Bechtel argued that one of three men killed in the April 29 scaffolding collapse had signed an agreement requiring workplace disputes to go through arbitration.
BEAUMONT, Texas — Bechtel Corporation is asking Jefferson County Judge Mitch Templeton to send a wrongful death lawsuit tied to the Port Arthur LNG collapse into private arbitration and pause all court proceedings while that plays out.
In a motion filed July 7, Bechtel argued that Reginald Magee, one of three men killed in the April 29 scaffolding collapse, had signed an agreement requiring workplace disputes to go through arbitration under Bechtel’s Employee Dispute Resolution (EDR) Program. The men were working on a giant concrete LNG tank when the scaffolding, part of a vertical jump form system, suddenly gave way.
The motion cites the Federal Arbitration Act and says the EDR agreement Magee signed is legally binding—not just for employees, but also for their heirs. The lawsuit was filed by Magee’s family, as well as Martin Macedo, a surviving worker who was seriously injured in the same incident.
The company says the agreement was signed electronically through a secure onboarding process, which is valid under Texas law.
In addition to requesting arbitration, Bechtel also asked the court to stay, or pause, the entire lawsuit while that issue is sorted out—arguing that trying to litigate and arbitrate the same facts could create confusion and unnecessary costs.
This comes after all four companies named in the lawsuit—Bechtel Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Sempra Infrastructure, and Port Arthur LNG—have formally denied liability.