Greensburg YMCA sued over attorney's death in sauna

The family of a Greensburg attorney who died last year after remaining overnight in the sauna of the Greensburg YMCA is suing the organization and its former executive director, claiming negligence.

The two-count wrongful death lawsuit filed in Westmoreland County Court by Colleen Robinson and her four sons claims her husband, David Robinson, 80, spent the night of March 14 and into the early morning hours of March 15 inside the sauna — where temperatures reached 112 degrees. The high heat, which was kept on from 4:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., raised his body temperature to a “fatally high temperature” because there was no way to open the door from the inside that day, the lawsuit claims.

The suit, filed Friday, Sept. 3, seeks compensatory damages of more than $30,000 plus costs of the lawsuit from the YMCA and former Chief Executive George O’Brien.

O’Brien, who left the YMCA in April 2020, could not be reached for comment Wednesday at his Greensburg office.

Greensburg attorney George Stewart, who is representing the YMCA, said Wednesday the YMCA has yet to be served with the lawsuit and is unable to comment on the matter.

“We fully deny that (the YMCA) was negligent in any way, or any way the approximate cause of Dave’s passing at the age of 80,” said Stewart, noting Robinson was a longtime beloved member of the YMCA and a longtime board member.

The lawsuit alleges that the door on the sauna was unable to be opened from the inside.

But Pittsburgh attorney Robert F. Daley, who represents the Robinson family, said Wednesday they “don’t have any evidentiary facts at this point” to prove that. He said it is likely to be supported after further investigation. If the door could have been opened from the inside, then Robinson could have left the sauna, Daley said.

The suit alleges the defendants were negligent by failing to establish safety measures for using the sauna and not having an automatic shutoff and emergency call button for those inside the sauna.

Robinson, described in the lawsuit as a healthy and active man, entered the YMCA sauna about 5:45 p.m. March 14. An employee tasked with closing the South Maple Avenue facility at 7 p.m. that day failed to check the locker room or sauna for anyone remaining inside, the lawsuit claims.

Robinson’s body was not discovered until about 8:30 a.m. March 15 by a maintenance man who entered the building to turn off the boiler for the sauna, the suit says. Robinson was unresponsive and not breathing. Greensburg police, the Westmoreland County coroner and O’Brien came to the YMCA in response to the maintenance man’s call for assistance, the suit claims.