California Construction News staff writer
A San Francisco construction company and three of its employees have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and workplace safety violations in connection with a trench collapse that killed a labourer in September 2023.
San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced charges against John Finbarr Darcy, 62, of San Francisco; John William Tobin, 39, of San Francisco; and Filiberto Poblano Perez, 52, of Richmond, along with D’Arcy & Harty Construction Inc.
Each defendant faces one count of involuntary manslaughter and four counts of violating safety standards resulting in an employee’s death.
According to court documents, the labourer was working in an 8-foot-deep trench near the intersection of Oak and Divisadero streets on Sept. 28, 2023, when the excavation collapsed as a vehicle drove past.
The trench measured approximately 2.5 feet wide and five feet long. It was not properly supported, and the worker was buried in the collapse. The cause of death was determined to be mechanical asphyxia.
The labourer was employed by D’Arcy & Harty Construction on a sewer tunnel rehabilitation project for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
Darcy was the company’s designated site safety representative, Tobin was the project manager and Perez was the crew foreman directly supervising the worker.
A Cal/OSHA inspector who investigated the fatality concluded that the excavation did not comply with state safety regulations governing trench support.
According to the investigation, the short sides of the trench, facing Oak Street and an adjacent building, were completely unsupported. The longer sides, running perpendicular to Oak Street, were only partially supported.
Court documents also indicate that D’Arcy & Harty Construction had been the subject of a safety complaint involving an inadequately supported trench on another project less than three weeks before the fatal collapse.
Darcy, Perez and the company have been arraigned and pleaded not guilty to all charges. The status of Tobin’s arraignment was not specified in the district attorney’s announcement.
The court ordered the three individual defendants to surrender their passports, remain in California unless authorized to leave by the court, and refrain from supervising employees or holding any position with responsibility for jobsite safety. They were also ordered not to communicate with witnesses or one another.
Charges include violations of California Penal Code Section 192(b), covering involuntary manslaughter, and Labor Code Section 6425(a), concerning violations of occupational safety standards resulting in an employee’s death.
