Company files lawsuit against family of man who was electrocuted, died on the job

Serkan Alan / DUVAR

A textile firm based in the northwestern province of Tekirdağ has filed a lawsuit demanding compensation from the family of one the company's deceased workers, who was killed during a worksite accident after he was electrocuted. 

38-year-old Cengiz Fedakar was repairing a security camera at the Boyko Tekstil factory in Tekirdag's Ergene district on Sepember 15, 2018 when he was electrocuted and killed. A fire broke out in the factory after Fedakar's death. 

The family of Fedakar, who was married with two children, filed a lawsuit against Boyko Tekstil seeking charges of manslaughter against the company, and also sought monetary damages in a separate suit. 

The company responded by filing a lawsuit for damages against Fedakar's estate, demanding 147,952 TL on the grounds that Fedakar caused the company “financial and spiritual harm.”

Though job-site accidents occur on a near-daily basis in Turkey, usually due to unsafe working conditions and long hours, a company seeking grievances against the family of an employees who died on the job is unusual even in an adverse labor environment that does not function in the favor of the working class.

In its lawsuit, the company claimed that Fedakar went to repair a camera without orders or knowledge of his superiors, which resulted in the factory being unable to operate for two days due to the ensuing fire. The company added that the safety of its working conditions had been secured, and has experienced a loss in prestige due to lawsuits filed against it following Fedakar's death. 

Boyko Teksil, in addition to requesting the large sum from Fedekar's family, has also demanded that interest on the amount be paid starting from Fedekar's death in 2018.

“After the death of my husband, it was very difficult for me and my children. Someone that you have shared 15 years of your life with is gone in a second and that creates an enormous void,” said Fedakar's late wife Fatma Fedakar. 

Mrs. Fedakar said she became very upset and was in tears after she heard the news that the company had filed a lawsuit for compensation against her family. 

“If it is ruled that we have to pay this compensation, we have no economic power to do so. At the moment I am not working, I'm just looking after my children. They should bring back my husband safe and sound like he was the day before the incident and we will sell the house we are living in and pay the grievances,” Fatma Fedakar said.