ThyssenKrupp fined ‘really low’ $375,000 after man’s elevator injury
TORONTO — An unapologetic ThyssenKrupp Canada was fined $375,000 on Tuesday, as the prosecution had urged, for a potentially fatal breach of elevator safety laws in which a man was injured.
In passing sentence, Ontario court Judge Mindy Avrich-Skapinker said the Crown’s request for the “really low” fine — well short of the maximum $2 million — had caught her off guard.
“When I first heard what the Crown was asking, I was totally surprised,” Avrich-Skapinker said. “I totally expected the Crown to ask for a significantly higher fine.”
The judge said she was more than impressed with the prosecution’s “generosity” given ThyssenKrupp’s status as a leader in the elevator field and part of a multinational conglomerate that rakes in about $60 billion a year — about $470 million of that in Canada.