DALLAS — The U.S. Postal Service faces a fine of about $15,000 over the death of a Dallas mail worker this past summer, according to a letter from workplace safety regulators.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent the Postal Service in Dallas a letter on Wednesday detailing the fine, which totaled $15,625.
The fine was for an alleged "serious" violation connected to the death of Eugene Gates in June. The Postal Service, responding to a request from WFAA for reaction, said "we are reviewing the citation and have no comment at this time."
Gates, 66, died on June 20 while delivering mail on his route in Lakewood during the sweltering Texas summer heat. The heat index was above 110 degrees that day.
OSHA's letter said the Postal Service "did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards" related to the extreme heat Gates was working in the day he died.
OSHA listed several "acceptable measures to abate this hazard," including: Enforcing the Postal Service's heat illness prevention program of monitoring employees and ensuring rest breaks; implementing a heat acclimatization plan; using earlier start times; and encouraging employees to drink water every 15-20 minutes.
The OSHA letter required the Postal Service to fix the violation by Jan. 18.
"I was mad. I was hurt. I was disappointed. Actually Kevin, it made me sick to my stomach," the postal carrier's widow Carla Gates told WFAA's Kevin Reece.
"All I wanted was for the Postal Service to be held accountable for the death of my husband," she said in reaction to the $15,625 proposed penalty. "No amount of money will bring my husband back. It was a slap in the face. It was an insult. It did no justice."
The president of the letter carriers union tells WFAA she also believes the dollar amount was small.
But Kimetra Lewis, president of Branch 132 of the National Association of Letter Carriers tells WFAA that "...OSHA did recognize that the postal service did have a role and responsibility in his death."
An autopsy from the Dallas County Medical Examiner showed that Gates died from hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and hyperthermia.
Hyperthermia is described as having an abnormally high body temperature. The medical examiner listed the following points for the hyperthermia diagnosis in the report:
- History that [Gates] experienced a witnessed collapse while working outdoors on the afternoon of June 20, 2023
- [Gates] was transported to a hospital where his rectal temperature was reportedly 104.6 degrees Fahrenheit
- Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessfully and he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival
- The outdoor temperature for Dallas on the afternoon of June 20, 2023 was approximately 97 degrees
The autopsy report also ruled hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in the findings because:
- Cardiomegaly (510g)
- Mild arterionephrosclerosis
- Moderate atherosclerosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery
- Myocyte hypertrophy and interstitial fibrosis on microscopic sections of the heart
After Gates died, start times for mail carriers were moved from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., even though Gates' wife told WFAA that's not enough during the extreme heat of Texas summers. She said it's already hot by that time. She remembers when her husband started his shift at 6 a.m., and believes that would be a better solution for letter carriers.
"Not just for the Postal Service, for anyone that is working out in this hot Texas weather outside, that's a death trap," Carla Gates said.
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