Ontario's Ministry of Labour is investigating the Toronto gas station where an attendant was run over and killed last
weekend by a driver who didn't pay for his fill-up, the government said Wednesday.

Jayesh Prajapati, 44, was killed Saturday night after a motorist filled up an SUV with $112 worth of gas and left the Shell station without paying, hitting the attendant with the vehicle.

``We owe it to the family to take a long, hard look at what lessons we might draw from this incident,'' Labour Minister Linda
Jeffrey told the legislature.

Ministry officials have started a health and safety investigation, and will also check to see if there were any employment standards violations at the station.

``Let me be clear: the Employment Standards Act states it is illegal for an employer to dock an employee's wages for the
company's lost or stolen property,'' said Jeffrey.

``That means that if a patron at a gas station gases and dashes, the employee cannot be docked wages for the loss to the company.''

Shell Canada said company rules forbid workers from intervening in gas-and-dash incidents, and employees are trained to watch for suspicious activity so they can help police in an investigation.

Liberal backbencher Mike Colle is working on a private member's bill he believes would help curb gas theft by forcing drivers to pay upfront before they fill-up.

(with files from Canadian Press)