OrlandoSentinel.com
Family aims to stop release of images of SeaWorld trainer's death
By Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel
5:10 PM EDT, September 8, 2011
The family of former SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau, killed in 2010 by a killer whale, has sued in federal court to ensure images of her death won't be released by the federal agency that investigated the tragedy.
Brancheau's husband, mother, brother and sister want a judge to block the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration from publicly releasing copies of any videos or photographs depicting Brancheau's death, her body or efforts to revive her.
The family also has asked that none of the materials be displayed publicly during an upcoming court hearing in which SeaWorld will challenge the findings of OSHA's six-month investigation into Brancheau's death. That hearing is scheduled to begin Sept. 19.
Brancheau died Feb. 24, 2010, when she was pulled under water and killed by Tilikum, the largest and most dangerous whale at SeaWorld Orlando.
The materials in question include video from an underwater surveillance camera operated by SeaWorld and photographs taken by Orange County Sheriff's Office investigators who responded to the scene. Brancheau's family previously won a permanent injunction in state court blocking the Sheriff's Office and the District 9 Medical Examiner's Officer from publicly releasing the materials.
OSHA has already released to some media outlets a detailed, written description of the video recording. Agency officials have said in depositions that the release of the summary was a mistake.
Lawyers for Brancheau's family members say in court filings that they have a "deeply personal and intimate privacy interest" in the death-scene materials and that disclosing them would serve no public purpose.
But the images also were obtained by OSHA during its own probe into Brancheau's death. That investigation ended with the federal agency citing SeaWorld for willful workplace-safety violations and recommending that SeaWorld trainers never again work in close contact with Tilikum.
SeaWorld is challenging the results before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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