Alabama company charged in 2017 worker death that led to $3 million lawsuit

Sep 02, 2023

The U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Alabama announced criminal charges today in the 2017 death of a Shelby County worker pulled into an industrial machine.

The case, involving ABC Polymer Industries, has already resulted in $3 million in damages earlier this year. OSHA also previously cited the company $200,000 in connection with the case.

Alabaster resident Catalina Estillado, also known as Eva Saenz, died Aug. 16, 2017 at ABC Polymer Industries in Helena when her hand got caught in a machine's rollers.

According to a news release, the case involves "willful violations" of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards, which investigators say led to Estillado's death.

Federal law makes it a class B misdemeanor to willfully fail to follow an OSHA safety standard where the failure causes the death of an employee. It is the only federal criminal charge covering such workplace safety violations.

If convicted, the company faces a fine of up to $500,000, or other penalties, and is also liable for restitution to the victim.

Attempts to contact ABC Polymer for comment were not immediately successful.

ABC Polymer manufactures flat plastic sheets using plastic extrusion assembly lines that pull the plastic sheeting through large spinning rollers. Investigators say the machine involved in the incident was manufactured with a metal barrier to protect the operator, as well as an "interlock" mechanism to stop the rollers’ spinning if the guard were lifted out of the way.

However, prosecutors say, ABC Polymer had a standard practice of operating that machine with the guard in the "up" or unprotected position when the rollers were moving. The automatic mechanism that would have stopped the line and rollers’ spinning when the guard was in the up position was not used.

Despite knowing of numerous prior worker injuries from using that machine without the safety guard engaged, investigators say, ABC Polymer assigned the victim to cut tangles out of plastic sheeting from among the machine's unguarded spinning rollers with a hand tool. The worker became entangled in the spinning rollers and was killed, they say.

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