Wisconsin construction worker falls to death while working on Milwaukee Bucks stadium
By
Jessica Goldstein
3 November 2017
A 57-year-old electrician from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, fell to his death from an 8-foot ladder while working on the construction site of the new Milwaukee Bucks basketball stadium last Wednesday. The worker complained of severe chest pain before he fell from his ladder and suffered severe traumatic injuries. After the fall, the worker was transported to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, where he died on Saturday.
Results from an autopsy report completed on Monday are still pending. The worker’s name and other personal information have yet to be released to the public. It is not known whether or not the worker was a member of a union, or if he was a full-time, part-time or contract worker. A phone call from the WSWS to the Milwaukee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) office to request more information on the death has not been returned as of the time of this writing.
No details are to be found in the press about the working conditions that caused an 8-foot fall to be fatal, or if and how the worker’s complaints of severe chest pain were addressed. The lack of information on the circumstances surrounding the death mirrors the death of Michael Morrison, a 46-year-old electrician and IBEW member who fell 75 feet to his death while working on the Little Caesar’s sports arena in Detroit.
The Milwaukee Bucks stadium is contracted by Mortenson Construction, a Minnesota-based privately owned construction firm worth $3.8 billion, according to Forbes.com. In August 2015, Jeramie Gruber, a 35-year-old roofer working on the Mortenson-contracted billion-dollar Minnesota Vikings US Bank football stadium, also died from a fall. Another…