Lawsuit filed in Aurora 2013 concrete mixer death

A wrongful-death lawsuit has been filed against Naperville-based Dukane Precast over a worker who was killed in a concrete mixer in July 2013.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, also found eight violations at the company's Aurora plant after 39-year-old Vicente Guzman-Chaidez was killed while cleaning a concrete mixer.

"OSHA's investigation goes a long way into demonstrating that Dukane did not handle the cleaning protocol of the tank properly, that's the bottom line," said Mario Palermo, an attorney who filed the lawsuit for Nereida Herrera, who is the administrator of Guzman-Chaidez' estate.

According to the lawsuit, Guzman-Chaidez was employed my Minute Men Staffing Services and was assigned to the Dukane plant at 2000 Plain Ave. He was cleaning a large concrete mixer July 20, 2013, when an employee triggered a gate near the bottom of the mixer that injured Guzman-Chaidez and killed him, read the suit.

Minute Men was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

"He's in there basically half hidden, someone goes and turns it on and he was killed," Palermo said.

The lawsuit argues Dukane was negligent, failed to train workers and failed to follow safety protocols.

The company Tuesday issued a statement saying it could not comment on the lawsuit, but at the same time disputed its claims.

"Because of pending litigation, Dukane Precast should not comment on the merits of the Estate's lawsuit," the company said in an email. "However, investigations pursued by the Kane County Sheriff's Department and OSHA have concluded that Mr. Guzman-Chaidez was alone at the time of his accident."

In January 2014, OSHA said it found eight safety violations after Guzman-Chaidez' death and had placed the company on OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program "due to the willful violations" found at the Aurora site.

One violation was failure to ensure that the gate that crushed and killed Guzman-Chaidez was locked and its power turned off, said OSHA, which also sought fines of nearly $304,000.

"It is unacceptable that Dukane Precast would allow a worker to enter a permit-required confined space to perform maintenance without ensuring that the space was isolated from hazards by following OSHA standards," Kathy Webb, OSHA's North Aurora area director, said at the time. "Employers have a responsibility to protect all workers from known hazards at their facilities."

OSHA also found four violations when it inspected Dukane in 2012.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, and the next court date is April 2.