University of Notre Dame Fined For Student Death

Thursday, August 2, 2012

University of Notre Dame Fined For Student Death

Written by Malman Law, reviewed by Steve J. Malman.

According to the Chicago Sun Times, “The state of Indiana has found that the University of Notre Dame did not maintain safe working conditions when a student died as he filmed football practice from a hydraulic lift that toppled in extreme high winds.”

The student, Declan Sullivan, was a 20-year old junior film student. He died in October of last year when wind gusts exceeding 50 mph cause the hydraulic lift he was filming on to fall over.

The University of Notre Dame will be fined $77,500 for five violations. These violations include failure to have the hydraulic lift inspected regularly and failure to properly train the student on how to use the equipment. Additionally, the machine was missing both a service manual and appropriate warnings.

Chicago injury lawyers may suggest that it should have been the responsibility of the university to ensure that proper safety procedures were followed when using the hydraulic lift and that no unsafe conditions existed on the premise that could cause serious injury, illness, or death. It is also unfortunate that there may not have been appropriate warnings regarding the instability of the apparatus when exposed to high winds or inclement weather.