The Carbone Lawyers Personal Injury team is representing the family of Michael Tsahrelias, a 25-year-old man who was killed in a workplace accident in 2021.
On Monday, 19 February 2024, Mr Tsahrelias’s employer, Laith Hanna, was convicted and ordered to pay $120,000 in compensation to Mr Tsahrelias’s family and complete two years of unpaid community work. His company, LH Holding Management Pty Ltd, was ordered to pay a $1.3 million fine imposed by the Supreme Court.
It is the first prosecution under Victoria’s 2020 workplace manslaughter laws, which makes employers liable for the death of a worker if they have been negligent in placing them at high risk.
On October 21, 2021, Hanna was driving a forklift at his stonemasonry business in Melbourne’s north when he attempted to lower a large steel rack while reversing down a slope.
Mr Tsahrelia was standing near the forklift and was trying to steady the load when it tipped over and crushed him.
Hanna and Mr Tsahrelias’s father, Steve, rushed to him, but the injured man could not be saved.
The tragic incident was captured on security cameras in the company’s warehouse and from across the street. Justice Michael Croucher described the footage as “ harrowing”.
In court, Hanna conceded he had not followed safety guidelines around operating forklifts on a slope.
The workplace manslaughter laws carry a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail for individuals and fines in excess of $16 million for companies.
However, in imposing the penalty, Justice Croucher said Hanna had cooperated with authorities, entered an early guilty plea and showed remorse for what had happened. The father of four had “deep feelings of sadness and guilt”, had remained in contact with the victim’s family and had paid for Mr Tsahrelias’s funeral.
Carbone Managing Partner Tony Carbone said he hoped the sentence would deter other businesses from acting negligently.
“Employers need to stop and think … Don’t take any chances,” he said.
“No penalty is ever going to assist this family with getting on with their lives because they’ve lost a very important member of their family.”