Worker hurt at Tacoma waste dropoff claims city ignored equipment defects
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- A man has sued Tacoma for an on-the-job injury at the city’s self-haul trash center.
- The city ignored warnings about defective containers, according to the lawsuit.
- A worker says he was seriously hurt when a metal bar struck him in the head.
An employee at Tacoma’s self-haul trash and recycling facility claims he was seriously injured on the job after the city allegedly neglected repeated warnings about the risks posed by old and defective large solid-waste containers.
Robert Meadows, who was a solid waste collector at the Tacoma Recovery and Transfer Center in August 2023, suffered “serious, life-threatening physical injuries” that month, according to a lawsuit filed against the city. He had attempted to unlatch a 40-cubic-yard container when a metal “T-bar” used to secure it fell off and struck him in the head, the suit said.
It wasn’t clear from the filing if Meadows is still employed at the center or what specific injuries he suffered.
The complaint alleges that the city operated the metal roll-off containers well past their shelf lives and had been made aware of mechanical failures after two other employees had “near-miss” incidents under similar circumstances a few years earlier.
“Defendant conducted post-incident safety meetings during which repeated mechanical failures and the risk of serious or fatal injury associated with latch and bar failure were discussed,” the lawsuit said. “Defendant thereby had notice that the failure mechanism was not isolated, but recurring and systemic in nature.”
Tacoma city spokesperson Maria Lee declined Tuesday to address the allegations, citing the city’s practice of not commenting on pending litigation.
Messages left for the attorney representing Meadows were not returned by a deadline Wednesday.
The Tacoma Recovery & Transfer Center, 3510 S. Mullen St., allows residents to bring garbage, recycling, yard waste and household hazardous waste for disposal.
The lawsuit, filed May 7 in Pierce County Superior Court, said the city continued to require employees to work around defective containers until a container box door “fell on or near” another employee in July, leading the city to “scrap the container boxes in question.”
“Throughout the relevant period, Defendant received repeated and explicit warnings from its lead employee(s) and operational staff that the container box systems were too old, structurally degraded, and posed a significant risk of serious injury to employees,” the suit said.
The complaint seeks unspecified damages, including for medical expenses, as well as legal fees and other relief to be determined at trial.
