D.A. Files Charges in Subway Worker’s Death

The district attorney’s office Friday charged an employee of the prime contractor on Los Angeles’ Metro Rail subway project with state labor code violations in connection with last year’s death of a worker on the multibillion-dollar construction job.

In an action said to be unrelated to a county grand jury probe of the subway, the district attorney filed a misdemeanor complaint against Robert Carlysle Anderson, 59, of North Hollywood.

The complaint alleges that Anderson, an employee of Tutor-Saliba-Perini, directed the rigging of a load that relied on an unsafe chain and led to the death of Jaime Pasillas one year ago today.

Pasillas was crushed to death by a refuse bin containing more than 2 tons of material that broke free of a chain as it was being hauled out of a Hollywood subway tunnel. The 52-year-old Los Angeles man was the first of three subway workers killed last year, the first fatalities in the 10-year history of the nation’s largest public works project.

Anderson referred calls about the allegation to his attorney, Paul Lax, who said he had not seen the complaint and declined to comment late Friday.

Company President Ron Tutor also said he had not heard about the charges and would have no comment. He added that Anderson was a night shift supervisor in the tunnel and said that he did not know whether Anderson is still working for the firm.

Last May, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited Tutor-Saliba-Perini for 14 violations of worker safety laws and imposed fines of $70,500. Cal/OSHA concluded that the contractor used a substandard chain.

The district attorney’s office has been investigating the three workers’ deaths and, according to sources, is using the grand jury’s subpoena power in its probe.

The charges against Anderson, however, were said Friday to be unrelated to that grand jury investigation.

The district attorney’s office also made it clear that the criminal complaint was directed solely at one employee’s alleged actions.

“Our action today with regard to the death of Jaime Pasillas only addresses the individual liability of Anderson,” said spokeswoman Victoria Pipkin. “As is the policy of our office, we neither confirm nor deny any ongoing investigation” of the Metro Rail project.

If convicted on all counts, Anderson faces a maximum of five years in jail and fines totaling $375,000, according to the district attorney’s office.

Times staff writer Richard Simon contributed to this story.