The family of a New Orleans man killed in an accident at the Nucor Corp iron plant in St. James Parish a year ago has filed a lawsuit faulting the company and a contractor for his death, alleging improper procedures and work led to the tragic incident.
Both companies dispute the allegations in court filings and are contesting fines assessed to them by federal regulators.?Nucor operates the world's largest direct reduced iron plant in Convent.
Donald Mesman Jr. was standing in what was supposed to be "a designated safe zone" at the Nucor plant when rigging equipment broke loose and?a piece of pipe from an overhead chute landed on him, the lawsuit alleges. Mesman, 52, was taken to an area hospital, but later died with broken ribs, organ damage, a head wound and other injuries.
The wrongful death suit brought in Orleans Parish civil court by Mesman's wife and two sons faults Nucor and contractor Buck Kreihs Marine Repair. It alleges he was placed in the safe zone without properly calculating the distance from the suspended chute. It also accuses Buck Kreihs of shoddy work on the equipment suspending the removed chute.
At the time, Buck Kreihs was engaged in demolition and other work at the Mississippi River plant and was lifting and removing the section of the chute with an overhead crane, the suit alleges.?
The purported safe area had been set off with barricades and Mesman, a maintenance mechanic at Nucor working as a liaison to Buck Kreihs, was watching contractors work on the chute when it fell on him, according to the suit and a federal workplace investigative summary.?
"Defendants egregiously failed to calculate the correct distances for the designated safe zone where the decedent was standing," the suit alleges.
'Heartbreaker for his family'
The suit also claims welding by Buck Kreihs meant to ensure the section of chute remained suspended as it was being removed by a crane had failed. Among other claims, the plaintiffs accuse Nucor of failing to have safety procedures to ensure equipment in overhead rigging was properly welded and inspected before the chute was moved.
Plaintiffs' attorney Blaine Hebert said Mesman was a family man close to his sons, spending much of his free time with them, including building two motorcycles with them and helping his boys find their own home.
"It is such, such a heartbreaker for his family," he said.
In attempting to make a case for the family's pain and suffering, the suit alleges that a Nucor employee informed Mesman's wife, Angela, that her husband had been seriously injured on the job the evening of Nov. 3, 2023, and had been taken to the hospital.
When she arrived, she learned he had died and, with her sons, later saw his body, which the lawsuit described as an "indescribably painful and emotional experience." Angela Mesman had not been told how her husband of 33 years was fatally injured, the suit alleges.
In May, Donald Mesman's death drew serious safety violations and fines for Nucor and Buck Kreihs from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.?
Nucor was fined $16,131; Buck Kreihs $11,292. OSHA cited both companies for?"failing to keep employees clear of suspended loads" or those about to be lifted, according to agency investigative summaries.
Both companies have contested the violations and fines. In the interim, the final investigative report from OSHA is not available, the suit alleges.
Companies dispute allegations
The original suit was filed Aug. 21. This month, the two defendants filed their initial responses, denying the thrust of the plaintiffs' allegations.
In court papers, Nucor also disputed that Mesman worked in a liaison role with Buck Kreihs. OSHA and the lawsuit described his role this way.
Both companies also disputed a claim that OSHA's investigation had concluded the companies were at fault by failing to keep Mesman clear of the load. Buck Kreihs asserted that the fault for Mesman's death lay with Mesman himself, Nucor or other unnamed contractors who previously worked on the chute.
"Buck Kreihs affirmatively asserts that it rigged and performed the job that it had been tasked to do in a proper and reasonable method and that no negligence on behalf of Buck Kreihs caused or contributed to the tragic accident to Mr. Mesman," the company says.
Reached this week, an attorney for Buck Kreihs,?a large-scale industrial fabrication and repair company, declined further comment. In court papers, Nucor disputes that it directly hired Buck Kreihs. Katherine Miller, a Nucor spokeswoman, declined to comment Wednesday on the lawsuit.
OSHA has not cited any other companies in connection with the workplace fatality.?
Editor's note: This story was updated at 3:51 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2024, to include a comment from a Nucor Corp spokeswoman.