June 6, 2014 — The family of Gloucester fisherman Giuseppe “Joe” Cracchiolo, who died in a 2011 fall from a New Bedford dock, has received a total of $1.35 million in two settlements, the second reached while the jury still deliberated at the end of a 10-day trial.
Eastern Fisheries, which leased and legally controlled the dock on New Bedford Harbor, ended a three-year legal battle last week when it agreed to pay $900,000 to settle the wrongful death lawsuit the Cracchiolo family filed against it and the O’Hara Corp.
The first settlement came in September 2012, when O’Hara Corp, based in Rockport, Maine, agreed to pay the family $450,000 to settle its portion of the action.
Cracchiolo, 47, was a crewman aboard the herring fishing vessel Sunlight on Jan. 28, 2011, when he fell into the frigid waters of New Bedford Harbor while returning from dinner.
The boat had docked at the New Bedford pier to undergo repairs. Cracchiolo and another crew member stayed with it while the maintenance was being performed. The two were returning to the boat after having gone out to eat, when Cracchiolo slipped on the icy dock and fell into the harbor.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times