The head of the union representing a worker who died using a dangerous NYCHA hoist demanded an independent autopsy — after the city medical examiner ruled she died of natural causes.
Caretaker Toni Jackson, 31, died March 7 while using a jerry-rigged hoist at the Coney Island Houses to haul trash from the basement.
She was found in a squatting position with her head and neck inside the hoist, which workers say repeatedly malfunctioned and would sometimes drop suddenly.
On Monday, the city medical examiner ruled Jackson died of cardiac arrhythmia. And NYCHA’s internal investigation found she had a laceration on her forehead but concluded, “There is no evidence linking her death to a faulty hoist or a head injury.”
Greg Floyd, president of Teamsters Local 237, questioned the city’s findings.
“The position that she was found in, the head wound, the trauma was not addressed,” he said. “I’m calling for an independent autopsy by somebody who does not have a political interest to tell us what killed Toni Jackson.”
Floyd (below) said he believes NYCHA is using the medical examiner’s findings “to get out of paying the family’s compensation and benefits for two children who were left alone on that Saturday after her mother was ordered to come to work.”
The orphaned children, an 8-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, are now in the temporary custody of Jackson’s sister, Patricia.
On Tuesday, Patricia Jackson retained an attorney, Louis Grandelli, to began an investigation into the circumstances surrounding her sister’s death.
“It’s extremely premature for anyone to say that her death was a result of natural causes,” Grandelli said. “We have more questions than answers right now. This is something that has to be thoroughly investigated right now before we can draw conclusions.”
After Toni Jackson’s death, the state Department of Labor ordered NYCHA to shut down all 40 hoists at the Coney Island Houses and 16 other developments.
