MTA Board OKs $6-Million Settlement in Man’s Death
In closed session Thursday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors approved a $6-million settlement of a lawsuit filed by the family of Jaime Pasillas, a subway construction worker killed last year in Hollywood. The MTA is liable for $2 million; the rest will be paid by the agency’s insurance carrier.
“Witnesses have testified that it was a policy of the MTA to place the accelerated production schedule for completion of the Red Line ahead of the safety of workers in the tunnels,” according to a report by MTA attorneys.
“Investigation has revealed that the MTA’s oversight of [contractor Tutor-Saliba-Perini] at the job site was lax and that inspection in the tunnels by MTA personnel was infrequent,” says the report.
Pasillas, 52, was crushed to death by a refuse container filled with more than two tons of material. The bin broke free of a chain as it was being hauled out of a Hollywood subway tunnel and struck him.
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