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PORTLAND, Ore. — The widow of a welder who plunged 42 feet to his death on a job site in Portland has filed for $55 million in damages in the Multnomah County Circuit Court.
Widow Kimberley Dougi was on site at the Kinder Morgan storage hub on 23 July 2023 when her husband, Calbert, plunged 42 feet from a hole in the roof to the bottom of a tank while replacing metal panels at the Northwest Portland fuel terminal.
According to the lawsuit, the 55 feet of slack in a fall protection system failed to stop Dougi.
It alleges that although Dougi was hooked correctly to the cable-grab fall protection system, it had been set up to prevent falls of more than 55 feet, thereby failing to stop Dougi from falling 42 feet to his death.
Fall Protection Systems Must Activate For Drops of Over 6 Feet
The lawsuit points out that according to Oregon law, fall protection systems must activate for anything more than a six-foot drop.
Kimberley Dougi is suing the national energy infrastructure company, Kinder Morgan, on-site safety inspection company the Texian Group, Partner Industrial alleged installers of the fall protection system, and Dougi’s employer, Matrix Services.
I’m concerned about a couple of things concerning the fall. Why wasn’t his fall harness checked before he ascended and by who? Why was it set at 55ft instead of the Oregon required 6ft?