Classic Employer Misconduct

I wrote an article in December about the death of William Steadman in a trench collapse. At the time, Baruch Fellner, the attorney representing Steadman's employer, American Contracting Inc., claimed that Steadman's death was likely due to "classic employee misconduct." According to Fellner, Steadman had allegedly been told by his supervisor not to go into the trench.

But OSHA wasn't buying it. The safety agency fined American Contracting $20,000 for Steadman's death. Not much for a man's life, or for the five children he left behind. But it's good to see that his employer didn't get away with blaming Steadman for his own death.