Prosecutor Charges UCLA and Professor in Fatal 2008 Lab Accident

Three years after a sudden lab fire killed a 23-year-old University of California at Los Angeles research assistant, Sheri Sangji, the Los Angeles district attorney’s office has charged the university and a chemistry professor, Patrick G. Harran, with willfully violating safety standards, the Los Angeles Times reports. The felony charges, filed Tuesday, accuse Mr. Harran and the university of failing to correct unsafe conditions, failing to require appropriate clothing in the lab, and failing to provide appropriate safety training. If convicted, Mr. Harran could face up to 4½ years in jail, and the university could face fines of $1.5-million on each of three counts.

In a statement, the university said it had cooperated fully with state officials and was surprised and baffled by the charges. “The facts provide absolutely no basis for the appalling allegation of criminal conduct, and UCLA is confident an impartial jury would agree,” the statement said.