OSHA: Jacob's Pillow Won't Be Cited for 2025 Employee Death
BECKET, Mass.— The Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that Jacob's Pillow is not responsible for the fatal workplace accident that occurred one year ago.
OSHA found no violation of workplace safety and health standards related to the incident, and no citations or penalties were issued.
On Aug. 1, 2025, 40-year-old Kathryn "Kat" Sirico of Rochester, N.Y., and another employee were moving staging platforms across the property on a dolly when it began to lose control on a sloped area. Sirico attempted to regain control of the dolly but tripped and fell. The dolly ran over Sirico, and the platforms fell, landing on them.
Bystanders attempted life-saving measures, which were unsuccessful.
OSHA issued an inspection report on Aug. 3 absolving the organization of fault. The Berkshire Edge obtained and posted the report.
On March 6, the determination was communicated in a letter, presumably addressed to Sirico's family, but the addressee is redacted.
"OSHA has completed its inspection of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival Inc. and determined that no violation of safety and health standards occurred related to the incident; therefore, no citations or proposed penalties were issued," Acting Area Director Stephanie Smulligan-Maldanis wrote.
The OSHA report explains that employees were moving Masonite staging on a rolling cart down an incline near the Doris Duke Theatre; the cart began speeding away, and the two employees tried to slow it down by grabbing the cart; it then turned sideways and flipped over.
Sirico was crushed by the heavy rolling cart.
The Masonite boards were about 4 feet wide and eight feet tall, and a quarter-inch thick. About 32 of the boards were being transported on the cart at the time of the accident, weighing more than 1,400 pounds.
They covered existing staging when equipment was used to keep the floor from being damaged, and according to the OSHA report, were at the recommendation of contractors Allgerone Construction, who built the Doris Duke theater a few months prior.
Sirico, working as the production manager, was a seasonal worker who began in April of 2025, supervised up to eight people in technical work, and had put in a high volume of hours in the weeks leading up, potentially working 12- 15-hour days, six days per week, the report stated.
A February communication from OSHA, presumably to Sirico's family but the addressee is redacted, invited them to a Workers Memorial Day event in April in Washington, DC.
"Each of our fallen workers are so much more than a number or an incident," it reads.
"They are our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, children, spouses, and more. They are those that completed your family."
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