ON JUNE 14, 1985, in what legal experts say is the first case of its kind, Judge Ronald Banks convicted Steven O'Neil, Charles Kirschbaum, and Daniel Rodriguez, agents of Film Recovery Systems, Inc., of murder in the death of Stefan Golab, an employee, from cyanide poisoning. Banks, who heard the case without a jury, said the evidence during the eight-week trial clearly showed Golab died from inhaling cyanide under “totally unsafe” workplace conditions.

Golab's death, according to the judge was no accident, but murder. Corporate defendants, Film Recovery Systems and its sister corporation Metallic Marketing Systems, were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death.

The now defunct Film Recovery was a company engaged in the business of extracting silver from used X-ray and photographic film for resale. ...