San Francisco DA Files Involuntary Manslaughter Charges in Fatal 2023 Construction Trench Collapse

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced on Tuesday that her office has filed formal felony involuntary manslaughter charges and multiple criminal labor code violations against an underground construction firm and three supervising executives following a fatal trench collapse that killed a laborer on Oak Street in September 2023. A comprehensive joint investigation conducted with Cal/OSHA revealed that the company repeatedly ignored mandatory shoring regulations, forcing workers into an unsupported 12-foot-deep trench.

The formal felony complaint filed in San Francisco Superior Court detailed that project supervisors received multiple internal safety warnings regarding unstable soil conditions adjacent to heavy traffic vibrations, yet failed to install hydraulic trench shields or sloping protective systems required by California law. When the unsupported earthen wall gave way, a 32-year-old laborer was buried under tons of compacted soil, succumbing to positional asphyxiation before emergency search-and-rescue teams could complete excavation.

Labor leaders, workplace safety advocates, and construction union representatives gathered outside the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street to support the prosecution, calling the criminal charges a vital warning to commercial contractors across the Bay Area. District Attorney Jenkins emphasized that prioritizing corporate project deadlines over basic worker safety constitutes criminal negligence that will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Members of the public, labor organizations, and construction workers can review the full felony indictment, workplace safety regulations, and confidential safety whistleblower reporting lines online at sfdistrictattorney.org or dir.ca.gov. Confidential workplace safety violation tips may be submitted to the District Attorney's Special Prosecutions Division Monday through Friday at (628) 652-4000. Arraignment proceedings for the three named corporate defendants are scheduled for next Tuesday in Department 10 of the Hall of Justice.