Bar Owners Facing Wrongful Act Manslaughter Charges After Employee’s Wrong-Way Accident On Highway 401

Companies and their owners are increasingly considering the risk of criminal safety-related charges and fines.

We have recently reported on the criminal fine against Metron Construction under the Bill C-45 amendments to the Criminal Code.

The Ottawa Citizen and other media have reported that two co-owners of a Belleville bar have been charged with the criminal offence of wrongful act manslaughter.

The charges result from an incident in which an employee drove away from the bar, allegedly intoxicated.

The Citizen reported that the employee left the Angry Beaver Bar and Grill and was driving the wrong way in the eastbound lane of Highway 401 near Trenton when she collided with an oncoming vehicle on February 6, 2012.  The employee and the other driver were both pronounced dead at the scene.