From logging to fishing to mining – dangerous jobs are the mainstay of Alaska’s economy. Alaska has one of the highest rates of workplace fatalities across the country.
One family from Petersburg where their one daughter was killed while working and is attempting to modify Alaska’s laws on workers compensation.
KFSK’s Shelby Herbert has been following the family’s story, and she revealed she believes that the person who passed away did not work in a risky situation.
Listen:
The transcript below has been edited lightly for clarity.
Shelby Herbert:In the summer of 2016 it was the time of a tragic accident that claimed life of two teenage women employed by Petersburg’s Parks and Recreation Department – an 18-year old Molly Parks and 19-year-old Marie Giesbrecht. They were traveling in a van used by the borough to prepare a race in preparation for the town’s Fourth July celebration.
Driver of the vehicle, Chris Allen, was struck by seizures which caused him to drive the vehicle through a barrier. Allen was able to survive, however, Molly and Marie suffered fatal injuries in the crash and a third person was wounded. Allen’s bosses were aware of his medical issues prior to when they gave him keys for the vehicle. Allen had suffered from seizures while when he was working on the desk at reception.
Molly Parks had no dependents. Her parents therefore had access to approximately $10,000 — enough to pay funeral expenses. The amount is quite commonplace across the nation, especially for those who do not have dependents.
Michael Fanelli:What do we learn from this? the situation of workers’ compensation in Alaska?
SHSo that’s it, the death benefit for Alaska’s workers is basically typical, in comparison against other states. However, Alaska’s incidence rate -the amount of fatalities and injuries reported throughout the workforce of the stateit is substantially more over the nation’s average. I questioned Charles Collins, the Alaska director of Workers’ Compensation about why this happens. He told me that this is probably an effect of the kind of work done in Alaska because of the development of our resources and fishing industries.
MFA:But Molly is just an employee in a normal car for work, right? She was not doing an hazardous job.
SH: That’s right. Even though a lot of Alaskans who die or are injured while working are performing dangerous tasks, any modification to the current workers’ compensation law may help those who are claiming in the near future. This is exactly why Parks’ family is trying to do. Parks family is working to achieve right in the present.
FM:Ok, so what aspect of the law do they want to alter?
SHThey wish to facilitate the ability for employees to receive compensation from employers for negligence that causes injuries or death to employees. The courts found the driver of manslaughter. However, the family lost their wrongful-death suit against the city in the spring.
Three judges on the panel decided that the borough had followed Alaska law concerning its Workers’ Compensation Act, due to the fact that the allegations against the Borough were not in line with the requirements to be considered an injury claim that was intentional. Thus they said that the Parks family needed to show they were the ones who made it clear that Borough had a motive to cause harm to those who were injured in the crash, which they were not capable of doing. A third judge did not agree with the ruling, claiming it was a clear error of justice however, she was overruled.
FM:So what’s the family’s strategy to take legislative action?
SHThe Family wants to alter the state’s exclusivity policy that, for the Parks family’s situation required them to attempt to prove that the employer was trying to harm her.
The legislation proposed would alter the law to hold employers responsible if their negligence causes an environment that harms or causes death to an employee. This is how Mark Choate, the Parks family’s attorney, had to say regarding helping them present their case before state Legislature.
“I consider it our responsibility to make clear what a beautiful young woman she was, and how much she had to accomplish and the desire of everyone to be around at the time she committed these acts throughout her lifetime,” Choate said. “And it’s over because of the unprofessional behavior- when you hand keys over to someone with an uncontrollable seizure disorder, and should not have the right to drive.”
This proposed change would help the large number of Alaska workers injured while on the job or are injured by their kin to seek compensation against their employers.
FM:Got it, so what’s next?
SHThe Congress begins its session in the middle of January, but there’s a lot to be discussed in the in the air. I spoke to Workers’ Comp Director Charles Collins regarding the Parks family’s concept. He told me that he’s noticed an interest from the public in the subject of changing Alaska laws governing workers’ compensation in the past. He also said that the state Legislature has received public comments on the issue of amending death benefits. But none of the suggestions for reform has ever been implemented into the statutes.
The legal team of the family hopes to secure sponsors for the bill from the State House and Senate before the middle of December. If they are successful in gaining workers’ compensation law amended, they hope that the law will be named “Molly’s law.”
