The Sheri Sangji case is the first criminal case resulting from an academic laboratory accident.
The case arose from a fatal accident that occurred in the chemistry laboratory of Patrick Harran at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Research assistant Sheharbano "Sheri" Sangji suffered severe burns from a fire that occurred on December 29, 2008 when a plastic syringe she was using to transfer the pyrophoric reagent tert-butyllithium from one sealed container to another came apart, spilling the chemical, and igniting a fire. Sangji was not wearing a protective lab coat and her clothing caught fire, resulting in severe burns that led to her death 18 days later.
An investigation was conducted by the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Cal/OSHA), which protects the public and workers from safety hazards and enforces the U.S. State of California's occupational and public safety laws.
In 2009, Cal/OSHA fined UCLA $31,875 for violations relating to the fire and in 2011, the Los Angeles District Attorney filed felony charges against the Regents of the University of California and Patrick Harran for "willful violation of safety regulations". Harran and UCLA contended that her death was a tragic accident, not a crime.
In 2012, UCLA and the district attorney reached a settlement terminating prosecution against the Regents of the University of California. Harran and the district attorney later reached an agreement in which Harran agreed to make a donation to a local burn center and do community service. The charges will be dropped if Harran fulfils the conditions of the agreement.
Sangji's death and Harran's legal proceedings have led to a significant increase in the safety standards of research laboratories in academic settings.
Sangji's family was unhappy with the terms of the settlement with Harran. Sangji's sister, Naveen, has called the sanctions against Harran and UCLA "barely a slap on the wrist." The Sangji's family remarked, "[t]his settlement, like the previous one with UCLA, is barely a slap on the wrist for the responsible individual." She noted that previous safety violations in his lab were not corrected before her sister's death and that UCLA had ignored the "wake-up calls" of earlier accidents in other labs. She decried the nearly $4.5 million in legal fees -- enough to buy 86,000 lab coats. "Had UCLA spent even a tiny fraction of this money and effort on laboratory and chemical safety training and fire resistant gear ... Sheri might still be with us today," Naveen said.
Video Sheri Sangji case
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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