Personal Injury News: Pick Of Last Month: Apr-2020
DEA Agent's Vehicle Crash Victim Gets $4.1M Settlement
U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez awarded $4.1 million to a man from Long Beach, who suffered a brain injury when the vehicle of a Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Special Agent rammed into the rear end of his vehicle.
The lawsuit was filed by the victim and his wife claiming negligence and seeking damages for medical expenses, loss of income, pain, and suffering, and the wife’s loss of her husband’s companionship.
According to the court papers, the victim stopped his vehicle and looked in his rearview mirror and saw the agent driving toward him without looking at the road ahead. It resulted in the agent crashing into the rear end of the victim's vehicle, causing permanent disability to him.
In a car accident scenario, a person can be negligent by doing something that he or she should not have done, like for instance, running a red light or speeding, or by failing to do something that he or she should have done like failing to yield, not stopping for a pedestrian, or forgetting to turn on headlights while driving at night.
A driver must use reasonable care to avoid injuring other motorists, passengers, or pedestrians. If a driver is not reasonably careful, and someone is harmed as a result, the driver and the driver's car insurance carrier can be financially liable for that person's injuries and other losses.
Drivers must drive at a reasonable, prudent speed in light of the existing traffic, road, visibility, and weather conditions. Even driving at the speed limit can be considered negligent if, for example, visibility is low, the weather is bad, or the circumstances warrant particular caution.
Drivers must be alert and to maintain a careful lookout for other vehicles, pedestrians, and road hazards. Drivers are expected to see the things that an ordinary, prudent person would see. Failure to do so can constitute negligence.
Victim's lawyer informed that the impact caused permanent disability to the 55-year-old former Southern California Edison employee, for which the government offered $900,000 to settle before the non-jury trial. He is also suffering from post-concussion syndrome, a mild traumatic brain injury, post the accident.
Apartment Stairway Fall Injury Leads To $1.75 Settlement
A man who suffered serious injuries post his fall from an apartment stairway received a $1.75 million settlement in his Essex County lawsuit.
On April 4, 2017, the plaintiff was coming down from stairs at 20-30 Astor Street, where his sister lived when he stepped on a broken stair resulting in a fall. He tried to grab a handrail, but even that was defective. The accident resulted in injuring his lower back and left shoulder.
The plaintiff underwent many surgeries, including arthroscopic surgery to treat a torn tendon of the left shoulder, along with laminectomy, discectomy, decompression, and fusion at L4-5. He even received injections to get relief from the service pain.
Stair accidents are responsible for more than one million emergency room visits every year. People of all ages are injured falling from stairs. However, women, children, and older adults tend to sustain more serious injuries. Stair accidents caused by negligence happen every day.
Stairway and stairwell problems are a common cause of serious, sometimes fatal, injuries. Dangerous conditions leading to falls on stairs include:
Slippery surfaces on stairs include slick tiles, highly polished or waxed wood, and worn carpeting. Shiny, slippery surfaces may be attractive, but trading appearance for safety can make the property owner responsible for injuries.
Icy or snowy steps and even water puddles on steps and landings can cause serious slip and fall accidents. Owners are obligated to clear ice and snow, repair drainage problems, and provide non-slip surfaces, especially in public areas.
Poor lighting in stairways and stairwells can make it difficult to see the beginning and end of the stairway, obstructions, and potential hazards like ice or wet leaves.
Loose handrails, the wrong height, or missing can cause stair accidents indoors and out. Some properties, like rental homes, have building code requirements for safe stair railings.
Stair height and depth may also be subject to local buildings codes. Stairs that are too high or low, or very shallow are difficult to navigate safely.
Uneven steps and stairs are significant fall hazards, whether caused by warped wood or poor design. Uneven steps, even the last step down, can throw a person off-balance and are often a clear building code violation.
Plaintiff's lawyer said that he previously worked as a furniture assembler, cook, and warehouse worker. But the mishap has left him with life long injuries, which will affect his future as he will not be able to work efficiently.
People Affected By Natural Gas Explosion Get $143M
A Massachusetts judge awarded a settlement of $143 million to the residents and business owners who were affected by natural gas explosions in the state in 2018.
The settlement came as Columbia Gas of Massachusetts pleaded guilt for causing the explosions that resulted in destroying 100 buildings, injuring dozen of people, and killing one. The lawyers said that the settlement would be a relief to the people of Merrimack Valley affected by the explosion.
A fine of $53million is imposed on Columbia Gas by the authorities for breaking a federal safety pipeline law. Its parent company will also sell off the Massachusetts operations.
The National Transportation Safety Board informed that the explosion on Sept. 13, 2018, was a result of poorly planned pipeline projects causing natural gas overpressurization leading to fires.
Attorneys said that an estimated 175,000 people are eligible for payments, but only 11,000 claims were submitted. The average settlement amount for a family of four is expected to be about $8,000.
Earlier, the family of a laborer who died in a plumbing explosion at an Illinois wastewater treatment plant will receive $5.5 million from three construction companies and a pipe testing manufacturer to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.
The victim was a union laborer employed by Henderson Bros. Company, which was a subcontractor to Tobin Brothers, a plumbing subcontractor to Williams Brothers Company, the general contractor. On October 20, 2015, he was seriously injured while working inside a 54-inch diameter pipe when a piece of test equipment, known as a joint tester, exploded. The explosion caused the equipment and/or blast wave to violently strike him, leading to his death at the hospital, several days later.
The lawsuit was filed by the victim's estate in January 2016, alleging that Williams Brothers Construction Co., failed to provide proper safety and supervise its contractor, Tobin Brothers. The lawsuit further alleged that Tobin Brothers negligently assigned the victim to operate a joint tester without training, wherein the joint tester itself, manufactured and leased by Plug-It Products Corp., was dangerous.
In July 2019, a jury awarded a $47 million settlement over a boiler explosion lawsuit filed by injured plaintiffs. Kickham Boiler and Engineering, Chicago Boiler Company, Aquacomp Water Treatment Services, Loy‐Lange, Clayton Industries, and Arise Incorporated were the defendants who paid the penalty for not including corrosion allowance on the pressure vessel and failing to do proper water chemistry treatment, sediment removal, and inspections. The incident took place on April 3, 2017, at the Loy-Lange Box Company facility on Russell Avenue where a 3000-pound pressurized steam container exploded and flew 500 feet high before landing into the Faultless Linen Facility. The mishap killed one person and injured two at Loy-Lange, while three or more were killed at Faultless Linen.
Eleventh Circuit Court Rules Against Tobacco Companies
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit denied an appeal made by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA Inc. over a $41 million jury award given to a former smoker whose decades-long habit allegedly led to pulmonary disease.
The lawsuit was filed by a Florida resident against the tobacco companies claiming them responsible for his Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
The initial verdict was given in October 2014, in the federal court in Florida. The jury had awarded $15.8 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages in the amounts of $15.7 million against Philip Morris and $9.6 million against R.J. Reynolds.
Judge Jill Pryor for the appeals court reduced the compensatory award to $12.8 million, reflecting the plaintiff's fault. She also said that the $25.3 million punitive awards, whether viewed as 1.6 times the full compensatory award or twice the reduced amount, are within constitutional bounds.
Earlier, in a landmark judgment, the Quebec appeals court ordered three tobacco companies to pay more than $11 billion to Canadian smokers who claimed in two class action lawsuits that they were never informed about the risks of smoking.
This judgment upholds a lower court's 2015 ruling that subsidiaries of Philip Morris International Inc., Japan Tobacco Inc., and British American Tobacco PLC are liable for CA$15.6 billion ($11.27 billion) with interest to Quebecois smokers and former smokers who developed smoking-related disease or addiction. The subsidiary companies, Imperial Tobacco, JTI-Macdonald and Rothmans, and Benson & Hedges had appealed the lower court's ruling that found them choosing personal profits over customers' health.
A lawyer representing the smokers who filed the class action called the verdict as a complete victory for the victims. The appeals court concluded that the tobacco companies handled not disclosing adequate information about their cigarettes since the 1950s and promoted a campaign of disinformation by revolting to the warnings others made about cigarette smoking. The non-profit Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health indicated the total amount to be paid would be nearly $17 million in Canadian dollars ($12.24 billion USD), including interest added since 2015.