Latest news with #AntonioGaston
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Stellantis sued for wrongful death after worker killed at Toledo Jeep plant
The family of Antonio Gaston, a 53-year-old father of four who died on the assembly line in a Toledo Jeep factory in Ohio, is suing Stellantis — the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram — for his death. "There's so much heartbreak, losing my husband at work," Gaston's widow, Renita Shores-Gaston, told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. "I never expected him to go to work and not come home." In a lawsuit filed in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas on Monday, Aug. 11, Shores-Gaston said her husband's death is the fault of Stellantis, a supplier and several of Gaston's coworkers — who are unnamed in the suit — after they deliberately removed safety equipment in the plant. Shores-Gaston is seeking at least $25,000 in compensation, as well as punitive damages for Stellantis. According to the suit, Gaston died while tightening bolts on the chassis of a Jeep Gladiator as it rolled down the production line. Because pinch-point guards — safety devices that prevent a worker from getting their body trapped in machinery — along the conveyor belt were removed, Gaston got trapped beneath the chassis and dragged along as the conveyor belt moved forward, the suit says. He died from "crushing injuries to the torso," according to the coroner of Lucas County. In case you missed it: Stellantis CEO Filosa retains former role, will also lead North American operations Gaston had worked for Stellantis for 12 years and was a member of UAW Local 12 at the time of his death. Previously, he worked at the now-idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois. In 2021, when production at the plant paused, he was relocated to Toledo. As her voice shook, Renita Shores-Gaston said working on an assembly line shouldn't be a life-threatening job. "To lose your life for making a car, that just shouldn't be," Shores-Gaston said. In December 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined Stellantis following an investigation into Gaston's death. The federal agency said a conveyor belt at the Stellantis facility lacked adequate safety protections at pinch points where employees could be caught in moving parts. OSHA recommended a $16,131 fine for the "serious violation." Stellantis has the right to appeal fine recommendations made by the agency. According to OSHA's online database, the case remains open. To Shores-Gaston, there is no dollar amount that can make right her husband's death. But she sees $16,131 as a slap in the face. "How does that help anybody? How does that make a company want to do better when they're getting fined those small amounts?" she said. "That's like pennies on the ground, I feel like, for that type of company." Stellantis said the following in an emailed statement: "We extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Antonio Gaston. There is nothing we take more seriously than the safety of our employees. We don't comment on ongoing litigation." Gaston's death is not the only recent workplace death at a Stellantis facility to come under scrutiny. In April, Stellantis employee Ronald Adams died at the company's Dundee Engine Plant in Michigan. An investigation into Adams' death is ongoing. In a GoFundMe campaign, Tru Parham, a union steward at the Toledo assembly plant, wrote that Gaston — known as "Tone" on the shop floor — would be remembered fondly. "The memories we all have of 'Tone' are brightened by his permanent smile and joyous nature," Parham wrote. "We work to provide for our families and our fallen brother tragically didn't make it home to his." Similarly, Shores-Gaston said she will never forget her man. "He had the biggest smile, the brightest smile," she said. "He was going to dominate the room. His presence was always big enough." Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Family of Toledo Jeep employee who died on the job sues Stellantis
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Family of Jeep employee who died on the job sues Stellantis, alleging fatal oversights
The family of Antonio Gaston, a 53-year-old father of four who died on the assembly line in a Toledo Jeep factory, is suing Stellantis — the parent company of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram — for his death. "There's so much heartbreak, losing my husband at work," Gaston's widow, Renita Shores-Gaston, told the Detroit Free Press. "I never expected him to go to work and not come home." In a lawsuit filed in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas on Monday, Aug. 11, Shores-Gaston said her husband's death is the fault of Stellantis, a supplier and several of Gaston's coworkers — who are unnamed in the suit — after they deliberately removed safety equipment in the plant. Shores-Gaston is seeking at least $25,000 in compensation, as well as punitive damages for Stellantis. According to the suit, Gaston died while tightening bolts on the chassis of a Jeep Gladiator as it rolled down the production line. Because pinch-point guards — safety devices that prevent a worker from getting their body trapped in machinery — along the conveyor belt were removed, Gaston got trapped beneath the chassis and dragged along as the conveyor belt moved forward, the suit says. He died from "crushing injuries to the torso," according to the coroner of Lucas County. Gaston had worked for Stellantis for 12 years and was a member of UAW Local 12 at the time of his death. Previously, he worked at the now-idled Belvidere Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois. In 2021, when production at the plant paused, he was relocated to Toledo. Automotive tariffs: Detroit Axle faces tariffs head-on and avoids layoffs, plans expansion Ford's 'Model-T moment': Ford announces investment to bring affordable EVs to market, and talks about a new truck As her voice shook, Renita Shores-Gaston said working on an assembly line shouldn't be a life-threatening job. "To lose your life for making a car, that just shouldn't be," Shores-Gaston said. In December 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined Stellantis following an investigation into Gaston's death. The federal agency said a conveyor belt at the Stellantis facility lacked adequate safety protections at pinch points where employees could be caught in moving parts. OSHA recommended a $16,131 fine for the "serious violation." Stellantis has the right to appeal fine recommendations made by the agency. According to OSHA's online database, the case remains open. To Shores-Gaston, there is no dollar amount that can make right her husband's death. But she sees $16,131 as a slap in the face. "How does that help anybody? How does that make a company want to do better when they're getting fined those small amounts?" she said. "That's like pennies on the ground, I feel like, for that type of company." Stellantis said the following in an emailed statement: "We extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Antonio Gaston. There is nothing we take more seriously than the safety of our employees. We don't comment on ongoing litigation." Gaston's death is not the only recent workplace death at a Stellantis facility to come under scrutiny. In April, Stellantis employee Ronald Adams died at the company's Dundee Engine Plant. An investigation into Adams' death is ongoing. In a GoFundMe campaign, Tru Parham, a union steward at the Toledo assembly plant, wrote that Gaston — known as "Tone" on the shop floor — would be remembered fondly. "The memories we all have of 'Tone' are brightened by his permanent smile and joyous nature," Parham wrote. "We work to provide for our families and our fallen brother tragically didn't make it home to his." Similarly, Shores-Gaston said she will never forget her man. "He had the biggest smile, the brightest smile," she said. "He was going to dominate the room. His presence was always big enough." Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@ This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Family of Stellantis employee who died at work sues company Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Miami Herald
12-08-2025
- Miami Herald
Family sues Stellantis over Toledo Jeep plant death: 'The worst news ever'
The wife of the 53-year-old man who was fatally crushed at Toledo, Ohio's Jeep plant a year ago sued Stellantis NV on Monday, alleging the automaker didn't have adequate safety guards in place that could have prevented his death. Toledo resident Antonio Gaston, the father of three adult children and a teenager, died Aug. 21 while working in the Jeep Gladiator portion of the Toledo Assembly Complex. It was the first of two workplace fatalities reported inside U.S. Stellantis plants over the last year, with the other occurring in April at the Dundee Engine Plant in Monroe County, Michigan. The lawsuit filed by Renita Shores-Gaston in Ohio's Lucas County Court of Common Pleas says Stellantis didn't have sufficient guarding around the plant's conveyor system, which ultimately caught Gaston before he was pinned and crushed by a vehicle chassis. The complaint, which mentions the automaker and 10 other unnamed people, says critical safety features were either removed or were designed without crucial features to prevent workers from being snagged. "I never thought that him going to work at a factory would cause him to lose his life," Shores-Gaston told The Detroit News on Monday. Antonio Gaston, whose job was to deliver parts to the assembly line, had transferred in late 2021 to the Jeep plant, which builds Gladiators and Wranglers, after his home Stellantis factory in Illinois, the Belvidere Assembly Plant, underwent layoffs and eventually closed. Shores-Gaston said she remained based in Rockford, Illinois, after her husband was forced to follow his job to Toledo, but they often visited each other for days at a time. The Lucas County Coroner found Antonio Gaston's cause of death was crushing injuries to his torso and determined it was not instantaneous. A report from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said he had reached across the conveyor line to retrieve materials when the line activated, catching him. The agency issued Stellantis a "serious" violation after an inspection, flagging a lack of machine guarding that could create hazards, and fined the automaker about $16,000. The automaker is contesting the fine. "We extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Antonio Gaston," Stellantis said in a statement from spokeswoman Jodi Tinson. "There is nothing we take more seriously than the safety of our employees. We don't comment on ongoing litigation." Shores-Gaston's attorney, L. Chris Stewart, said Monday that his firm is still seeking details on exactly what happened - including whether Antonio Gaston may have been in fact working on the vehicle itself when the incident occurred, and why the safety guarding wasn't in place at the time. He said attorneys also were exploring whether understaffing at the plant could have been a factor. The lawsuit states that Stellantis and other individuals should have known that "operating the Conveyor System in the manner they did constituted a dangerous process, procedure, and/or instrumentality" at the plant. Court documents also point to potential issues with the original designer and producer of the conveyor system used inside the facility. The suit seeks at least $25,000 and other damages. Shores-Gaston said her husband was a jokester who liked to fish and work out at the YMCA with his children: "A great dad, very involved with the kids' lives." She had been in Toledo the day of her husband's death. Incomplete information that something bad had happened at the plant slowly trickled in to her phone, first from her sister, then from United Auto Workers officials. A sense of horror grew, Shores-Gaston said, as she frantically called her husband that afternoon. But there was no response. A good friend was the first to say it looked like he was dead; then union and automaker officials confirmed it. "I was lost, and I had to call my kids, and tell them," she recalled. "It was the worst news ever to tell them, that he was gone." Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Stellantis employee killed in accident at Dundee Engine Plant, automaker reports
An employee at Stellantis' Dundee Engine Plant has died in a workplace accident, according to the company. Details were not immediately available, and the company did not identify the employee. Stellantis released a statement noting that it's working with authorities on the investigation. "Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family, friends and coworkers of a Dundee Engine Plant employee who was involved in a fatal workplace accident this morning. The company is currently working with local authorities to investigate the incident. Out of respect for the family, we are not confirming the identity of the employee at this time. Counseling services will be available for Dundee Engine Plant employees," according to the statement, which was provided by spokeswoman Jodi Tinson. The Free Press has reached out to local law enforcement in Monroe County and the UAW seeking comment on the incident, which reported earlier. This is the second workplace death in less than a year at a Stellantis plant in the region. Antonio Gaston, 53, was killed in August when he became caught under a vehicle moving on the Jeep Gladiator assembly line at the Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio. Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@ Become a subscriber. Submit a letter to the editor at This is a developing story. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Stellantis says employee killed in workplace accident at Dundee Engine
