Ralph Butler was the most senior skilled trades electrician at Freightliner’s Cleveland, North Carolina, assembly plant. He and a co-worker were responsible for maintaining equipment on the loading docks. On July 13 they were troubleshooting a dock leveler. After working the controls and observing dock plate motion, Butler went in for a closer look. Then he used a pry bar to push a hydraulic motor’s plug back into a receptacle. The dock plate appeared to be lowered all the way but when the hydraulic unit was re-energized, the plate came down just a few inches more, crushing him. He died eight days later in the hospital.