From NEW YORK CHANNEL 4:
A construction crane owner was acquitted of manslaughter and all other charges Thursday in the May 2008 collapse of a 200-foot-tall rig that snapped apart, killed two workers and fueled concerns about crane safety…
Prosecutors said the crane fell because Lomma had gotten a bargain-basement welding job to repair a crucial component: the turntable, which lets the upper parts of the rig swivel…
Lomma and mechanic Tibor Varganyi got estimates from known manufacturers. But to save money and repair time on a crane Lomma rented out for $50,000 a month, they instead hired a little-known Chinese company over the Internet, even after the company expressed reservations to Varganyi about its ability to do the job, according to prosecutors and testimony at the trial. Lomma didn’t follow city inspectors’ requirements for the repair, and the weld ultimately was too weak and poorly done to handle the crane’s work, prosecutors said…
Click here to read the full article.
EDITOR: The decision is distressing even though it may have been legally correct. There are those owners who accept responsibility for the well being of their employees and others; there are those who only care about enriching themselves and their families. Throwing the S. O. B.s in jail would have sent a powerful message to the latter class and reaffirmed the former.
