Agreement Reduces Fine of Notre Dame University in Student Death (with related video)

The University of Notre Dame will pay a $42,000 fine in connection with the death of a student killed at football practice when a scissors lift collapsed in high winds.

Declan Sullivan, 20, worked as a videographer for the football team. On Oct. 27, 2010, he was atop a hydraulic scissors lift recording practice when high winds caused the lift to fall over. Sullivan was killed.

The Indiana Department of Labor had earlier levied a fine of $77,000 against the university, but the school has reached a settlement with the state that reduces the fine. The settlement calls for Notre Dame to launch within six months a nationwide education program directed at other universities and educational organizations about the hazards of the outdoor use of scissor lifts, and the importance of training employees that operate such lifts.

The settlement recharacterizes Notre Dame’s violation as "serious" instead of "knowing."

The university also has agreed to make a substantial contribution to the Declan Drumm Sullivan Memorial Fund.