Those involved in operating the machine. Carstensen also suggested that government regulators could become a focus of a possible case, if an inspector was negligent in carrying out his or her duties to ensure that the crane was in shape for the job. But Yance said lawsuits going after government regulators are rare and unlikely because of the difficulty in linking a subpar inspection with an accident. Criminal charges would come into play only if District Attorney E. Michael McCann were to find serious misconduct by an individual or company involved, Carstensen said. But massive litigation isn't necessarily inevitable, he said.
Accidents do happen.
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 16, 1999. All rights reserved. Produced by Journal Interactive .