Building pressure on construction
A Brooklyn construction site owner is being charged with manslaughter after the death of one of his workers on the job this week. Alisa Roth looks into whether this will encourage employers to make work safety a priority.
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Renita Jablonski: There’ve been at least 15 construction-related deaths in New York City so far this year. An owner of a construction site in Brooklyn was charged with manslaughter this week after a worker died on the job. Alisa Roth takes a look at whether such a charge will put pressure on builders.
Alisa Roth: The worker died when a trench he was digging collapsed. The construction site’s owner is being charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. He’s being held on a $25,000 bond.
David Uhlmann: The city is sending a message to construction companies that they need to make worker safety a priority.
David Uhlmann’s a law professor at the University of Michigan. He says this kind of accidental death doesn’t fit precisely into the definition of manslaughter. But New York’s trying to make a point.
The district attorney prosecuting the case and the city’s building commissioner both say they’ll pursue more of these lawsuits in the future.
Uhlmann says those cases may not end with a prosecution. But authorities don’t have many alternatives since even at the federal level, this kind of crime is only a misdemeanor under workplace protection laws.
In New York, I’m Alisa Roth for Marketplace.