Update [Octobe 22, 2014]: The worker who was killed in this accident was identified as Darwin Reimer, 51, who was from Gillette.
GILLETTE, WY — One man was killed after an accident that happened at the Peabody Energy’s North Antelope Rochelle Mine just outside Gillette, Wyoming on Saturday, October 18th, 2014. The news from KOATV said that the accident happened late Saturday evening.
Authorities with details of the accident say that one person was killed when the truck he was driving crashed at the mine. The news said that the truck drove over a high wall or incline.
The victim in the accident was ejected from the truck in the crash and was killed.
No other injuries were detailed in the news.
This is the second death this year at the same mine, and officials from the Mine Safety and Health Association are helping with the investigation.
Scene of the Accident
Commentary:
The news report mentioned specifically that the victim in this accident was a contractor, and the question I have revolves around the vehicle he was driving at the time of the accident. Did this truck belong to the company the victim worked for, or did it belong to the company he was contracting for? This may seem like an inconsequential detail, but the answer has the potential to alter the way this accident is handled, legally speaking.
If this contractor was in a vehicle owned and operated by his own company, then this will probably be considered a work accident, and the only recourse would be workers compensation, which is generally very binding. Because victims waive their right to sue, disputing whatever amount amount your employer decides to give you is a very, very difficult process. On the other hand, if the truck was owned and operated by another company, or he was asked to do something with the vehicle by another company that is outside the normal scope of his job, then workers’ compensation may not apply, and this could be considered a ‘negligence’ claim against whatever company was operating the vehicle. At
At the end of the day, if there are multiple companies working at the same site, the technicalities of handling an accident like this are going to be complicated at best. While I can only speak for the labor laws in Texas, workers’ compensation claims are often unnecessarily complex, and I’ve found that they’re usually designed to benefit the employer more than the employee. I have more thoughts on workers comp claims than I have space or time to talk about, but to summarize, I don’t think that workers’ comp gives employees a fair shake.
— Grossman Law Offices
