Sumner Business Cited After Worker Dies Of COVID-19
SUMNER, WA — A Sumner business is facing tens of thousands of dollars in fines after a state investigation says it flaunted COVID-19 safety protocols, killing one employee.
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries has cited Shining Ocean Inc., a Sumner-based fish processing plant, a combined $56,000 for knowingly and fatally endangering its employees. According to L&I, the employee's death can be traced to a November 4, 2021 staff meeting, in which only three or four of 23 employees attending wore a mask— despite the state regulations which, at the time, required masks in work settings. The meeting caused 16 of the 23 employees to be infected with COVID-19, one of whom was killed by the virus.
Notably, the company president was one of the dozens of employees who did not mask up, and openly told L&I investigators that masking had not been enforced at the business and that it was their "personal choice" whether to mask up or not.
“This happened when COVID rates and hospitalizations were high and the requirement to wear masks was still in place,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director of L&I. “Management got complacent about workplace safety, and it cost a worker his life.”
L&I says the fine is especially steep in part because Shining Ocean management knew the risks of COVID and knew the state's regulation required them to wear masks, but flaunted the rules anyway and cost an employee their life. L&I says Shining Ocean has also been marked down as a "severe violator" and will be subject to increased scrutiny going forward to make sure the company does not endanger any more lives with its negligence.
Money from the fine will go to the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, which supports workers and families of those who have died on the job.
This article originally appeared on the Bonney Lake-Sumner Patch
