San Francisco Printing Firm Execs Charged In Pregnant Worker Death
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS/BCN) - San Francisco prosecutors have filed manslaughter charges against the owner and the manager of a printing company where a pregnant worker was killed in a printing press accident in 2008.
KCBS' Bob Melrose Reports:
The owner and CEO of Digital Pre-Press International, Inc., Sanjay Sakhuja, 52, of Alameda, and the pressroom manager, Alick Yeung, 50, of San Francisco, are expected to surrender to authorities Monday, district attorney's office spokeswoman Erica Derryck said.
Both men are charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and felony violation of a California Occupational Safety and Health Administration statute in which a death occurs.
The company is also charged in the case.
The victim, Margarita Mojica, 26, of Oakland, was crushed to death by a creasing and cutting machine on Jan. 29, 2008.
The accident occurred at the company's facility at 645 Mariposa St. in the Potrero Hill neighborhood as Mojica was preparing the machine for a printing job, according to the district attorney's office.
Prosecutors have alleged that workers at the company were had not been trained to safely operate the machine, and that the machine lacked required safety devices.
Prosecutors said Mojica was crushed when the machine, which functioned like "a giant, mechanized clamshell," suddenly turned on as she was reaching into it.
"The loss of this victim's life and the life of her unborn child are tragedies that never should have occurred," District Attorney Kamala Harris said in a statement.
The penalty for involuntary manslaughter ranges from two to four years in prison, according to the district attorney's office. Fines for violations of the CAL/OSHA code are up to $250,000 per individual and up to $1.5 million for a corporation.
Attorneys for the company were not immediately available for comment.
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