A New York musician hired to perform in “Jersey Boys” last season at Riverside Theatre is suing for negligence and damages after falling eight feet from an elevated platform during a rehearsal, fracturing his jaw and injuring his head, neck and back, according to court documents.
As reported in the May 23 issue of Vero Beach 32963, the accident earned the theatre a citation and $12,445 penalty from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). It was also one of several safety concerns that prompted six full-time stage technicians to unionize under the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 500.
According to court records, multi-instrumentalist John Putnam was contracted in November 2023 to perform as “Guitar Player 2” in the band for the theatre’s production of “Jersey Boys,” set to run from Jan. 2-28 on the main Stark Stage. His duties included seven rehearsals and 25 performances.
The band was positioned onstage on a raised platform about eight feet above the stage floor.
OSHA requires railings or other safety equipment for platforms higher than four feet.
However, one side of the platform was open, the suit says. Theatre staff “ignored complaints of a physically unsafe work environment and failed to undertake any safety assessment of its set design and construction and failed to warn any performers,” the complaint says.
Prior to a rehearsal on Dec. 30, 2023, theatre employees “covered the open scaffolding with material which appeared to extend the raised platform,” the complaint says. There was no railing or barrier or signs warning that the “platform extension was merely decorative and … not intended to support any significant weight.” No one on the theatre staff warned Putnam, either, according to the complaint.
During a break in rehearsal, Putnam stepped onto the fabric extension and fell eight feet, “slamming his head and body onto the stage floor,” the suit says. The fall left Putnam with a fractured jaw and “other traumatic injuries to his head, neck, back and extremities resulting in physical pain and suffering, disability, mental anguish, loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life, expense of medical care and treatment both in the past and future.”
A railing was installed after the accident, Managing Director Jon Moses told Vero Beach 32963 in May. Putnam was replaced by another guitarist and “Jersey Boys” opened on Jan. 2.
OSHA conducted an inspection of the theatre on Jan. 3 and 4. A Serious Citation and Penalty were issued on April 2. The violation received a Gravity of 5, on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the lowest gravity and 10 being the highest. An OSHA spokesperson confirmed that Riverside has paid the penalty in full.
Oscar Sales, Marketing Director for Riverside Theatre, said the theatre declines to comment on active litigation.
