PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Truss Collapse Anniversary
by Donna P Spadaro, MD Thursday, Feb. 27, 2003 at 8:31 PM
dspadaro@usachoice.net (email address validated) 8144325450 309 Warren Rd.

Editorial: Over a year has passed since the death of Paul Corsi at the Pittsburgh convention center truss collapse. The community still has not been informed of the results of the investigation the DA is doing before deciding to pursue manslaughter charges as recommended by Dr. Wecht.

I was saddened to read of the ongoing suffering of the ironworkers injured in the Pittsburgh Convention Center truss collapse and disgusted at the disgraceful and callous treatment of the family of Paul Corsi, the ironworker killed there (“Men, families claim injury and insult’, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, 1/27/03 .

When Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht investigated this case he recommended that the Dick Corporation be held criminally liable and charged with involuntary manslaughter. He found “failures so blatant and overwhelming that a reasonable person could only conclude that the actions, errors and omissions more than rise to a level of recklessness and grossly negligent conduct.” In appalling contrast, OSHA found “no evidence of willful or criminal violations” and in fact, after the Dick Corporation “negotiated” with OSHA, two of the citations were reclassified as “other than serious” and dropped one completely resulting in a reduction of the fines to the Dick Corporation to a paltry $12,000. Perhaps this negotiation was facilitated by the “partnership” with OSHA that the Dick Corporation boasts of on its website. (http://www.dickcorp.com/dickcorp/company/ceo/).

The Allegheny County District Attorney is supposedly conducting a closed investigation before acting upon Dr. Wecht’s recommendations, but almost a year has passed since Mr. Corsi was killed on 2/12/02 and no results of this investigation have been made known.

Families suffer immensely when senseless unexpected death occurs. The terrible loss is made many times worse when no justice is served. I experience this daily as my own brother, Gary Puleio, was killed in an industrial accident that was meaninglessly swept under the rug after an inadequate superficial OSHA investigation.

We families of victims have no “partnership” with OSHA despite the fact that it is funded by our tax dollars. We have no recourse to have inconsequential citations, issued after one-sided OSHA investigations readdressed.

If worker safety laws are to have any validity and if the truthful circumstances surrounding Paul Corsi’s death are ever to be made known an adequate investigation by an unbiased authority must be done and the facts must be made public.

May the Corsi family and these surviving injured workers find a sense of justice that was denied my family.


Sincerely,



Donna Puleio Spadaro, MD
309 Warren Rd.
Franklin, Pa 16323

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