20-year-old worker was electrocuted after hitting a hydro line while trimming a hedge
The supervisor of a head trimming company in Ottawa is facing a criminal charge for the death of a worker back in 2023.
The incident happened on May 5, when 20-year-old Nicholas Chenier was working at a residential property for the hedge-trimming Best Green Hedges Inc.
The worker was electrocuted when he hit a hydro line.
On Thursday, Steven Deans, 38, a manager with Best Green, was charged Wednesday by the Ottawa Police Service’s West Criminal Investigative Section after police opened an investigation into the circumstances of the death, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
Jennifer Chenier, Chenier's mother, said she was "extremely happy" to hear about the criminal charge, according to a CBC report.
The decision gives her a "little bit of hope after the disappointment today."
Because of the new criminal charge, Deans’s lawyer Fabienne Lajoie asked for a one-month adjournment so he could consider his options, according to CBC.
"It was perfect timing," she said.
Labour ministry charges
Earlier that day, Sheldon Best Green, director of Best Green Hedges, pleaded guilty to a non-criminal charge brought against him in relation to Chenier's death.
In November, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development brought charges against Best Green Hedges, Best Green and Deans.
Best Green was charged with failing to ensure the company took all reasonable steps to comply with the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act while at the site of the hedge trimming.
He pleaded guilty to that charge on Thursday afternoon.
Justice of the peace Jennifer Robinson accepted a joint proposal from the Crown and defence to fine Best Green $45,000, plus a victim impact surcharge, for a total of $50,000.
"I don't understand how they're just getting off with this slap on the wrist," Jennifer Chenier said, according to the CBC report.
