UCLA

Description

While working in Harran's lab, when Sangji was attempting to transfer a reagent, the plunger of the syringe became dislodged from the syringe barrel, causing the reagent to be released. The reagent spilled onto her torso and hands and immediately caught fire. The fire was eventually extinguished by another researcher working nearby. The Victim sustained second and third degree burns over approximately 43 percent of her body. Sangji died eighteen days later.

Prosecutors:

District Attorney Steve Cooley

Incident Type: Burned

County: Los Angeles

State: CA

Date: Dec. 29, 2008

Additional Materials

Folder for UCLA materials

Available Case Materials Include:

Case/Court Decisions Advocacy Materials Media Clips & Gov't. Press

Contact for Additional Information:

Naveen Sangji, naveen_sangji@post.harvard.edu

Victims

First	Last	Age	Title	Employer	Injury Type
Sheharbano Sheri	Sangji	23	Researcher	University of California Los Angeles	Fatality

Defendants

Name	Type	Title	Plea Info.	Conviction Sentence
UCLA Board of Regents	Entity	Entity	Unavailable	Criminal case against the university regents was dropped after they agreed to establish a $500,000 scholarship fund in Sangji’s name at the University of California-Berkeley. They also promised to implement new safety measures, including requiring all of UCLA’s principal investigators and their lab employees to complete a safety training program within 60 days.
	Crimes Charged:		Penal Crimes: None	Other Crimes: Labor Code violation causing death to an employee (Cal. Lab. Code Sec. 6425)
Patrick Harran	Individual	Professor, UCLA	Unavailable	Under a "deferred prosecution agreement" Harran admitted no wrongdoing, but must: develop and teach an organic chemistry course for college-bound inner-city students for five summers, perform 800 hours of non-teaching community service in the UCLA Hospital system, and pay $10,000 to the Grossman Burn Center in lieu of restitution to Sangji's family.
	Crimes Charged:		Penal Crimes: None	Other Crimes: Labor Code violation causing death to an employee (Cal. Lab. Code Sec. 6425)
University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)	Entity	Entity	Unavailable	Criminal case against the university regents was dropped after they agreed to establish a $500,000 scholarship fund in Sangji’s name at the University of California-Berkeley. They also promised to implement new safety measures, including requiring all of UCLA’s principal investigators and their lab employees to complete a safety training program within 60 days.
	Crimes Charged:		Penal Crimes: None	Other Crimes: Labor Code violation causing death to an employee (Cal. Lab. Code Sec. 6425)