The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reduced the fine against William A. Berry & Son, Inc., by 20 percent in the case of a worker who died at the construction site of the Village Quad a year and a half ago. The fine was decreased from the initial charge of $46,200 to $36,960-a change of $9,240.Mark Chopelas, 39, was an employee of William A. Berry & Son, a contracting company based in Danvers, when he died in a fall from a temporary platform at the site in March of 2003. The company was hired by Brandeis to build the Village Quad.

"There was a slight reduction in the penalty that came about because the employer took some extra steps beyond what's required," OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald told the Justice.

According to Fitzgerald, Berry & Son sent about 19 of its supervisors and foremen who work in New England to a 30-hour construction-training course. After certifying this to OSHA and paying a government fine for violations of safety standards, OSHA closed the case on March 30.

"Under the normal administrative appeal process, it is not uncommon that, in the process of investigating and looking at the issues of the accident, OSHA would reduce their fine to us," said David Passafaro, Berry & Son's vice president and director of business development.

Passafaro told the Justice about the steps taken by OSHA to re-evaluate the case.

"The OSHA administrators came out, they investigated the site itself, took statements from personnel on the scene as well as in the office, and made a determination about what was appropriate as a fine," he said.

The original OSHA citation, issued in July 2003, stated that Berry & Son would be fined as a result of its negligence, which contributed to the death of Chopelas.

The OSHA press release at that time stated: "[Berry & Son] Faces $46,200 in fines for alleged willful and serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, following the March 2 fatality.

A crew of laborers was dismantling a temporary work platform on the second-floor level of an unfinished stairwell when one of them fell through the partially dismantled platform to the basement level."

The press release also said that the accident was preventable, had Berry & Son taken the proper precautions.

"The death...could have been prevented if [the] employer, William A. Berry & Son, had supplied required fall protection," the press release read.

Berry & Son appealed the fine to obtain a lower settlement. A later inspection detail released by OSHA shows that the fine was in fact reduced.

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Peter French's secretary, Jennifer Porter, told the Justice that Brandeis had been unaware of the altered settlement. She also said that Brandeis is not currently in contact with Berry & Son.