NYC brings manslaughter charges in two worker safety cases

Jan 23, 2009

The New York City district attorney has obtained indictments for manslaughter against companies and individuals involved in two high-profile cases of alleged construction safety lapses.

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau announced Dec. 22 that contractor John Galt Corp. and three of its supervisors were indicted on manslaughter and related charges in the deaths of two firefighters battling an August 2007 blaze at an abandoned office tower in lower Manhattan. Morgenthau said the firefighters died after being trapped in a smoke-filled stairwell improperly blocked by barriers erected to seal off floors at the Deutsche Bank building.

In the second case, a contractor was charged Jan. 5 with manslaughter for allegedly using worn, fraying safety straps that broke and caused a 19-story tower crane to crash in a Manhattan neighborhood. Six construction workers and a civilian were killed. William Rapetti of Rapetti Rigging Services Inc. was indicted on seven counts of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the March 15 incident. OSHA earlier fined Rapetti Rigging Services $220,000 in connection with the incident.