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Wrongful Death Against United States Settles Following Plaintiff's Successful Pretrial Motion

By William S. Bailey

I. SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS IN THIS CASE OF INTEREST TO TRIAL NEWS READERS

1. Court grants partial summary judgment on liability, finding uncontroverted evidence of failure of the U.S. Department of Energy to enforce safety procedures.

2. DOE's failure to enforce safety procedures constitutes a breach of duty to provide a safe workplace.

3. Enforcement of safety regulations by DOE does not involve the discretionary function exception.

4. DOE's report of investigation following decedent's accident is admissible under ER 803(8) and is not a subsequent remedial measure under ER 407.

5. The United States is not entitled to subtract any portion of negligence attributable to an immune entity such as decedent's employer in reducing the net award to decedent.

A wrongful death case against the U.S. Department of Energy on behalf of the wife and children of Louis O. Beatty settled recently for $1,500,000, following a series of rulings by the Honorable Justin L.
Quackenbush in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District. Louis O. Beatty had been a journeyman power operator at Hanford since 1989. On June 7, 1993 , he was asked to go into a concrete lined underground steam pit to release the pressure on a steam line by turning a valve. During this process, the contact of hot steam and cold water in the line led to a “steam hammer” which ruptured the valve, filling the pit with scalding steam. Mr. Beatty was literally cooked inside and out in this tragic accident. He was ultimately flown to the Burn Center at Harborview Medical Center , where he died seven days later. Mr. Beatty left behind his wife Denise and two children, a daughter, Kerry and a son, Lorne. Mr. Beatty was a well-respected power operator at Hanford with an excellent work record. He was also a loving, involved father.

To the credit of Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary, a major investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Beatty's death followed. The U.S. Department of Energy convened a “Type A” Accident Investigation Board, made up of high level DOE officials as well as working men and women who were directly involved in the daily operation of Hanford. The final report of the Board was quite critical of both the Department of Energy's and Westinghouse Hanford Corporation's safety practices at Hanford . The Board determined that Mr. Beatty's death was due in substantial part to both DOE's and Westinghouse's failure to:

1. Enforce existing safety procedures;