Five Star Plastering

Pohl and Shetley were hanging up a banner at the Mission Viejo High School football stadium when they were eletrocuted. Thomas Blythe, the company's President and the Vice President of the school's booster club, was on site and had directed the two employees to hang the banner. Pohl was standing on scaffolding with electrical lines two feet overhead when he was electrocuted by the 12,000 volt line; he died instantly. Shetley climbed up to assist Pohl, which resulted in him being electrocuted also. He was thrown from the scaffolding and sustained serious injuries for which he spent two weeks in the hospital. Neither Pohl nor Shetley were trained. Both employees had only worked for the company for about three weeks. Timothy Gordon, the safety manager, is alleged to have failed to inspect the site for safety hazards before the scaffolding was erected, and John Alberts, the crew supervisor, is alleged to have failed to check the clearance between the scaffold and high voltage line (which is supposed to be six feet per Cal/OSHA regulations).