Two Supervisors Indicted for Obstruction of Justice in Workplace Death
Stow, Ohio – In a shocking turn of events, two supervisors at an aluminum manufacturing company in Mahoning County have been indicted for conspiracy to obstruct justice related to an investigation following the workplace death of an employee.
The indictment names Brian K. Carder, 62, of Stow, and Paul Love, 57, of Lake Milton, who are charged with one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, and obstruction of proceedings. Love is also charged with one count of making false statements to law enforcement.
According to the indictment, Carder, the general manager at Extrudex, an aluminum extrusion manufacturing company with a facility in North Jackson, and Love, the safety coordinator and human resources director, devised a plan to provide false statements to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigator. They persuaded employees, including by suggesting their jobs might be in jeopardy, to draft statements recanting previous emails about safety issues with the racks and rollers system.
The indictment alleges that Carder and Love knew about the safety issues with the racks and rollers system, which included the conveyance of extruded aluminum pieces through a long, walk-in, tunnel-style oven. Employees routinely loaded and unloaded the oven manually by pushing racks of aluminum into and out of the oven on a roller conveyor system. This was known as the racks and rollers system.
On Oct. 30, 2012, two metal racks stacked on top of each other with hot aluminum product weighing an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 pounds tipped over onto two employees who were pushing the racks on the roller conveyor system. Both employees were pinned under the hot racks and hot aluminum. One employee, identified in the indictment as J.T., was pronounced dead at the scene. Another employee, identified as D.B., was rescued by other workers and hospitalized with severe burns.
The incident led to an OSHA investigation, which requested Extrudex, Carder, and Love produce emails from specific employees to management regarding racks and rollers. Carder, Love, and Extrudex produced the two emails of Oct. 26, 2012, but not the June 26, 2012 email, which was critical of the safety issues with the racks and rollers system.
The indictment seeks to hold Carder and Love accountable for their actions, which allegedly obstructed the investigation and put the lives of their employees at risk.
Extrudex processed aluminum. Part of this process included the conveyance of extruded aluminum pieces through a long, walk-in, tunnel-style oven. Employees routinely loaded and unloaded the oven manually by pushing racks of aluminum into and out of the oven on a roller conveyor system. This was known as the racks and rollers system.
Brian K. Carder, 62, of Stow, is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, obstruction of proceedings, and Paul Love, 57, of Lake Milton, is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, obstruction of proceedings, and making false statements to law enforcement.
Extrudex, an aluminum extrusion manufacturing company with a facility in North Jackson, is not charged in the indictment.
Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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