked to a slowdown mechanism. The original design of the equipment, as per Marco Faré’s deposition, included a “security gate or safety gate” that, when raised, would slow down the machine to a safer operational speed.
However, former employee of ABC Poly Industries, William Durall removed the safety feature, and trained the employees to bypass the safety mechanisms.
The absence of these safety features due to tampering significantly increased the risk of accident, leading to Estillado’s death by “multiple blunt force injuries” as stated in the OSHA report.
The negligence highlighted by the removal of the security gate underscores a critical lapse in workplace safety enforcement and machinery maintenance.
This case led to a $3 million judgment against Estillado’s coworkers, which Durall would later appeal.