USA: Baltimore hires Conn Maciel Carey to investigate safety after worker's heatstroke death, despite role reportedly "weakening federal standards"; firm did not respond
The City of Baltimore has come under criticism after hiring a law firm to investigate safety practices after a city worker died from heatstroke, which is also reportedly involved in representing an employers' coalition concerned with "weakening federal standards" and "push[ing] back on new OSHA regulations" regarding heat exposure protections.
The appointment comes after sanitation worker Ronald Silver II died on 2 August from hyperthermia, according to the Chief Medical Examiner. The City had issued a heat advisory on the day Silver died. Silver's family has also criticised the city's hiring of the firm as its investigator while the Baltimore Police Department and a state agency are both also conducting investigations.
The law firm, Conn Maciel Carey LLP, was invited to respond to the concerns but did not.