NCJ Number
128950
Journal
Labor Law Journal Volume: 41 Issue: 7 Dated: (July 1990) Pages: 417-423
Date Published
1990
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Significant legal developments have occurred in recent years concerning the responsibility of employers for the death or injury of a worker on the job, and more prosecutors are investigating workplace fatalities and injuries as possible crimes.
Abstract
A crime may be proven if the prosecutor finds evidence of serious safety hazards in the workplace, company knowledge of the hazards, no correction of hazards, and the death or injury of a worker due to the hazards. The most publicized case of corporate criminal liability was People v. Film Recovery Systems, a 1985 Illinois decision in which three company officials were sentenced to 25 years in prison following their murder convictions. The impetus behind the current wave of prosecutions against companies appears to involve a perception that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has not been aggressively enforcing its rules and regulations. Although the OSHA law is primarily a regulatory statute with civil penalties for violations, one section authorizes criminal penalties if a worker is killed in a workplace accident due to conditions that "willfully" violate OSHA rules. The Department of Labor has instituted a complete review of OSHA enforcement policies. In addition, the U.S. Sentencing Commission is in the final stages of making recommendations on the sentencing of businesses convicted of crimes. 20 footnotes