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Our effort to get justice for Sheri Sangji is gathering pace as our voices are beginning to be heard.

Sheri was a 23-year-old UCLA lab worker who died in January 2009, an agonizing 18 days after a fire that never should have happened.

We have been fighting for justice along with her family and I’m glad to say that Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley has filed 3 felony criminal charges against UCLA, the UC Board of Regents, and Professor Patrick Harran. An arraignment in the case is now set for June 7.

But we need to keep the pressure on to get justice for Sheri and her family, and to ensure safety becomes a top priority in academic labs. Please click this link to send a note to the LA District Attorney and the LA Times to ask that this case be prosecuted to the full extent of the law:
http://sherisangji.com/take-action-demand-justice-for-sheri-2/

“Sheri was a young girl living life to the fullest — looking forward to a game of soccer, starting law school, a trip to the beach, hanging out with her friends, laughing — when it was cruelly cut short,” writes Naveen Sangji, Sheri’s sister. “No one should have to bear the pain and horror she suffered. No family should have to bear such a profound loss.”

Sheri had been on the job less than three months when her boss, chemistry professor Patrick Harran, asked Sheri to do an experiment that required transferring a hazardous chemical that burns on contact with air. He never asked the recent college graduate if she had been trained, did not supervise her, and did not provide a flame-resistant lab coat and flame-resistant gloves. Instead, she was wearing synthetic latex gloves and a synthetic sweatshirt. Both of them melted onto her skin during the fire, which burned more than 40% of her body.

The Cal/OSHA Bureau of Investigations showed that UCLA had a history of not trying to prevent injuries, and did not change its practices even after two graduate students were seriously injured in the same department both a year before and a week before the fatal fire.

For years, Sheri’s family, friends, coworkers and fellow members of UPTE-CWA Local 9119 have been fighting to ensure that her death is prosecuted . The outcome of the case will change the way lab safety is prioritized across academic universities across the United States. That’s why it is so important that you send a message.

http://sherisangji.com/take-action-demand-justice-for-sheri-2/

The pressure that you have built is making a difference. Now we need to keep that pressure on to get justice for Sheri and her family, and to ensure that academic labs are a safe place to work.

Please take a moment today to send a note to the LA District Attorney and the LA Times to ask that this case be prosecuted to the full extent of the law:

http://sherisangji.com/take-action-demand-justice-for-sheri-2/

In Unity,

Jim Weitkamp
Vice President