By Blox Content Management

Copyright berkshireeagle

To the editor: Thanks to Greg Sukiennik for another thorough article about the Jacobs Pillow tragedy. (“Police reports: Jacob’s Pillow accident that killed Kat Sirico unfolded in seconds,” Eagle, Sept. 4.)

It is sad, depressing and frustrating.

The day of the fatal accident, the Pillow shut down for the weekend with a reopening set for the next week. A few days later, it dropped the rest of the season because of the grieving for Kat’s death. This decision ignored the long tradition in the performing arts of “the show must go on.” Wouldn’t Kat have wanted that? Many dance companies had their commitments canceled and thousand of ticket holders, many from long distances with prepaid lodging, bore the brunt, too. The Pillow could have dedicated each performance to Kat.

I raise this issue again in light of Saturday’s article. During this period of grieving, Kat was praised to the heights publicly for contributions to the Pillow and a clearly accomplished career to date. Three weeks later, the victim now becomes the victimized in police reports prepared during this grieving period. Many complaints about Kat’s relationships to other employees, the stress Kat was under, Kat’s apparent disregard for safety and the involvement of Pillow human resources were revealed thanks to The Eagle obtaining the reports through a public records request.

Thus all sorts of negative behavior has been revealed even with a “they should have known better” attitude. And Kat can no longer defend themself. The grieving period looks a lot different when overlaid with so many complaints and serious concerns about Kat’s apparent recklessness before the accident. Kat’s family must have been horrified about Saturday’s story. Was the Pillow trying to lay blame on Kat for the accident even before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s investigation and report are concluded? The article contains all kinds of avenues to pursue to hold the Pillow primarily responsible. Was Kat properly supervised, particularly by a manager who was a “close” friend? If the number of complaints and HR involvement were unusual, why were Kat’s duties not reduced, or why was Kat now put on a short leave to address a reportedly severe stress problem? People under stress often use bad judgment and make serious mistakes. What duty of care did the Pillow owe to Kat as well as other employees?

Peter Herman, Pittsfield