Notre Dame Fine Reduced in Student Death

As part of a settlement, the school will pay a smaller penalty for its role in the death of Declan Sullivan

The University of Notre Dame will pay a smaller penalty for its role in the death of a former student as part of a settlement reached with the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The university will pay $42,000 in fines in addition to launching a national education campaign on scissor lift safety, according to the Chicago Tribune. Notre Dame will also be required to make a donation to Sullivan's memorial fund in exchange for the smaller fine.

Declan Sullivan, 20, of Long Grove, was shooting video of football practice from atop a hydraulic scissor lift when he fell last October during a windstorm. The National Weather Service reported wind gusts exceeded 50 mph at the time of the accident.

Schools officials said April 18 that "no one acted in disregard for safety" leading up to Sullivan's death, and the school "reacted on the best information available at the time."

In March, Indiana’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined the university $77,500, saying the school was not following safety guidelines that could have saved Sullivan. 

The university disagreed with part of the ruling and recently filed a notice of contest to give the school more time to discuss the ruling among administrators and with IOSHA.

In early April, the university filed paperwork to appeal the ruling.

Administrators expressed sympathy for Sullivan's family on Monday, saying that in the end, the school failed to keep him safe and "we will live with that for the rest of our lives."  

Sullivan was a film student beginning his junior year.

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