Two other temp workers have died at Fiera Foods
Amina Diaby is the third temp agency worker to die at a factory owned by Fiera Foods or one of its affiliated companies since 1999.
In a written response to questions from the Star, the company said the deaths were “separate but significant tragedies” and that in each instance, it “worked quickly to comply” with ministry orders.
The first was Ivan Golyashov, who would have turned 35 this summer.
He was 17 in the summer of 1999 when he started working at Fiera’s Norelco Dr. factory through a temp agency. When he resumed classes at Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute in Thorncliffe Park, Ivan continued to work at Fiera on weekends.
On Saturday, Sept. 25, he was assigned to clean a large mixer, a task he had never before performed nor received training for, according to a lawsuit filed by his family.
When Ivan was finished cleaning the mixer, he asked a co-worker, who was also a temp, to open the door and let him out. The co-worker, who was also allegedly untrained, accidentally activated the machine. Ivan was crushed to death. The lawsuit filed by the teen’s family against Fiera accused the company of being negligent, not only for providing insufficient training, but also in how it failed to ensure machine controls were “locked out” while someone was inside.
The lawsuit was settled out of court and Fiera did not file a statement of defence. Golyashov’s mother, Marina, declined to comment when contacted by the Star this year.
The lawsuit also alleged that Fiera did not inform the Golyashovs of their son’s death, and, in fact, initially denied it when they frantically called the factory looking for information. The teen’s father, Alexandr, had learned of his son’s death from a friend who also worked at the factory.
Fiera pleaded guilty to labour ministry charges and was fined $150,000.
Police investigated, but laid no criminal charges.
The lawsuit also alleged that Temp Industrial, the temp agency that employed Ivan, tried to render itself “judgment proof” in the wake of his death by dissolving and “fraudulently” moving its assets to a different temp agency, Temporary Labour.
Speaking to a Star reporter the day after her son’s death, Marina Golyashov blamed herself.
“It’s my fault,” she said. “I let him work. Children shouldn’t work.”
The second death occurred nearly six years ago at Marmora Freezing Corp., one of Fiera’s affiliated partners, whose facility is connected to Fiera’s main factory on Marmora St.
Aydin Kazimov, a 69-year-old security guard, was struck by a worker driving his car home after a 10-hour shift on Dec. 14, 2011. An accident reconstruction expert later testified that Kazimov was injured, but probably still alive at this point. The driver, Marlon Layugan, fled, but returned less than a minute later. In those intervening seconds, Kazimov’s unconscious body was driven over by a reversing tractor-trailer and dragged.
Layugan was convicted of manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death and failing to stop. He was sentenced to six months in jail.
In an agreed statement of facts read aloud at his sentencing, Justice Julie Thorburn said: “Although employees had requested reflective gear from their employer, Fiera Food Company (sic) did not equip their security guards with reflective gear until after this incident.”
A Ministry of Labour investigation, obtained by the Star through a free- dom of information request, found there was inadequate lighting, warning signs and protective barriers to keep Kazimov safe.
Regarding the temp agency that employed Kazimov, VIV Vision Security, the investigation said the company had been incorporated since 2007 but had not registered with the ministry. It provided services exclusively to Fiera Foods.
Of Fiera Foods, the investigation said the ministry had previously responded to “many critical injuries and many other injuries” at its factories between 1996 and 2011, and had already issued the company with around 90 health and safety orders, including 14 stop-work orders.
Marmora Freezing Corp. pleaded guilty to charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and was fined $150,000.
“With regard to the three separate tragedies that occurred at or near our facilities, we remain saddened,” Fiera’s lawyer and human resources manager, David Gelbloom, wrote to the Star. “Despite these tragedies, we believe that the health and safety of our workforce is our highest concern and we continue to strive for improvements.”