SeaWorld slapped with fines in orca tragedy; vows fight
By Dona Leinwand
Aug. 23, 2010
SeaWorld intentionally disregarded dangers to an animal trainer by allowing her to lie at the edge of a pool to interact with a particularly aggressive killer whale, federal investigators said Monday.
Tilikum, a 6-ton orca, or killer whale, grabbed trainer Dawn Brancheau from a pool deck and fatally dragged her underwater after the Dine With Shamu show at the Orlando amusement park Feb. 24. Tilikum repeatedly thrashed Brancheau as she tried to escape, police reports say...
OSHA said SeaWorld acted 'with plain indifference to or intentional disregard for employee health and safety.' That citation carries a maximum penalty of $70,000. OSHA also fined SeaWorld $5,000 for failing to install handrails on two stairways... ." (From USA Today)
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Bad SeaWorld!
SeaWorld is owned by The Blackstone Group.
"The Blackstone Group, L.P. (NYSE: BX) is an alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and fund-placement advisory services.
Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyout transactions over the last decade while its real estate business has been an active acquirer of commercial real estate.
Since inception, Blackstone has completed investments in such notable companies as Hilton Worldwide, Equity Office Properties, Apria Healthcare, Republic Services, AlliedBarton, United Biscuits, Freescale Semiconductor and Travelport.
The firm was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions boutique by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb Inc.
Over the course of two decades, Blackstone has evolved into one of the world's largest private equity investment firms. In 2007, Blackstone completed a $4 billion initial public offering to become one of the first major private equity firms to list shares in its management company on a public exchange.
Blackstone is headquartered at 345 Park Avenue in New York City, with more than a dozen additional offices in the United States, Europe and Asia." -- Wikipedia
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Blackstone's net income in 2009 was $723 million (US).
Do y'all reckon they can survive a $75,000 slap on the wrist by OSHA?
This all causes me to want to puke. Capitalism is a stinking, rotten system that exploits the helpless (like Dawn Brancheau) and the ignorant to make millions for members of the international investor class.
D. Grant Haynes