Lawmakers Should Call HB 2011 What It Is: The West Virginia Worker Murder Bill
February 3, 2015
Charleston, W.Va. – The West Virginia Association for Justice today criticized the West Virginia Legislature for pushing HB 2011, which gives immunity to employers who knowingly risk the lives and safety of their workers—even when because their worksites violate governmental and industry safety standards. House Judiciary counsel admitted Monday that the draft legislation is so egregious that the burden of proof for one of these claims is higher than for first degree murder.
“In a state where thousands have been injured and killed on the job, it is outrageous that the West Virginia Legislature would even consider a bill that provides immunity to companies who risk the lives of their workers. As bad as that is, it is inconceivable that this legislature would back a bill that lets a corporation get away with murder because that’s what this bill is going to do,” said Anthony Majestro, president of the West Virginia Association for Justice.
“Our entire justice system is based on personal responsibility. If you murder someone with a gun, you get life in jail. If an employer knowingly violates the law and 10 workers are killed, that person should be held accountable too, but under this the company and its leaders get off and the families are left with nothing. It's wrong. No worker will be safe and no company will held accountable.”
“Now we know what was behind the millions of dollars corporate special interests funneled into this state to buy themselves our state legislature—a get out of jail free card and a bump in corporate profits when they don’t have to compensate the West Virginians who’ve been hurt or the families of those they’ve killed.”
Under current West Virginia law, all employers have a responsibility to ensure that their facilities and work sites meet written federal and state safety standards as well as written standards for that particular industry. A worker who is injured or killed on the job as the result of being exposed to known unsafe working conditions can file a deliberate intent/exposure claim. All state deliberate intent claims must meet a strict five-part test:
1. A specific, unsafe working condition exists which presents risk of serious injury or death;
2. The specific, unsafe working condition is a violation or contradictory to federal, state or written industry safe workplace rules and regulations;
3. The employer through its management knows the unsafe working condition exists and the risks that it presents;
4. The employer nevertheless exposes the employee to the unsafe working condition; and
5. The employee is injured or killed.
When presented to the jury, each juror must agree that each of the five elements has been met. If any juror finds that one of these elements does not exist, there is no claim and the case fails. Given West Virginia’s long history of on-the-job injuries, particularly in the coal mines, the availability of deliberate intent claims is a crucial tool to hold companies accountable for unsafe practices.
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