Plea negotiations are continuing on felony charges brought recently against the University of California Board of Regents and UCLA chemistry professor Patrick Harran in connection with a December 2008 laboratory fire that killed Sheri Sangji, a newly hired staff research assistant at UCLA.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court Feb. 2 postponed until March 7 the arraignments of Professor Patrick Harran and the UC Board of Regents.
The delay allows ongoing plea negotiations on three counts each of willfully violating occupational and health safety standards, which resulted in the January 2009 death of the 23-year-old Indian American researcher.
Based on labor code violations, the charges are thought to be the first stemming from an academic lab accident in the US, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Sangji wasn't wearing a protective lab coat or the required protective garments Dec. 29, 2008, when a plastic syringe she was using to transfer t-butyl lithium from a sealed container to another came apart in her hands, spewing a chemical compound that ignites when exposed to air.
She suffered extensive burns over nearly half her body when a synthetic sweater she was wearing caught fire and melted onto her skin. She died 18 days later.
Harran and the UC Regents are charged with failing to correct unsafe or unhealthy conditions in the lab in a timely manner, neglecting to provide appropriate clothing, and inadequate chemical safety training and information.
Harran faces up to 4 1/2 years in prison if convicted. Fines as high as $4.5 million could be imposed on the UC Regents.
The Sangji family and its support group, including the University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America, local union 9119, are urging Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley to vigorously prosecute the case "to the fullest extent of the law."
"UCLA and Patrick Harran should be fully prosecuted for causing Sheri's death," a coalition press statement said.
In the press release, the Sangji family expressed their contention that Harran, Sangji's boss, "ordered her to transfer a highly dangerous chemical using a method contraindicated by the manufacturer of that chemical; did not give her appropriate training, supervision, or proper equipment for that work; did not provide her, or those around her, with any safety training."
"No one present in the laboratory that day was equipped to deal with emergency situations. When the fire started, nobody thought to put Sheri under a water shower. After the incident Patrick Harran engaged in a cover-up, removing chemicals from the laboratory and possibly destroying critical evidence," the Sangji family alleged in the statement.
"No one can erase the agony and suffering Sheri endured, but by allowing a jury to debate the facts of the case, you can bring about accountability and justice, and thereby save other innocent lives," they added.
UCLA officials have responded that the death of Sangji was a tragic accident, but that felony charges are "unwarranted" and "outrageous."
"Since the time of the accident, UCLA has fully cooperated with [Cal/OSHA] and the district attorney's office," the university said in a statement quoted by the Los Angeles Times.
"Cal/OSHA conducted an exhaustive investigation into the incident in 2009, which included interviews with UCLA officials and the examination of numerous documents shared by UCLA. That investigation resulted in [$32,000 in] fines, which were paid by the university, but ultimately found no willful violations on the part of UCLA."
Kevin Reed, UCLA vice chancellor for legal affairs, told the Times that Sangji was well trained, had performed a similar experiment successfully and opted not to use available protective gear.
"We didn't just pluck her off the streets and put her in a chemistry lab. She was a trained chemist," he said.
However, findings of a subsequent 95-page criminal investigation by Cal/OSHA, conducted by a different investigator, produced findings much more critical of Harran and UCLA.
The report, completed in December 2009, but made public only recently, pointed out that Sangji was in fact not experienced or well trained in the safe handling of flammable air-sensitive chemicals.
In addition, the report said UCLA, by failing to address previous safety lapses, had neglected legal obligations to provide a safe environment in campus labs.
Harran, the report added, "knew his laboratory was unsafe even before [Sanji's] incident occurred, and chose to do nothing - to wait until it was more convenient for him to correct the hazards, seeking a postponement of the correction for an indefinite period" (until he moved into his new laboratory).
"Dr. Harran simply disregarded the open and obvious dangers presented in this case and permitted victim Sangji to work in a manner that knowingly caused her to be exposed to a serious and foreseeable risk of serious injury or death," said the report, conducted by senior special investigator Brian Baudendistel.
If Harran had trained his research assistant properly and assured that she wore clothing appropriate for the work, "Sangji's death would have been prevented," the report said.
Harran's attorney, Thomas O'Brien, disputed the conclusions, the Times said.
"Dr Harran remains devastated by this tragic accident," he said. "There are numerous misstatements in that report, but I will refer you to the UC Regents for any comments."
Sheri's sister, Naveen Sangji, told the Times in January that her family is thankful felony charges have been filed, but noted that UCLA had a record of serious workplace incidents well before the tragedy took place.
"The hazardous laboratory conditions at UCLA caused serious injuries to two students prior to this incident, but the administration took no corrective steps," Sangji said. "Furthermore, the professor in charge was told his laboratory was unsafe, but decided to ignore the warnings - and UCLA let him do so. Their unlawful decisions resulted in the death of an innocent 23-year-old girl - a daughter, a sister, closest of friends," she said.
"We look to [Cooley] to continue to pursue justice and to prevent such a profound and devastating loss for other families by fully prosecuting UCLA and Patrick Harran."
Naveen Sangji did not return a request for additional comment.
"There were multiple factors that led to (Sangji's) death," Frances Schreiberg, an attorney who previously directed Cal/OSHA's Bureau of Investigations, told India-West.
"If the employer had dealt with just one or more of them, then she might be alive today," added Schreiberg, a member of the Sangji family support group. Harran "could have been charged with felony manslaughter," she said.
The former OSHA investigator also pointed out that only once had Sangji performed a similar experiment and it was only "one-third" the size of the fatal experiment.
Joan Lichterman, a spokesperson for the union UPTE-CWA 9119, said, "Like other employers, universities must be held accountable for the safety of their staff as well as students. We applaud the district attorney for filing these charges."
Sangji graduated in 2008 from Pomona College in Claremont with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. She had worked in Harran's organic chemistry lab for less than three months when the tragic incident occurred.
Sangji had not used pyrophorics in her undergraduate work or during a brief stint at an Azusa pharmaceutical company just before she took the UCLA job, according to Cal/OSHA's second investigative report.
-- Richard Springer
A Los Angeles County Superior Court Feb. 2 postponed until March 7 the arraignments of Professor Patrick Harran and the UC Board of Regents.
The delay allows ongoing plea negotiations on three counts each of willfully violating occupational and health safety standards, which resulted in the January 2009 death of the 23-year-old Indian American researcher.
Based on labor code violations, the charges are thought to be the first stemming from an academic lab accident in the US, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Sangji wasn't wearing a protective lab coat or the required protective garments Dec. 29, 2008, when a plastic syringe she was using to transfer t-butyl lithium from a sealed container to another came apart in her hands, spewing a chemical compound that ignites when exposed to air.
She suffered extensive burns over nearly half her body when a synthetic sweater she was wearing caught fire and melted onto her skin. She died 18 days later.
Harran and the UC Regents are charged with failing to correct unsafe or unhealthy conditions in the lab in a timely manner, neglecting to provide appropriate clothing, and inadequate chemical safety training and information.
Harran faces up to 4 1/2 years in prison if convicted. Fines as high as $4.5 million could be imposed on the UC Regents.
The Sangji family and its support group, including the University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America, local union 9119, are urging Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley to vigorously prosecute the case "to the fullest extent of the law."
"UCLA and Patrick Harran should be fully prosecuted for causing Sheri's death," a coalition press statement said.
In the press release, the Sangji family expressed their contention that Harran, Sangji's boss, "ordered her to transfer a highly dangerous chemical using a method contraindicated by the manufacturer of that chemical; did not give her appropriate training, supervision, or proper equipment for that work; did not provide her, or those around her, with any safety training."
"No one present in the laboratory that day was equipped to deal with emergency situations. When the fire started, nobody thought to put Sheri under a water shower. After the incident Patrick Harran engaged in a cover-up, removing chemicals from the laboratory and possibly destroying critical evidence," the Sangji family alleged in the statement.
"No one can erase the agony and suffering Sheri endured, but by allowing a jury to debate the facts of the case, you can bring about accountability and justice, and thereby save other innocent lives," they added.
UCLA officials have responded that the death of Sangji was a tragic accident, but that felony charges are "unwarranted" and "outrageous."
"Since the time of the accident, UCLA has fully cooperated with [Cal/OSHA] and the district attorney's office," the university said in a statement quoted by the Los Angeles Times.
"Cal/OSHA conducted an exhaustive investigation into the incident in 2009, which included interviews with UCLA officials and the examination of numerous documents shared by UCLA. That investigation resulted in [$32,000 in] fines, which were paid by the university, but ultimately found no willful violations on the part of UCLA."
Kevin Reed, UCLA vice chancellor for legal affairs, told the Times that Sangji was well trained, had performed a similar experiment successfully and opted not to use available protective gear.
"We didn't just pluck her off the streets and put her in a chemistry lab. She was a trained chemist," he said.
However, findings of a subsequent 95-page criminal investigation by Cal/OSHA, conducted by a different investigator, produced findings much more critical of Harran and UCLA.
The report, completed in December 2009, but made public only recently, pointed out that Sangji was in fact not experienced or well trained in the safe handling of flammable air-sensitive chemicals.
In addition, the report said UCLA, by failing to address previous safety lapses, had neglected legal obligations to provide a safe environment in campus labs.
Harran, the report added, "knew his laboratory was unsafe even before [Sanji's] incident occurred, and chose to do nothing - to wait until it was more convenient for him to correct the hazards, seeking a postponement of the correction for an indefinite period" (until he moved into his new laboratory).
"Dr. Harran simply disregarded the open and obvious dangers presented in this case and permitted victim Sangji to work in a manner that knowingly caused her to be exposed to a serious and foreseeable risk of serious injury or death," said the report, conducted by senior special investigator Brian Baudendistel.
If Harran had trained his research assistant properly and assured that she wore clothing appropriate for the work, "Sangji's death would have been prevented," the report said.
Harran's attorney, Thomas O'Brien, disputed the conclusions, the Times said.
"Dr Harran remains devastated by this tragic accident," he said. "There are numerous misstatements in that report, but I will refer you to the UC Regents for any comments."
Sheri's sister, Naveen Sangji, told the Times in January that her family is thankful felony charges have been filed, but noted that UCLA had a record of serious workplace incidents well before the tragedy took place.
"The hazardous laboratory conditions at UCLA caused serious injuries to two students prior to this incident, but the administration took no corrective steps," Sangji said. "Furthermore, the professor in charge was told his laboratory was unsafe, but decided to ignore the warnings - and UCLA let him do so. Their unlawful decisions resulted in the death of an innocent 23-year-old girl - a daughter, a sister, closest of friends," she said.
"We look to [Cooley] to continue to pursue justice and to prevent such a profound and devastating loss for other families by fully prosecuting UCLA and Patrick Harran."
Naveen Sangji did not return a request for additional comment.
"There were multiple factors that led to (Sangji's) death," Frances Schreiberg, an attorney who previously directed Cal/OSHA's Bureau of Investigations, told India-West.
"If the employer had dealt with just one or more of them, then she might be alive today," added Schreiberg, a member of the Sangji family support group. Harran "could have been charged with felony manslaughter," she said.
The former OSHA investigator also pointed out that only once had Sangji performed a similar experiment and it was only "one-third" the size of the fatal experiment.
Joan Lichterman, a spokesperson for the union UPTE-CWA 9119, said, "Like other employers, universities must be held accountable for the safety of their staff as well as students. We applaud the district attorney for filing these charges."
Sangji graduated in 2008 from Pomona College in Claremont with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. She had worked in Harran's organic chemistry lab for less than three months when the tragic incident occurred.
Sangji had not used pyrophorics in her undergraduate work or during a brief stint at an Azusa pharmaceutical company just before she took the UCLA job, according to Cal/OSHA's second investigative report.
-- Richard Springer
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