Media Advisory for February 16, 2005

Mother of murdered child teams-up with teens to stop workplace violence.

On February 16 - the one-year anniversary of her son's fatal stabbing outside CVS - Taciana Ribeiro Saab will announce disturbing findings of teen researchers seeking to prevent violence and murder against vulnerable teen workers.

"I will be there to honor and remember my beautiful son," says Ribeiro Saab. "But I also want CVS and other retailers to learn what I now know about the dangers their teen employees face. Kids have come out of the woodwork to tell me that they don't feel safe at work."

Ribeiro-Giambrone - a popular Boston Latin Academy senior and highly-regarded CVS employee - lost his life while apprehending a shoplifter on Longwood Avenue.

"What angers me most is that my son's murder could have and should have been prevented. You don't need to be a rocket scientist or the mother of a murdered child to understand that kids need more protection than adults. But many employers seem to feel that once they employ a child, the child then assumes the attributes of adulthood."

New data supports Mrs. Saab's assertions. A group of Boston-area youth will join Cristian Ribeiro Giambrone's mother at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at 4 PM on February 16 to discuss results of a recent survey and release the report, "Teens Affected by Workplace Violence," which will be available in English and Portuguese. The youth - peer leaders from the non-profit Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) and the Brazilian Immigrant Center - surveyed 70 young retail store employees and supervisors to investigate the causes of workplace violence.

Ribeiro Saab and the peer leaders will call upon CVS and other retailers to institute policies and training that would protect their employees from workplace violence. They will also urge elected officials to develop specific policies to ensure the safety of teens working in retail stores.