Esri Lederberger: Tempo Foods boss ‘contributed to his own death’ in warehouse fall, coroner finds

A prominent former Melbourne Kosher dairy boss contributed to his own death when he fell at his warehouse, a coroner has found.

A prominent member of Melbourne’s Orthodox Jewish community contributed to his own death when he fell from a 3m high storage rack while trying to get down using a forklift, a coroner has found.

Coroner Simon McGregor earlier this month found Esri Lederberger, 68, died of massive head injuries at his dairy warehouse on Hinkler Rd, Mordialloc when he fell while stepping from the storage rack onto an unsecured basket being held aloft by a forklift.

Mr Lederberger was a respected member of Melbourne’s Orthodox Jewish community and was the owner of kosher diary company Tempo Foods.

A coronial inquiry found Mr Lederberger and had been defrosting some refrigeration ducts on top of a cool room just before he fell.

Esri Lederberger, 68, contributed to his own death when he fell from a storage rack at his Tempo Foods warehouse in Mordialloc in 2019, a coroner has found.

When Mr Lederberger finished the job he rang his son, Yehuda, to help him get down from the storage racks.

Yehuda used the forklift to raise a basket for his father to step into.

Investigators were unable to determine precisely what happened next, but the basket and Mr Lederberger both fell 3m to the concrete floor below.

Coroner McGregor said it was unclear whether the basket fell from the legs of the forklift when Mr Lederberger, who weighed 150kg, stepped onto it, or whether the basket fell because it had bumped into the storage shelf.

“Either way, Esri should not have attempted this task in these circumstances, and was experienced enough that he ought to have known better,” Coroner McGregor said.

Esri Lederberger, 68, fell from a storage rack at his Mordialloc dairy warehouse in 2019. A coroner has found he contributed to his own death. Picture: Google

Mr Lederberger’s son jumped from the forklift to try to catch his father, but did not make it in time.

Warehouse staff rang the Jewish Ambulance service and then triple-0, but paramedics were unable to revive Mr Lederberger.

Coroner McGregor formally found Mr Lederberger contributed to his own death.

In late 2020, workplace safety authorities decided to not prosecute Tempo Foods, but instead issued it an official caution.

The company had a spotless workplace safety record until Mr Lederberger’s death.