Disney Forced to Pay $36,000 After Crewmember Dies on Set of Wonder Man

The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Disney $36,000 in connection with the death of The Wonder Man Crew member Juan Carlos “Spike” Osorio. Osorio, a lighting technician, died on February 6 after falling on a walkway on Stage 3 of the Radford Studio Center in Studio City. California Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) An investigation found that the walkway had a weak section of wood that was not properly secured to the support.According to the investigation results (via Deadline):

“The deteriorated log had likely weakened due to age, environmental conditions, and repeated stress loads over many decades. As the crew was walking along the walkways, the employee stood on the weakened section of the walkway. Suddenly, without warning, the log supporting the floorboard broke and collapsed as the employee stood on that section of the walkway. The employee fell 41 feet and hit the ground below with force.”

Erika Contreras is the attorney for Osorio’s widow, Joan Osorio Wu, and his mother, Zoila Osorio. The attorney told Variety that the citations prove Osorio’s death was “100 percent preventable,” adding that “Radford Studio Center failed to fulfill its non-delegable duty to properly maintain, repair and inspect its buildings. It is unfortunate that Mr. Osorio ultimately paid the price for Radford’s failure.” They filed a wrongful death lawsuit in May.

Visit the family's GoFundMe site.

In the wake of Osorio's tragic accident, friends set up a GoFundMe page to help Osorio and Wu, as they anticipated.A long road full of legal fees and expensesMeanwhile, the bills will pile up, and widowed tower operator Joan W. will have to deal with it all. The campaign has raised over $191,000 since its launch.

Disney's Recent Legal Problems

The citations add to Disney’s recent legal troubles. The global media company has recently found itself at the center of a number of legal headlines. In February, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts guest Jeffrey Piccolo filed a lawsuit against the company after his wife died following a severe allergic reaction while eating at a Walt Disney World restaurant last year. The company had previously claimed that since Piccolo has a Disney+ subscription (and therefore a streaming contract), he cannot sue them. The company has since backtracked on the claim, but now denies the error as the restaurant “was not owned or operated by Disney.”

naturally, There's also Gina Carano's highly publicized lawsuit, which is financially backed by Elon Musk.. the Mandalorian The actress is suing Disney and Lucasfilm for discrimination and unfair dismissal. The actress was fired from the hit Marvel series after a post in which she compared the treatment of conservatives to the treatment of the Jewish community during the Holocaust. The complaint is likely to go to trial.

Disney and Radford have 15 business days to appeal the decisions in the Osorio case. They are expected to appeal the verdict, not because of the money, but because of the current wrongful death lawsuit.which they would likely lose if they were indeed proven wrong by CAL/OSHA. You can read their full report below:

“At 6:50 a.m. on February 6, 2024, an employee was an engineering technician for a television and film production company. The employee was working with a crew that included Employee #1 and Employee #2. The crew was working on wooden walkways located on Stage 3. The crew was assembling and removing lighting cable equipment hanging from wooden platforms. One of the platforms was accessible via a wooden staircase that continued upward and was connected to the other wooden walkway platforms.

“The walking surface in these walkways consisted of wood floorboards of various sizes, including 2' x 6' and 2' x 8' boards. These floorboards were supported from below by 2' x 4' wood studs (sometimes referred to as “books”). One particular section of this walkway had a deteriorating book that was not supporting the primary 4' x 12' support beam, but instead was improperly fastened to the roof gable. The deteriorating book was likely weakened by age, environmental conditions, and repeated stress loads over many decades.

“As the crew was walking along the crosswalks, the employee stood on the weak section of the crosswalk. Suddenly, without warning, the wooden plank supporting the floor of the crosswalk broke and collapsed as the employee stood on that section of the crosswalk. The employee fell 41 feet and hit the ground below with force. Emergency medical services pronounced him dead shortly after the fall. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, neck and legs.”