World News
Province fined $125,000 after workplace death, family calls process ‘a joke’
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has been fined $125,000 after a man fell to his death on a job site last year, but both the family and judge say a fine is inadequate.Jimmy Martin’s family members were present at Woodstock Provincial Court on Wednesday. From left: Rayma Martin, wife, Peter Martin, brother, and Holly…
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has been fined $125,000 after a man fell to his death on a job site last year, but both the family and judge say a fine is inadequate.
The Department of Transportation and Infrastructure has been fined $125,000 after a man fell to his death on a job site last year. But both the man's family and the judge who presided over the case say a fine is inadequate.
The department pleaded guilty to violating workplace safety regulations by failing to provide safe guardrails that would have prevented Jimmy Martin from falling to his death, and was sentenced Wednesday afternoon in Woodstock.
The maximum fine for this violation is $250,000. The Crown asked for $160,000 and the defence asked for $70,000. When giving his sentence, Judge Pierre Dubé said he has reservations about imposing a fine.
He called the process of a provincial court judge deciding to fine a provincial department a “redundant” system, because the government is paying the government.
He said he wanted to be able to make the department make a charitable donation to a foundation chosen by the victim's family, but both the Crown and the defence said the legislation does not allow it.
“It's a life lost,” Dubé said.
“You can't put a number, because it's a death.”
The judge said the temporary set up for railings on the job site was held together with plastic zip ties and wire, and that was not adequate to protect workers from falling. Last August, Martin was working on the site in 350 Hodgdon Road in the Woodstock area and fell through the railing. He was 64 years old.
“The judge's hands are tied, but this is a joke,” said Martin's widow, Rayma Martin. “Save taxpayers their money, why bother with it? Something has got to change.”
Holly Jones, Martin's eldest daughter, said when she heard the judge use the word “redundant” to describe the fines, it “hits home.”
“The government doesn't need a cheque from the government,” she said.
“We lost our dad and the government's money isn't doing anything to help [Rayma Martin] or us or any of his children or grandchildren.”
A representative from WorkplaceNB was present in court but declined to comment.
Rayma Martin said her husband was “everything.”
“Not just everything to me because I was his wife, but he was everything to his children, he was everything to his family, his brother and sisters, he was everything to his community,” she said through tears.
“When 500 people show up at the funeral — plus — that speaks volumes of who he was.”
Jones said she hopes no other family has to lose a loved one to a workplace accident.
“You don't expect a call that he died doing a job that he loved,” she said,
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