MECHANICVILLE – A lawsuit is moving forward in the case of a Rensselaer County man who died while working on a construction job in Saratoga County in February.
A court summons was recently issued in the case of Sarah A. Cole, the administratrix for her former partner, the late Jeffrey P. Pasinello, 36, against BBL Construction Services, the De Crescente Distributing Company Inc. and several other DeCrescente LLCs.
The summons alleges that Pasinello died in February 2022 while he was working on a warehouse building owned by DeCrescente and located on the DeCrescente property in Mechanicville. DeCrescente had entered into a contract with REO Welding Inc. of Cohoes, Pasinello’s employer at the time, to do work on a warehouse. According to the court summons, while working at DeCrescente’s Mechanicville property, Pasinello fell from an elevated height to the ground, resulting in his death.
The summons alleges that under state labor law the defendants were charged with the duty to “furnish and/ or erect scaffolding, hoists, stays, ladders, slings, hangers, blocks, pulleys, braces, ropes and other devices so as to provide proper protection to the workers lawfully.” The summons goes on to allege that on Feb 9 the defendants violated their respective duties under labor law by failing to provide reasonable and adequate protection to Pasinello while on the construction site. The lawsuit says the death occurred without any negligence on the part of Pasinello.
Construction began on the new warehouse space in December 2021. According to the DeCrescente Distributing website the new space would increase the warehouse an additional 66,000 square feet, bringing its total to 258,000 square feet.
An online GoFundMe fundraising page was started after the accident to benefit Cole and her and her two children. In the months since the incident over $69,000 has been raised out of the $100,000 goal. In a March update to the fundraising page, Cole thanked everyone for their contributions, many of whom she says she has never met. In her post Cole calls Pasinello the “ultimate family man.”
“Through our heartache, we’re grateful to you because we can stay here in our home like we always planned to,” Cole said in her post. “Surrounded by memories of Jeff that we’ve spent the last 20 years making. From the bottom of my heart, Thank you.”
The plaintiff’s attorney, Peter J. Moschetti Jr. of the Latham-based law firm Anderson Moschetti and Taffany, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The defendants, BBL Construction Services and DeCrescente, also did not respond to requests for comment. DeCrescente and BBL Construction previously issued a joint statement about the incident which read:
“This morning, a fatal accident occurred involving an employee of a contractor working on the DeCrescente warehouse expansion project in Mechanicville. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the person who passed away. State Police and emergency personnel responded promptly and remain on the scene. Safety is the number one priority of both companies, and we will work with authorities to conduct a thorough review of the incident.”
Categories: -News-, Saratoga County
