The district attorney's office in Santa Clara County, Calif., recently announced that a grand jury had indicted the owner of a construction company, a manager at the company, and the company itself on charges of felony involuntary manslaughter stemming from the death of an employee after a stop-work
notice was disregarded.

Worksite safety measures can seem burdensome, annoying, unnecessary. But ignoring them sometimes have tragic outcomes for workers, along with serious ramifications for those who choose to break the rules.

Such was the case in Santa Clara County in California where in 2012 a dirt wall cave-in at a residential construction site led to the death of a 38-year-old employee of general contractor, U.S.-Sino Investment Inc. Recently a grand jury indicted the company owner and the project's manager for felony involuntary manslaughter.

According to the Santa Clara County district attorney, the victim Raul Zapata Mercado was killed by the collapse of a 12-foot dirt wall on a hillside property in Milpitas. Three days prior to his death, a city building inspector gave a stop-work notice to site supervisor Dan Luo due to the potential dangers caused by several days of rain. In spite of the notice, work continued at the site.

Luo, 36, was arraigned on August 11 and a $1,000,000 arrest warrant was issued for the company's owner and CEO, Richard Liu, 52, who is believed to be in China. In addition, the Freemont-based construction company was named as a defendant. The two individuals face a maximum sentence of three years in prison. U.S. Sino faces a fine of up to $1,500,000 for labor code violations.

"What happened to Raul Zapata Mercado was not an accident, it was a crime," states District Attorney Jeff Rosen. "This case is about what happens when construction companies cut corners on safety. Workplace safety is not an option."

Even though excavation permits are generally required for projects in which people will be working in trenches or excavations that are five feet or more deep or high, no such permit was obtained for the U.S.-Sino project in question.

Mercado is survived by his wife and three children.