UC Regents Strike Plea Deal in UCLA Lab Death

Sheri Sangji

Criminal charges against University of California Board of Regents in connection with the tragic death of a UCLA  research assistant Sheri Sangji were dropped last week after it agreed to improve lab safety programs and endow a $500,000 scholarship in her name.

In December 2008, Sangji, a 23-year-old member of UPTE-CWA Local 9119, was transferring tert-Butyl lithium-- a solution that combusts on contact with air – from one container to another, when her plastic syringe came apart. The solution spilled onto Sanji and instantly burst into flame. She wasn’t wearing a lab coat because no one had instructed her to. And her rubber gloves didn’t provide any protection as the fire spread.

Sangji suffered severe burns and died 18 days later. Since then, UPTE-CWA leaders have been pushing authorities to pursue Sangji's case.

The UC Regents “acknowledge and accept responsibility for the conditions under which the laboratory operated on December 29, 2008,” the agreement reads.

But Sangji’s chemistry professor Patrick Harran still faces three felony counts of willfully violating occupational health and safety standards. He could spend 4 ½ years in prison if convicted.

CWA mourns the senseless death of Sangji and pledges to work to ensure the university overhauls its health and safety standards.

UPTE-CWA Local 9119’s health and safety committee still has a number of concerns about the case and the settlement. It points out that the agreement is only for four years, not in perpetuity, and it only pertains to only the chemistry and biochemistry departments -- not all labs in which researchers handle hazardous and potentially lethal chemicals. The committee is also troubled that the newly mandated training is also not thorough enough.

"I think the university is trying," said Rita Kern, a staff research associate in the UCLA Department of Medicine, who sits on the health and safety committee, in an interview with the Center for Investigative Reporting.