“Unacceptable” outcome to prosecution of National Steel Car for worker’s death leaves family and co-workers distraught, angry, dejected

On June 6, 2022, Quoc Le, a United Steelworkers (USW) union member and a worker at the National Steel Car manufacturing plant in Hamilton, was killed on the job.

Quoc Le was only 51 years old. His death marked the third preventable workplace fatality at National Steel Car in a 21-month period. Collin Grayley, 35, died on April 23, 2021, and Fraser Cowan, 51, died on Sept. 2, 2020. All three men were members of USW Local 7135. The shocking series of preventable fatalities was widely regarded as the worst health and safety record of any workplace in Ontario.

The workplace deaths of Quoc Le, Collin Grayley and Fraser Cowan have devastated their families, friends and co-workers, who are left to cope indefinitely with profound grief and pain, said USW Local 7135 President Frank Crowder.

More than two years after Quoc Le’s death – on July 31, 2024 – National Steel Car was fined $240,000 in a Hamilton court after pleading guilty to a violation of workplace health and safety regulations related to the fatality. Previously, in two similar court proceedings related to the deaths of Collin Grayley and Fraser Cowan, fines of $140,000 were imposed on National Steel Car for each case.

More than two dozen of Quoc Le’s family members and co-workers were on hand to witness the July 31 court proceedings in Hamilton. They were left distraught, angry and dejected by the outcome, which the United Steelworkers denounced as being “unacceptable.”

Under current legislation, the maximum fine that can be levied against a company in a case involving a workplace fatality is $2 million.

Too often in such cases, companies receive insufficient penalties that do not meet the alleged goal of these fines – deterrence. Justice David Michael Garg, while accepting the joint submission of the prosecutor and defence counsel on the penalty imposed, also voiced his “concerns” that the fines imposed may not achieve deterrence.

“When a worker is killed in the workplace, the deceased is not the only victim. There is a family that is devastated from losing a loved one, personal friends affected from the loss and co-workers still in shock years later. There is a psychological impact that can be crippling to everyone involved,” Crowder said following the July 31 court proceedings.

“Apparently the co-workers of Quoc Le are not considered victims. We are not being permitted to make a victim impact statement. After experiencing three deaths at my workplace, in three separate incidents in just 18 months, I’ve seen and experienced the psychological trauma of the workers I represent,” he said.

“There are workers that couldn’t return to this workplace suffering from PTSD. I’ve had conversations with people who were afraid to go back to the job where these incidents occurred. There are wives and children who have begged husbands and fathers not to return because they were in fear that their loved one would not come home. I myself still succumb to my emotions when reminded of the co-workers we lost.”

Myles Sullivan, USW District 6 Director, noted that this year marks the 20^th anniversary of the Westray Law, enacted in 2004 to strengthen the Criminal Code of Canada to make it easier to impose criminal liability on corporations, groups and individuals for workplace injuries and fatalities.

In the ensuing two decades, however, governments across Canada have betrayed the promise of the Westray Law. The law has rarely been used to criminally prosecute those responsible for preventable workplace deaths and injuries.

The USW, supported by the Canadian Labour Congress, provincial labour federations, municipal governments and other allies, is working to expand a national campaign, Stop the Killing, Enforce the Law, demanding that provincial and federal governments ensure greater enforcement of the Criminal Code in cases of preventable workplace fatalities and injuries.

The campaign calls on governments to take decisive, meaningful action, including:

• The appointment of dedicated investigators and prosecutors for workplace deaths, along with mandatory, standardized training for such positions;
• Having Crown attorneys educated, trained and directed to apply the Westray amendments to the Criminal Code;
• Mandatory training for police and health and safety regulators, supported by the necessary resources, on the proper application of the Westray amendments;
• Mandatory procedures, protocols and co-ordination in every jurisdiction for police, Crown prosecutors and health and safety regulators.

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