Judges Blame Agency for Death
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buckscountycouriertimes.com Twitter: @CourierTimes facebook.com/pages/buckscouriertimes Utley likely BUCKS COUNTY staying put C1 $1.00 WEDNESDAY, AuGUST 19, 2015 Judges blame agency for death By JO CIAVAGLIA StaFF WRITER The day Robert Dietz died, he started work on a water main job at 7 a.m. Shortly after 9:30 p.m., he called his wife to tell her he was still on site, but expected to finish soon. An hour later he was dead of a heart attack. His widow, Judith Dietz, blamed his employer — Lower Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority in Bristol Township — for her 48-year-old husband’s sudden death in November 2007. Robert Dietz worked as a field maintenance man- ager for 20 years for the public water authority, a job CHLOE ELMER / StaFF PHotoGRAPHER that involved heavy labor The new bathrooms at the Bucks County Emergency Homeless Shelter in Bristol Township give residents a and long workdays. feeling of family, said Audrey J. Tucker, CEO of Family Service Association of Bucks County. Judith Dietz filed a workers’ compensation claim seeking benefits for Residents of Bucks County herself and her child for a work-related death. Under contributed cash to transform the federal law, a widow with one child is entitled to the bathrooms at the an award of 60 percent of a emergency homeless shelter. worker’s wages and up to Sheltered by $3,000 for burial expenses. On Friday, a three-judge Pennsylvania appeals court reversed a denial of her BEFORE claim, finding that Dietz had proved her claim that a “causal connection” existed between the 14-hour work- day involving heavy physi- generosity cal labor and her husband’s fatal heart attack. The authority had Commentary As project superinten- unacceptable became unbelievable. dent of the renovation and “I interacted with some residents as they denied liability and the reconstruction project of watched us work,” DiMaio said. “They’d complaint then went before the decrepit bathrooms at say things like, ‘Wow, this is looking great!’ a workers’ compensation the Bucks County and ‘We can’t wait till the bathrooms judge. Emergency Home- are done!’ ” See BLAME, Page A2 ianficaro G less Shelter in However, DiMaio heard one word Bristol Township from the residents more than any Phil over the past four other. One word that finished months, Mike at their lips, but came from the DiMaio felt the heart: State’s high eyes watching. Thanks. DiMaio, proprietor of Milex Construc- The residents of Bucks County, tion, in Morrisville, noticed many of the 75 please accept our thank you to all who court unseals shelter residents — men, women, children contributed dimes and dollars to — observing the teams of workers rebuild- The Intelligencer and Bucks County ing the crumbling bathrooms as the resi- Courier Times’ “Buck Up, Bucks orders on AG dents themselves attempted to do the same County” campaign to raise funds to By MARGARET GIBBONS with their own lives in disrepair. fix the bathrooms at the shelter, a StaFF WRITER He heard the comments through the din temporary residence for individuals The state Supreme of banging hammers and whirring drills and families who have lost safe and Court late Tuesday unsealed during installation of new toilets, bathtubs, stable housing. two prior orders relating sinks, showers, mirrors, lights, ventilation, Your generosity raised $244,000, to a protective order that floors, walls, ceilings, wiring and plumbing. with $184,000 helping improve not involved a grand jury inves- He heard residents’ comments who only the bathrooms but residents’ lives tigating leaks. watched appreciatively as old became in the process. The state’s highest court new, dirty became clean, cramped became The old bathrooms were dingy, said the release of the prior roomy, disrepair became dignified and See GIANFICARO, Page A2 decrepit and inhospitable. orders was a response to state Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s comments last week alleging Officials: Military likely to open criminal charges against her stem from an most combat jobs to women attempt by Kathleen Harrisburg Kane Make restaurant-style salads By LOLITA C. BALDOR officials and ASSOCIated PRESS state prosecutors who want in your kitchen, Food WASHINGTON — Two women to discredit her and prevent have now passed the Army’s gruel- the release of reported por- ing Ranger test, and even tougher nographic and/or racially and more dangerous jobs could lie or religiously insensitive ahead. The military services are emails. poised to allow women to serve in Kane, who is criminally most front-line combat jobs, includ- charged with leaking secret ing special operations forces, senior grand jury information and officials told The Associated Press. then trying to cover it up, Based on early talks, officials said at her news conference say the Army, Navy and Air Force that she was barred from 83° Partly sunny likely will not seek exceptions that releasing the emails to make 68° and humid. B3 close any jobs to women. Marine her point by a protective Corps leaders, they say, have order issued by Montgom- expressed concerns about allowing ery County Judge William Index women to serve in infantry jobs and R. Carpenter, who super- Advice .......... D4 Money .......... B8 yet may seek an exception. vised the grand jury looking Classified ..... D7 Movies ......... D5 The services are wrapping up into the leaks. Comics ......... D6 Obituaries .... B6 reviews and must make their rec- However, the sealed Editorial ..... A10 Puzzles ...... D14 orders made public on Lotteries ....... A2 TV ................ D5 ommendations to Defense Sec- retary Ash Carter this fall. The Tuesday indicate Kane may officials spoke on condition of ROBIN TRIMARCHI / ASSOCIated PRESS have had that authority to anonymity because they were not One of the 20 female soldiers, (top left) who is among the release the email informa- authorized to discuss the internal 400 students who qualified to begin Ranger School, does tion at least as far back as debate. lunges in between obstacles on the Darby Queen, one of December. See COMBAT, Page A2 the toughest obstacle courses in U.S. Army training. See KANE, Page A2 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015 FROM THE FRONT PAGE A2 BUCKS COUNTY COURIER TIMES RETIREMENT He found the medical PLANNING records showed that in 83° Blame 215-968-6638 Anthony Petsis 2002 Dietz was diagnosed apetsis.com 68° with a mild narrowing of & Associates Continued from Page A1 the leg arteries that did not TODAY Partly sunny Dietz had only to prove a and humid. require treatment. He also At the subsequent hear- went to the hospital that connection between the ing, Dietz testified that her year twice complaining of death and the employment, husband’s job involved chest pain, but neither time not that he experienced LOTTERIES Tues., 8-18-15 ONLINE POLLS heavy labor, including jack- more strenuous than usual hammering roads, repair- was diagnosed with cardiac problems, according to duties. www.buckscountycouriertimes.com ing water main breaks and The case was remanded NEW JERSEY PENNSYLVANIA cutting tree roots out of court documents. The doctor concluded to the original judge who, Pick 3: 3-9-3 Cash 5: 5-21-25-26-30 Did the Eagles first pre-season game the sewer system. He fre- using the correct standard, Straight: $278.50 that Dietz’s heart attack Midday Pick 2: 2-1 make you feel any differently about the quently worked longer than granted the fatal claim team’s prospects for this year? occurred when a sudden Box: $92.50 Pair: $27.50 a 40-hour week and was petition, court documents Pick 4: 5-4-5-4 Pick 2: 6-4 blood clot developed in 46% No always on call. show. The authority then Straight: $1,635.50 Midday Pick 3: 1-6-3 a heart artery. A clot can 49% Yes, I feel better about the team During their last con- appealed, and the appeal Box: $272.50 Pick 3: 7-3-9 develop as a result of cold Cash 5: 17-21-25-36-38 5% No, I feel worse about the team versation, Dietz told his board reversed the judge’s Midday Pick 4: 9-6-3-2 wife that he had been doing weather, stress and physical decision, in part because Midday Pick 3: 0-5-3 Pick 4: 6-7-8-7 labor that releases adrena- Straight: $265 roadwork and jackhammer- neither the doctor nor Midday Pick 5: 1-3-9-5-0 Vote in our latest poll ing for hours, and he and line, which tends to thicken Dietz’s wife knew what Box: $44 Pair: $26.50 the blood, and a small tear Pick 5: 1-1-8-7-6 his coworkers were tired duties he performed on the Midday Pick 4: 1-4-1-9 Should college athletes be in the lining of the heart Treasure Hunt: because they’d been on the day of his death and the Straight: $2,265.50 permitted to unionize? artery, which leads to sud- Box: $188.50 3-4-11-15-20 job site a long time, accord- lack of witness testimony den clotting, the court doc- from coworkers about his ing to court documents. uments said. Judith Dietz said her hus- activity, the court docu- MULTI-STATE LOTTERIES But in a deposition sub- ments note. band did not complain mitted by LBCJMA, an Tues., 8-18-15 Mon., 8-17-15 Sat., 8-15-15 about feeling ill and there Judith Dietz filed Mega Millions: Cash4Life: Powerball: internal medicine doctor another appeal, which was nothing unusual about with a focus on cardiology 2-7-33-39-53 9 5-19-21-24-27 3 3-13-17-42-52 24 the conversation, court resulted in the common- disputed Dietz’s expert.