Three Pittsburgh-area government agencies have agreed to pay a $500,000 settlement to end a lawsuit filed by the son of a Pittsburgh woman who died in 2011 along with three others caught in a flash flood that swamped a low-lying road in a valley near the Allegheny River.The Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority, Allegheny County Sanitary Authority and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reached the agreement last month with the estate of Mary Saflin, 72, of Pittsburgh’s Oakmont section, who was swept away and drowned by flood waters when she got out of her vehicle.
Saflin died about the same time as

Joe Martosella, the senior vice president and general counsel for Philadelphia-based general contractor Buckley & Co., says his company’s workers’ compensation insurer paid out “three very serious claims” that cost the insurer $5.5 million total over the past year.What was unusual was that the claims were made against Buckley & Co. by employees of subcontractors who should have been carrying workers’ compensation coverage of their own. In most states, workers’ compensation statutes require employers to have insurance to pay wages or medical costs of injured employees. In exchange, the laws generally prevent employees from making claims of negligence against legally

Joe Martosella, the senior vice president and general counsel for Philadelphia-based contractor Buckley & Co., says his company’s workers’ compensation insurer paid out “three very serious claims” that cost the insurer $5.5 million over the past year.What was unusual was that the claims were made against Buckley & Co. by employees of subcontractors who should have been carrying workers’ compensation coverage of their own. In most states, workers’ compensation statutes require employers to have insurance to pay wages or medical costs of injured employees. In exchange, the laws generally prevent employees from making claims of negligence against legally defined employers.That’s

Photo Courtesy of HNTB New Interbelt Bridge in Ohio replaces a structurally deficient predecessor; other projects like these could be put on hold if federal transportation funding legislation isn't addressed by Oct. 1. + Image ENR Art Dept. Related Links: Obama Rolls Out $302-Billion Transportation Proposal Don't Wave The White Flag On Federal Transportation Funding As the Highway Trust Fund balance shrinks and the current surface transportation law's Sept. 30 expiration date looms, the Obama administration has fleshed out the details of its $302-billion plan to save the trust fund from insolvency and boost highway and transit spending over the

Photo Courtesy of Missouri DOT Pennsylvania's Rapid Bridge Replacement Project follows on the heels of Missouri's recent rapid replacement of 802 bridges. Related Links: Bridge Industry Conference Showcases Missouri Innovations $2.6-Billion Ohio River Bridges Project Ramps Up In Louisville Informed by recent public-private partnerships (P3) and accelerated bridge construction (ABC) programs in other states, Pennsylvania is well under way with the process of combining the two concepts into its plan for addressing 614 structurally deficient bridges.The Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation (PennDOT) late last month asked four teams to submit proposals for its Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. In a release, PennDOT

Courtesy of http://craunf.org/ The refinery where DeBaldo worked as it appears on a website for retirees from Chevron, which once operated it. How long does a worker have to file a lawsuit after symptoms of asbestos-related disease appear?Despite 40 years of litigation and the existence of “discovery rules” that determine how statutes of limitation apply to asbestos-related illness, the issue remains controversial.Case in point: A state appeals court in Delaware’s New Castle County last month made a ruling involving an employee of a company that was acquired by URS Corp. The ruling involves the worker’s contention that he didn’t receive

Photo from AP Wide World Officials of Local 401 were indicted on charges that include arson at non-union projects. Related Links: Federal Charge: Violent Ironworkers' Local 401 Valued its 'THUGS' Trades Must Play Key Role To Keep Industry Competitive, Employers Tell Union Ironworkers Years of alleged intimidation by an ironworkers' union local in Philadelphia through site vandalism, violence and extortion targeting non-union contractors, workers and even the carpenters' union culminated in the arrest last month of 10 of the local's managers and members.They were indicted on U.S. racketeering, conspiracy and arson charges, while the parent union took over the local's

Like other big-city unions, ironworkers' Local 401 in Philadephia found its once-unchallenged hold on the city and its suburbs compromised as nonunion contractors increased their market share.In response, say federal prosecutors, the local's leaders carried out, over many years, a program of intimidation that stands out for its violence and audacity. According to a grand jury indictment opened in Philadelphia last week, business manager and local leader Joseph Dougherty and nine other officers and members regularly employed violence and threats to extort contractors, limit nonunion work and even keep union carpenters from performing work the local believed it should control.In a

Googlemaps Three towns, Saluda (B), Tryon (A) and Columbus (C), are unhappy with water pressure in their multi-community system in the hills of North Carolina. Three small towns in the mountain country of North Carolina, not far from Asheville, say they are suffering from poor water pressure and they are blaming the engineering firm that designed the water delivery lines connecting the towns. The towns of Columbus and Tryon and the city of Saluda are suing Asheville, N.C.-based engineer Joel E. Wood and Associates, LLC.A judge recently transferred the lawsuit from state superior court in Polk, N.C. to federal court

Related Links: Indictment Charging Document Atlanta Constitution: DeKalb School Exec Pope Gave Architecture Firms the Ax A state judge sentenced the former chief operating officer of the DeKalb County, Ga., school district and her ex-husband, an architect, for a scheme in which they steered district design work to his firm.County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker sentenced Patricia Reid and Tony Pope on Dec. 9, but more interesting than the sentences are how the husband-and-wife team worked together yet still believed they worked within the law or had concealed any violations. Becker sentenced Reid to 15 years in prison for steering district