Dillon, of Gypsum, is charged with reckless manslaughter related to the Nov. 16, 2021, death of 23-year-old Marlon Alfredo Diaz, the DA’s office stated in a news release. Diaz was employed by A4S Construction.
“Business owners and supervisors have a responsibility to properly train and protect their workers from unsafe job conditions which could harm or threaten their lives,” District Attorney Heidi McCollum stated in the release. “People should not feel like they have to be put in dangerous work situations, just to feed their families.”
The Thursday labor department news release describes Dillon as a “Colorado contractor who willfully ignored federal law”, stating his now-shuttered company failed to “use legally required trench protection systems.”“after a worker installing residential sewer pipes suffered fatal injuries when the trench around him caved in.”
In 2022, OSHA reported that at least 39 industry workers died nationally in trench collapses, with 166 worker deaths from 2011 to 2018.