Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

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When the Vat Implodes: Workers’ Rights, WISHA Obligations, and Why This Isn’t Just a Workers’ Comp Case

By Matthew D. Kaplan| May 26, 2026

What began as a mass casualty incident has now been confirmed as a mass casualty fatality event. As of approximately 11:20 a.m. Tuesday, fire officials confirmed that multiple people have died in the chemical vat implosion at Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company in Longview, Washington. Additional victims remain in critical condition. The identities of those killed will not be released until families have been notified. What follows is not just a discussion of workers’ rights — it is now a discussion of wrongful death, criminal liability, and the legal reckoning that must follow.

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A Contractor Is Dead at River Mill Dam. Oregon OSHA Will Investigate — and a Civil Lawsuit May Follow.

A worker went to the River Mill Dam in Clackamas County on Thursday afternoon to do a job. He never made it home.

The accident occurred just before 4:30 p.m. on May 14, 2026, during equipment testing operations at the dam, located at 30800 SE Kilowatt Lane in unincorporated Clackamas County. Despite lifesaving efforts, the contractor was pronounced dead at the scene. One Portland General Electric employee was also injured and transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment.

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A routine road trip turned into an unthinkable tragedy on the afternoon of April 6, 2026, when a California family’s SUV slammed into a stalled semi-truck on Interstate 5 in Douglas County, killing an 18-year-old and seriously injuring his father and twin sister.

According to Oregon State Police, Brenden Larry Christensen, 61, of San Diego, was driving a white Freightliner commercial motor vehicle hauling a loaded trailer northbound on I-5 near milepost 90 near Canyonville when the truck stalled on an uphill grade in the outside lane. Investigators determined that the truck’s speed had dropped below 12 miles per hour as it struggled to climb the grade before stalling completely just before impact.

A young man of 18 from El Sobrante, California was driving an SUV with his father and twin sister as passengers, along with a family friend, when the collision occurred. The impact caused both the Honda and cargo from the truck to catch fire. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. His father and twin sister were airlifted to area hospitals with serious injuries. The family friend was transported by ground ambulance with minor injuries.

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Multi-vehicle accidents can lead to serious or fatal harm, such as what happened in a late November crash in Aurora. Crashes like this fatality are a reminder of both the profound importance of driving with care and safety, and the many types of harm that can result when negligent driving leads to a chain-reaction crash. If you are the one harmed by this kind of collision, you need to understand that multi-vehicle crashes can involve many permutations. That is why you need an experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer on your side to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. That way, you can hold accountable all those who were responsible and get everything you deserve out of your auto accident case.

In the Aurora accident, according to the Oregon State Police, a 39-year-old Portland man driving a Dodge van rear-ended a Hyundai SUV driven by a 36-year-old Aurora man. The OSP’s report stated that the impact between the van and SUV pushed the southbound SUV into the northbound lane of Highway 551. A northbound Toyota van, driven by a 55-year-old from Happy Valley, crashed into the passenger side of the SUV.

A 38-year-old woman who was a passenger in the SUV died as a result of her injuries. Several others were injured and taken to a nearby hospital.

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Crashes involving big rigs are highly likely to result in severe or fatal injuries. Because the harm is substantial, obtaining a fair outcome in a civil lawsuit requires careful investigation to identify everyone who should be held accountable. To ensure you do that, you need an experienced Oregon truck accident lawyer by your side to help you with every step of the investigation process.

A terrible crash in Deschutes County is a reminder that a stopped truck can be just as dangerous as a moving one if it is in the roadway and other drivers are not adequately warned.

R.K., a trucker from Fresno, Cal., jackknifed his rig on U.S. Highway 20 about 50 miles east of Bend on the night of Dec. 1, 2025. The semi-truck’s cab faced eastbound, but the trailer faced south, positioned perpendicular across both the east- and westbound lanes. A young couple was driving westbound on Highway 20 shortly after the trucker jackknifed his rig. Police suspect that, because of “a lack of active emergency warning equipment,” the couple did not see the rig and slammed their Subaru SUV into the trailer, killing both of them.

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Workers, including those who work around dangerous and volatile chemicals and equipment, are entitled to a safe workplace. Too often, though, their workplaces are not safe. When that lack of safety is the result of negligence and that negligence leads to serious injury or death, the injured worker (or the worker’s surviving family) may be entitled to hold those negligent parties accountable through a civil lawsuit. These lawsuits are often complex and nuanced, requiring the unique skills and knowledge of an experienced Oregon industrial accident lawyer.

One such workplace type is one that uses vessels whose contents are under pressure. On Nov. 12, 2025, friends, family, and coworkers marked the one-year anniversary of the massive tank explosion that killed two workers at a manufacturing facility that produced cosmetic and food colorings.

Back in mid-November 2024, investigators from the Chemical Safety Board swiftly pinpointed the cause of the explosion. A container — cooking vessel number 6 — blew up.

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A lawsuit in which you need to hold accountable one or more private entities or individuals is complex enough, including many potentially difficult hurdles. You face challenges related to the facts, the law, and the rules of procedure. A lawsuit where you need to hold a governmental entity accountable is even more complex, as it comes with its own special set of rules. Failure to follow these rules with precision can result in losing your opportunity to get justice entirely. Rather than face that risk, you should reach out to a skilled Oregon attorney who is familiar with Oregon Tort Claim matters.

Many cases may involve a combination of private and public actors who were negligent. This was the case in a catastrophic crash from 2020.

The accident, which occurred in South Salem, left one teenage girl dead. Police reports and evidence from the crash site revealed that the driver of the girl’s vehicle was speeding and ran a stop sign in the moments before the two-vehicle collision occurred.

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A common expression related to grief posits that “no parent should have to bury a child… it is not the natural order of things.” Unfortunately, this happens thousands of times every year. According to the National Institutes of Health, vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death in children and adolescents, accounting for 20% of all deaths. If you have encountered this kind of tragic loss, you may need to take legal action. If you do have such a need, your case will benefit from having representation provided by an experienced Oregon auto accident lawyer.

One of those fatal accidents occurred this month in Clatsop County.

The collision occurred along Highway 101 just south of its intersection with Highway 26. A southbound pickup truck entered the northbound lanes and crashed head-on into a northbound Honda SUV. The truck continued forward in the wrong lane, eventually hitting a Nissan SUV head-on.

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A recent report from the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division revealed that an ironworker’s death at a Portland construction site last June was “preventable.” The worker’s death is a somber reminder that errors and negligence at worksites can have fatal consequences. If you have endured serious injuries (or you have lost a loved one) as a result of a workplace accident, the facts may dictate that you have the option to pursue a civil lawsuit against one or more entities. Talk to a knowledgeable Oregon industrial accident lawyer to learn more about your legal options.

The Oregon OSHA investigation, whose results the agency published in February, deemed a deadly accident that occurred last June during the renovation of a Northeast Portland high school to be “preventable,” according to an OregonLive report.

In that accident, a five-ton forklift carrying staircase railings ran over and crushed the ironworker. She died two days later. Oregon OSHA’s investigation found that the fatal accident resulted from “a series of flawed decisions.” Those errors exposed workers to “a struck-by hazard that could be expected to seriously injure or kill them,” according to the agency.

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Any fatal auto accident is a tragedy. A death that occurs because one or more people engaged in reckless driving is particularly disheartening. When people engage in street racing, stunts, aggressive driving, or impaired driving, they may have done more than engage in mere negligence. When misconduct behind the wheel rises to the level of recklessness, it may significantly impact an injured person’s pursuit of justice. If a reckless driver has hurt you, the law presents many options. To enhance your case, ensure you have retained an Oregon auto accident lawyer who has experience in these cases.

Reckless driving resulted in the death of a teenage boy in Northeast Portland in late November, according to police. Authorities believe that an 18-year-old driver performed “donuts” in his car when the vehicle rolled over onto its right side. The man’s passenger died in the accident.

Police also believe that the driver’s stunt driving was part of a street racing/street “takeover” event on North Marine Drive. (Street takeovers are events where people block off an area of roadway where people race, perform stunts like donuts and burnouts, and engage in other “exhibition driving” maneuvers.) These events frequently involve reckless driving. (Authorities charged the Northeast Portland driver with reckless driving and negligent homicide.)

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