Contractor, Superintendent Charged After Fatal Trench Collapse in Texas
The worker had escaped a cave-in earlier in the day and was ordered back inside the 13-foot-deep trench where the fatal collapse...
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A Texas construction company and one of its project superintendents have been charged with felony criminal negligent homicide following the death of a worker in a trench collapse in 2021.
Two workers had escaped a previous cave-in earlier on October 23, 2021, and were ordered back inside the 13-foot-deep trench for a residential sewer installation in Austin, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
Juan José Galvan Batalla, 24, was buried underneath soil and debris in the second cave-in and died a week later from his injuries. The second worker was injured but able to escape the trench alive.
OSHA cited D Guerra Construction LLC of Austin in April 2022 with five violations, including no cave-in protection and water in the bottom of the trench. The agency issued total proposed penalties of $243,406, which were later reduced to $140,000.
OSHA then referred the case to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. A grand jury indicted D Guerra Construction and project superintendent Carlos Alejandro Guerrero, 37, on the criminal negligent homicide charge, according to D.A. José Garza.
“Despite a partial trench collapse earlier in the day, D Guerra Construction LLC recklessly sent employees back into the excavation without protective measures to prevent another cave-in,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Eric Harbin in Dallas. “The loss of this worker’s life was preventable.”
Since the fatal 2021 cave-in, D Guerra Construction has been cited by OSHA for two other trench violations:
- On December 1, 2023, the company was fined $20,092, which was reduced to $14,064, for workers in a trench with water inside and inadequate cave-in protection on November 2, 2023.
- On January 11, 2024, the company was fined $28,216, which was reduced to $9,844, after workers were in a trench that did not have adequate cave-in protection on September 6, 2023.
The charges against D Guerra Construction and Guerrero are being handled in separate courts.
“When employers engage in criminal conduct and expose their employees to hazardous working conditions, this office will hold them accountable,” said D.A. Garza. “Our hearts continue to break for the Galvan Batalla family.”
Criminal charges for fatal trench collapses are rare, even though worker injuries and deaths are preventable if a trench box is used properly. Garza noted that this was his administration's first indictment of a company for unsafe working conditions. The year of the fatal trench collapse the D.A.'s office launched the Economic Justice Enforcement Initiative to dedicate additional resources to prosecuting wage theft and other work-related crimes.
“We appreciate the work of the Travis County District Attorney’s office for seeking accountability for those responsible,” OSHA’s Harbin said, “and the Labor Department will continue to work closely with local prosecutors to bring justice to employers who fail to protect their employees.”
