HARRISBURG – The death of an inmate from a head laceration and severe burns in the course of his duties at the Dauphin County Work Release Center, has led to a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit filed against the center and other entities allegedly responsible for the incident.
Holly Murphy (as Personal Representative of the Estate of Matthew Baraniak) of Georgia first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on July 13 versus Dauphin County, River Drive Service Center, Inc. and Shane Staley of Harrisburg, plus James Ellerman of Duncannon.
“In or around May, 2019 Matthew Baraniak was sentenced by the Dauphin County Court to serve time as an inmate at the Dauphin County Work Release Center. The Dauphin County Work Release Center is a Corrections facility utilized by the Courts to incarcerate sentenced offenders in order to provide an opportunity for them to maintain previously secured or newly gained employment,” the suit says.
“As a condition of Matthew’s sentence to the Work Release Center he was required to continue working at River Drive, a heavy equipment repair and recovery business. If Matthew failed to continue his employment with River Drive, it could lead to his transfer and incarceration at the Dauphin County prison for the remainder of his sentence. At the time the WRC assigned Matthew to work at River Drive, River Drive had numerous ongoing and publicly available OSHA violations, related to workplace safety and hazardous conditions.”
On Saturday, July 13, 2019, Matthew left the Dauphin County Work Release Center and reported to his job site at River Drive Service Center. Because it was a Saturday, a day when River Drive is usually closed, the only people at the service center that day were Matthew and his supervisor, Ellerman.
Despite not having the proper training or certifications, and in violation of multiple OSHA regulations, the suit says Matthew was instructed to get on a high scissor lift, and to use an acetylene torch to remove the upper hinge area door from the back of a garbage truck, which River Drive had dangerously and improperly suspended by metal chains attached to a heavy-duty fork lift.
Ellerman left Matthew completely alone outside the back of the building to complete this dangerous task, while Ellerman was in the office at the front of the building.
While Matthew was approximately 15 to 20 feet off the ground on the scissor lift using the torch to cut the door from the back of the garbage truck, the tailgate section shifted upward from the main truck body, which upended the fork lift and struck Matthew in the head, who was set ablaze by the still-burning torch as he was knocked back on the lift.
“After hearing a loud noise, Mr. Ellerman came to the back of the building and called out for Matthew. When he did not get a response, he began to look for Matthew and found him lying on the lift, unresponsive, bleeding from a severe head wound and engulfed in flames. Ellerman was able to extinguish the flames and call 911,” the suit states.
“After the police and EMT arrived, they determined that Matthew was deceased. The police noted that Matthew had suffered a laceration to the back of his head that nearly went from ear to ear and had serious burns to his entire body. The coroner concluded that Matthew died from a traumatic brain injury and severe burns to the majority of his body.”
For counts of civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983, negligence, survival and wrongful death, the plaintiff is seeking damages in excess of the jurisdictional threshold in compensatory damages, punitive damages, interest, and allowable costs of suit.
The plaintiff is represented by Patricia A. Shipman of Susquehanna Law Group in Williamsport and Kimberly V. Spangler-Loutey of Kennerly Loutey, in Mount Laurel N.J.
The defendants have not yet secured legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case 1:21-cv-01237
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com