The estate of a laborer killed on the job has reached a $9.8 million settlement with the city of Marysville, its Canadian contractor and the lessor of a machine that killed him.
Sergey Devyatkin died while cleaning a wastewater drainage machine on the first day of work for the 2022 City of Marysville Biosolids Removal and Remediation Project, his estate’s attorneys said Thursday.
The Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore law firm said investigators found severe lapses in safety on the project, including missing machine interlocks and protective guards, and a routine dismissal of safety protocols by American Process Group, the Canadian contractor.
The law firm filed the recently settled lawsuit in the wake of Devyatkin’s death. In a news release, the firm stated that even though the city of Marysville “had reserved to itself contract authority over project safety,” it hadn’t done anything to ensure worker safety other than approve its contractor’s plans and that the contractor had a history of disregarding safety protocols.
“The defendants knew this machine would eventually kill someone in a most gruesome way unless good luck prevailed,” said Daniel Laurence, an attorney representing the estate, in the news release.
Devyatkin, an immigrant from Russia, is survived by his mother, Galina Glebova.
Insurers for the contractor and machine lessor, Synagro-WWT, paid the settlement funds. The contractor agreed to indemnify the city, which didn’t directly contribute to the settlement sum, and Synagro.
The estate used some of the settlement funds to reimburse the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, which paid a pension to Devyatkin’s mother, according to the news release.
“We are devastated by Mr. Devyatkin’s tragic death,” Connie Mennie, city of Marysville communications manager, said in a statement. “The City does not own the equipment involved and our staff does not have the technical expertise to perform this specialized work. For those reasons, we contracted with a company, American Process Group, that specializes in this type of work. APGI was contractually responsible for safety on its job site and was responsible for the safety of its workers.”
Mennie also said the Department of Labor & Industries completed an investigation in December 2020, finding the city didn’t violate any workplace safety standards.
American Process Group declined to comment on the settlement. Synagro didn’t respond to a request for comment.