Mill Tragedy Fallout - Lawsuits and Prosecution

September 13, 1908 - Lawsuit filed by Dominic Imprescia
(Fitchburg Sentinel 14 Sep 1908)

I had a misconception when I was writing the blog post of Concetta Imprescia' death in woolen mill, I assumed in the "old days" this type of event happened and it was chalked up as the dangers of time and there were few repercussions.  In other words, the world was unsafe and workers were not protected, but I was wrong.

In 1908 there were child labor laws in Massachusetts that were more progressive than other states.  Employers were required to have on file a certificate of age and schooling for each child under 16, verifying they met the legal requirements for employment, in other words, a work permit when you are under age (like today).  So within 17 days of Concetta's death the lawsuits began.

 

September 14th - Lawsuit for $10,000 filed by Concetta's father Dominic Imprescia 17 days after her funeral.  The lawsuit was seeking $5,000 for her injuries and another $5,000 for her death. 

September 15th - The Commonwealth of Massachusetts summoned the superintendent of Star Worsted Wool to answer questions on the employment of Concetta and if proper paperwork procedures were followed.  The superintendent testified Concetta told him she was 18 years old when she started working on June 7th, 1908, roughly 2 months before her death on August 25th.

Fitchburg Sentinel September 15, 1908

 

September 16th - Due to the confusion around the actual age of Concetta, authorities sent to Italy for actual birth records.

Fitchburg Sentinel September 16th, 1908

September 30th - The trial of the Superintendent of Star Worsted Wool was concluded with a guilty verdict.  The case was placed on file, which indicates no jail time was imposed.  The case was based on a missing permit for Concetta's employment and the confusion on her actual age and date of birth.

Fitchburg Sentinel September 30th, 1908

 When she applied for school in 1907, the school administrators had difficulty getting information from the parents who had limited english skills.  The young Concetta acted as the translator between the school and her parents and at that time the school recorded her birthday as January 13, 1894.  The prosecutors did not receive a response from her hometown (Pietraperzia) in Italy on their request for her actual birth certificate by the September 29th court date, so it was still unclear if she was under 16.  Even her parents did not know the correct age for Concetta when asked by the Mill representatives days after the incident.  Her mother Anna said she was 15, her father Dominic said she was 16, but remember from prior post - they may have had 17 children so remembering everyones birthday would be a challenge! 

From my research I have her birth certificate that has her actual date of birth which was March 25, 1894.  Using that date and according to the school, she last attended class on June 7th to work,  she would have been 14 years and 3 months old - well under 16 years old.  But she could have worked legally at that age if she had a proper work permit from the school.  

The labor safety inspector for the Commonwealth did not agree with the judges ruling (basically no sentencing and a slap on the wrist) but he did agree that the Mill had a clean record before this incident and the superintendent of the mill had no previous complaints against him in the 25 years of his career.  So the guilty plea was placed on file and with no further action or penalty.

November 3 - Lawsuit settled

Fitchburg Sentinel November 3, 1908

On the positive side, the civil lawsuit against the Star Worsted Company was settled.  The original suit was for $10,000 for injuries and death.  Unfortunately the newspaper microfilm is a terrible copy and I cannot read the details of the judgement.  But I can assume the award was somewhere between $5,000 to the maximum of $10,000 originally requested in the lawsuit.

According to a calculator I found on the internet, $1,000 in 1908 would be worth over $34,000 in today’s dollars, so they could have received $170,000 - $300,000 in 2024 dollars . So it is good to know the Imprescias' did get something from the mill that took the life of one of their last three living children.