North Carolina Party Supplier Fined in Worker’s Death

The North Carolina Department of Labor has cited a Concord company for workplace rules infractions after an employee died in a fall.

The Salisbury Post reported Wednesday that the Occupational Health and Safety Division has fined Sysco Guest Supply $12,500 for four violations associated with the March death of 47-year-old Gary Merrington.

Merrington was a warehouse supervisor who had worked for Sysco for seven years. He fell 19 feet from a storage rack as he tried to stabilize a pallet of paper napkins.

Labor Department spokesman Dolores Quesenberry says the violations involved improper operation of a forklift and absence of fall protection for the employee working on the tall rack.

She says Sysco will meet with agency officials June 29 to discuss their response to the citations.