Criminal negligence charges stayed in 2009 workplace death in B.C.’s Toba Inlet

The United Steelworkers Union has expressed disappointment with Crown’s decision to stop prosecuting a workplace death that occurred more than a decade ago.

Sam Fitzpatrick, 24, was killed by a falling boulder in 2009 as he worked on a hydro project near Toba Inlet, north of Powell River, B.C.

After a lengthy investigation, Crown laid negligence charges against the company Peter Kiewit and Sons, as well as construction manager Timothy Rule and crew superintendent Gerald Karjala.

A trial was set to begin later this month, but charges were stayed Tuesday when prosecutors determined the evidence no longer met the charge assessment standard.

Key factors in the decision, according to a document provided by the BC Prosecution Service, included the death of a Crown expert and changes in the anticipated testimony of witnesses.

Pretrial interviews revealed that some witnesses “were not able to recall events with much detail,” according to the document.

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The Crown also said several of their witnesses “remain employed by Kiewit or contracted as consultants and their recollections are limited or self-serving.”

“Cumulatively, these changes mean there is no longer a substantial likelihood of a conviction since the Crown cannot definitively exclude the possibility that the rockfall was a random event originating outside of the work zone.”

The document noted that RCMP did not begin its investigation until December 2014, nearly six years after Fitzpatrick’s death.

Following an investigation, WorkSafeBC handed Kiewit a $250,000 fine in 2011. Kiewit appealed and the fine was lowered to $100,000.

The United Steelworkers say they are extremely disappointed with the decision and vowed to continue to fight on behalf of Fitzpatrick’s family.

“Sam and the Fitzpatrick family deserved justice,” Stephen Hunt, USW district director for Western Canada and the Territories, said in a statement.

“Every worker deserves the right to go to work, be safe and come home to their families at the end of the day. Sam did not have that chance and he was taken away from the world far too early.”