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Archive for News – Page 70

Record $100-Million Settlement Awarded to Helicopter Crash Survivor

Posted by David Brown 
· February 6, 2018 

A record $100-million settlement has been awarded to a medivac flight nurse who received burns to over 90 percent of their body in a helicopter crash. David Repsher, 47, was a registered nurse for Air Methods Corporation, an emergency medical transport company. The helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff in July 2015, killing the pilot and injuring another flight nurse as well as the catastrophic injuries to Repsher.

The settlement occurred about a month before the case was to come to trial. The helicopter crashed in Frisco, Colorado, about 70 miles west of Denver. The three men were to attend a Boy Scout camp event. No patients were on board.

The case revolved around the fact that the helicopter’s manufacturer, French company Airbus Helicopters SAS, failed to outfit the helicopter with a crash-resistant fuel system. The manufacturer took advantage of a loophole. Crash-resistant fuel systems were mandated for all helicopters certified (not manufactured) after 1994. The U. S. Government found as of November 2014 that eighty-five percent of U.S. registered helicopters manufactured after 1994 lacked crash-resistant fuel systems.

David Repsher’s burns covered over 90 percent of his body. Some of those burns extended down to the bone. Mr. Repsher spent 11 months in a burn intensive-care unit. He’s had over one hundred surgeries. In addition to a permanent loss of hearing, he is permanently disfigured and suffers the functional loss of his hands. He required months of physical therapy to relearn how to eat, swallow, talk, stand and walk.

The $100-million settlement is divided between Airbus Helicopters ($55 million) and Air Methods Corporation ($45 million). In addition to the fuel system issues, the investigation showed that Repsher’s seat was not adequately attached to the helicopter floor causing him to be ejected from the aircraft. The pilot of the helicopter was implicated because he turned off a hydraulic switch that delivered hydraulic pressure for the tail rotor.

Airbus Helicopters is implementing enhanced safety features on all newly manufactured aircraft. Air Methods has replaced the downed aircraft with improved safety features and has retrofitted their other helicopters.

Dave Repsher and his wife, Amanda, have established a foundation which focuses on aircraft safety for medical evacuation aircraft and to help other burn victims.

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The Mother of a Teen Who Disappeared in 2005 Files a Lawsuit against a TV Series Organizers Who Duped Her into Providing Her DNA

Posted by David Brown 
· February 1, 2018 

Beth Holloway, the mother of Natalee Holloway, has filed a lawsuit against Oxygen media seeking compensation amounting to $35 million in what she terms as a well-orchestrated plan by the company to dupe her into providing her DNA in the making of a 2017 true crime series on her kid’s disappearance. Beth terms the move by Oxygen Media as reckless and outrageous. Natalee’s mother, who is currently a school teacher, filed the lawsuit on February 2nd, 2018 in Federal court, Birmingham.

The Lawsuit

The 44-page affidavit lists Oxygen Media and Brian Graden Media as the principal defendants.Beth is accusing the two companies of making false declarations that they had discovered how her daughter died and where she was buried.The two companies further claimed that the body of the teen was exhumed five years after her death and her remains desecrated.

The lawsuit further claims that the actions of the two companies made Beth hear, watch, and read about the false ordeal that her daughter went through. This made her believe that Natalee was likely dragged, raped, maimed, killed and her body buried. The series which was titled “The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway” aired at least six episodes between August 19th, 2017 and September 23rd, 2017. The teen’s father, Mr. Dave Holloway, and a private investigator named T.J. Ward appeared in the series.

According to Beth Holloway, the defendants lied to her and the whole world that the series was real-time and it was a legitimate investigation into new leads. However, Beth claims that the show was well-planned, preconceived, and written in advance.

Week after week, she was forced to watch every episode and follow every headline to discover the horrors that befell her little daughter. To make things worse, the defendants capitalized on her agony and desire to find her daughter’s remains to ask her for a DNA to test against the remains they claimed that they had discovered.

The lawsuit claims that the two defendants knew that they were lying and they had not discovered and would not discover the remains of Natalee. The two defendant went ahead and used Beth Holloway’s DNA on the outrageous show without her permission and under the guise of carrying out a legitimate investigation.

Natalee Holloway disappeared on May 30th, 2005 while in Aruba in the company of over 130 of her graduated classmates.

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Oak Park Contractors Sued Over Fraudulent Business Practices

Posted by David Brown 
· January 25, 2018 

Oak Park Contractors are facing charges of contractual malpractice. The sued are the President of Anthony Remodeling Painting and Decorating Inc., Sharon Shimek, and Anthony Taglia, who is the company’s business representative. The office of the Attorney of Cook County filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against the two on three grounds;

1. Nonrefundable hefty deposits

The lawsuit alleges that these contractors received hefty deposits from their customers. Additionally, they refused to refund the deposit in the cases where they failed to perform the contracted work. This is a breach of the Home Repair and Remodeling Act and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act.

2. Masquerading as licensed contractors

The lawsuit alleges that the two contractors are not correctly licensed under the state’s law. It continues to state that they sold time limited discounted offers to unwary customers, despite the fact that they knew they could not meet that timeline. They allegedly reached out to these clients via the phone, email or over the internet.

3. Blackmailing clients

The third allegation against the defendants is that they blackmailed their customers into accepting new contracts changes by withholding services. They orchestrated the said changes to increase the cost of the contract. They are also accused of refusing to honor valid contract cancellations.

According to the state attorney’s office, six people have been affected by these fraudulent practices losing a total of $24,500. It points out that the complaints date to back to 2012.

Speaking on the lawsuit against him, Anthony Taglia pointed out that he has done nothing fraudulent. He claimed that he has been in the business since 1991 and has conducted over 100 deals annually and the six cases against him do not have any weight.

On the second account, he points out that there is no requirement for a permit when painting a house. Nevertheless, he has had a permit since 2012 that he only uses when doing construction jobs. On the third allegation, he explains that their actions were obligated by the situations their clients placed them into.

The aim of the lawsuit is to seek a refund for the customers and the banning of the defendants for the allegedly unfair and deceptive practices. The defendants face civil penalties of up to $50,000 if found guilty.

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Lawsuit Filed Over Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting

Posted by David Brown 
· January 23, 2018 

On January 6, 2017, Esteban Santiago, a war veteran with schizophrenia, took a one-way Delta flight from Alaska to Fort Lauderdale. He traveled lighter than most, his only luggage a Walther PPS 9mm semiautomatic pistol and ammunition that he checked in. During the flight, he was unruly and aggressively argued with other passengers in view of airline employees.

Airport policy is to deliver the checked firearm to the passenger when he or she is outside of the building. However, this policy was not followed. Santiago retrieved his gun, concealed himself in a restroom to load the weapon, and then opened fire in the baggage claim area. He killed five and injured six more.

Among the slain was Olga Woltering. The 84-year-old woman had flown to Fort Lauderdale with her husband, Ralph Woltering, to take a family cruise and celebrating Ralph’s 90th birthday. She was shot in the head while sitting in her wheelchair, dying instantly. Her husband, standing next to her, survived.

Olga’s family have hired an attorney, David Di Pietro, to represent them in court. A lawsuit has been filed in Broward Circuit Court against several entities including Delta Air Lines and Broward County Commission. The family is asking for damages for pain and suffering.

In the months after the shooting, multiple criticisms have been leveled against the Fort Lauderdale Airport and responding agencies. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office released a report in June 2017 scrutinizing official response to the shooting. Some criticisms include:

  • Although Santiago was reached and restrained by in-airport officers within 85 seconds, the rest of the official response was far less efficient and orderly.
  • Miscommunication over the county radio system led responders to believe there were multiple shooters in different airport terminals.
  • No emergency number was set up, which resulted in the 911 system being overwhelmed with calls.
  • Witnesses to the shooting were held within view of the victims.
  • Passengers on the tarmac were held for up to 10 hours without water, food, shelter, or information on what was happening.

Delta Air Lines has expressed sadness over the shooting but has no other comment on the incident or pending lawsuit.

Santiago is currently in Miami’s Federal Detention Center. He is scheduled for trial in June.

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NHL Predator’s Face Ice Injury Lawsuit

Posted by David Brown 
· January 18, 2018 

Eric Nystrom was a National Hockey League (NHL) player. As a college student, he played with the Michigan Wolverines hockey team. He was sought after in the 2002 NHL draft with a first-round pick of tenth overall. His father Bob Nystrom, who was born in Sweden and grew up in Alberta, played with the NHL New York Islanders that won four consecutive Stanley Cups.

In 2005, Nystrom turned professional and played with the Quad City Flames, a farm team of the Calgary Flames, an NHL franchise. Nystrom split the 2007-2008 season between the Quad City Flames and the Calgary Flames. Eric Nystrom went on with his NHL career and played with the Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars, and Nashville Predators. Before the 2017-2018 NHL season, the Predators put Nystrom on waivers and bought out the last year of a four year contract with Nystrom. This action of the Predators against Nystrom effectively ended his NHL career.

Professional hockey is a very tough and somewhat violent sport. There is a high incidence of injuries in professional sports which are both popular and profitable. For instance, Professional sports in California in baseball, women and men’s basketball, hockey, and soccer have produced thousands of work injury claims.

Following Nystrom’ release from the Predators, he sought financial relief for three injuries he suffered playing professional hockey. Nystrom claimed that he suffered from ” permanent partial ” injuries to his hip and leg, on Sept. 3, 2013; a concussion on Nov. 15, 2013; and a back injury on Jan. 12, 2014.

Hockey is as prone to severe injuries like football, and it has been reported that hockey players suffer brain injuries from concussions. The Canadian Medical Journal found that between 1997 to 2004 five hundred fifty-nine concussions were reported in hockey players. The symptoms of a brain injury range from dizziness to blurred vision.

In Tennessee, work injury claims, are subject to provisions of the Workers Compensation Act. Nystrom is seeking a lifetime of medical payments and further economic relief. Not all states recognize that sports injuries are covered under Worker Compensation legislation. In response to Nystrom’s lawsuit, the Predators denied all the allegations in his suit, claimed that it had no knowledge of the injuries, Nystrom was not permanently disabled and the Predators never authorized medical treatment to him.

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Carbon Monoxide Death Case Results in Family’s High-Dollar Settlement

Posted by David Brown 
· January 16, 2018 

A boy from Rock Hill, SC, died in 2013 due to carbon monoxide poisoning after staying at a Best Western motel in Boone, NC. Located 100 miles north of Charlotte, NC, the boy and his mother had stopped for the night at the motel, resulting in the boy’s death, and in serious injury occurring to the mother. The boy, Jefferey Williams, died due to leaking carbon monoxide that was coming from the motel’s swimming pool heating system. The mother, Jeannie Williams, suffered serious injuries also due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Six weeks previously, Shirley and Daryl Jenkins, of Washington State, had died in the exact same room. However, at the time of that incident, officials were unable to locate carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause of their deaths. The Williams family filed wrongful death and injury lawsuits against Best Western and other parties involved and agreed to settle the suit for a sum of $12 million. The Jenkins family also filed lawsuits, which their attorney has said was settled for a considerable amount of money. The manager of the Best Western at the time, Damon Mallatere, also faced manslaughter charges, but those charges have since been dismissed. Instead, his management company plead guilty to three counts of manslaughter. In January 2018, Mallatere filed a lawsuit against the city of Boone for malicious prosecution. Mallatere claims he has not been able to find a job since the manslaughter charges were filed against him.

Since the incident, the Williams family has founded the Jeffery Lee Williams Foundation, which works to raise carbon monoxide safety awareness. The North Carolina General Assembly created a law that is designed to help prevent carbon monoxide tragedies, making it a requirement for hotels, motels, and other lodgings to install carbon monoxide alarms near possible sources of carbon monoxide, including fireplaces, furnaces that burn fossil fuels, and other appliances.

Best Western has since ordered that carbon monoxide alarms be placed in all rooms. They also replaced the pool heater, which burned natural gas, with an electric one. Due to the state medical examiner’s skipping important deaths during suspicious deaths cases, North Carolina has since doubled their pay and instated mandatory training to rectify the issue.

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Conductor Files Lawsuit In Fatal Amtrak Derailment

Posted by David Brown 
· January 11, 2018 

Between June 24, 2011, and April 3, 2016, there were nine Amtrak accidents in which nineteen people were killed and at least six hundred passengers were injured. In eight of the accidents, the cars derailed. The direct causes of the accidents involved a train hitting rocks, cattle feed truck, tractor-trailer, a truck and a train speeding in a curve out of control.

The last recorded Amtrak accident was on December 18, 2017. While this inaugural Amtrack train route could carry two hundred and fifty people, on December 18th, there were at least seventy-eight passengers and five Amtrak crew members. This route was the first time the train was running, leaving the Tacoma, Washington station, setting a course with the high-speed Amtrak Cascades 501 through the Point Defiance Bypass, from Seattle to Portland, Oregon.

After the train left the Tacoma station, it derailed traveling at least 80 miles per hour at a curve which allowed only 30 miles per hour and the engine and four passenger coaches fell over an overpass with two dangling, and the other two fell onto the busy southbound lanes onto Interstate 5. A truck trailer and a passenger car were damaged. As a result of the derailment, three passengers were killed, and at least 80 passengers were injured.

Of the first lawsuits to be filed, one was one by a conductor in the lead engine that derailed, 48-year-old Garrick Freeman. Mr. Freeman filed a complaint because he suffered severe injuries to his pelvis and ribs. He will require extensive rehabilitation to relearn how to walk. A passenger, Pennie Contrell broke her collarbone and ribs. She also suffered an injury to her neck and internal injuries.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating this accident. Some issues to be investigated is the exact cause of the accident, whether the conductor and the crew were adequately trained to operate and navigate the new route and whether a system of positive train control could have avoided the accident. Further, before the accident, both engineers and conductors, like Mr. Freeman, complained that they informed their supervisors that they were not adequately trained to navigate the new high-speed rail system. However, notwithstanding Freeman’s concerns, Amtrak placed him in the lead engine the morning of the accident.

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Washington State, Monroe School District, and Monsanto Sued Over Chemical Poisoning In Schools

Posted by David Brown 
· January 9, 2018 

The state of Washington, Monsanto and Monroe School District have been charged over a high level of toxic chemicals found in a learning center. The lawsuit has been filed by over forty females constituting of parents and teachers. They are blaming these three institutions for the contamination and its resulting poisoning at the Sky Valley Education Centre.

Children and teachers poisoned

The petitioners cite conditions such as skin peeling, seizure, and respiratory problems, among others as the effect of a chemical poison in the school. Some parents explain that their children always became sick in the school and felt better when they left. Some explain that their children developed asthma from a result of such poisoning.

Monsanto blamed

Monsanto appears as a defendant because it is the manufacture of the chemical in question, Polychlorinated biphenyls, PCBs. The firm produced these products without warning the public of its harmful nature. The compound was outlawed in 1970 but remains in use to date.

State of Washington and Monroe School District‘s failure

The lawsuit points out that the state and the School district allowed continued use of the building an education facility despite their knowledge that it had PCB. It refers to a study by the state in 2006 and 2007 that revealed a high level of contamination in the building. Despite the requirements of the state law on safety, the school did not close its door.

A plethora of health issues

Several health issues are alleged to have resulted from this neglect. Some of them include breathing and cardiac problems, autoimmune, skin problems, thyroid and endocrine disorders and stunted development in children. Others include early onset of puberty, asthma, liver damage, stomach pain, vision impairment, and reproductive disorders.

A good school

The only reason why most parents had kept their children in the school is that it felt like a second home to the students. Such is because parents are required to take part in the daily lives of their children.

Defendants’’ response

In response to the lawsuit, the attorney of the Monroe School District provided an elaborate statement of the steps it has taken to ensure the safety of students in the facility. Monsanto on the other end only pointed out to the fact that when it produced PCBs, they were legal and so has no question to answer in the matter.

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Former Employee Claims He Was Fired Due to an Injury

Posted by David Brown 
· January 4, 2018 

A Fresno County man has filed a lawsuit against his former employer with allegations of disability discrimination.

In a case filed in Fresno County Superior Court on Dec 22, 2017, Enrique Lobato is suing Olam West Coast Inc. and David Iniguez through Does 1 to 20. He alleges that the company acted in violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act.

In a statement recorded by the complainant, Lobato had worked for Olam West Coast since 2002. The suit further claims that on May 30, 2017, Lobato incurred injuries as he was fixing a machine at his place of work. Consequently, he was taken to a hospital where part of his injured finger was amputated.

The suit says that Lobato was sent on a one week leave and later returned to work with restrictions. Lobato claims that upon returning to work, the defendant did not permit him to perform his duties and would not even discuss his work restrictions. He was later terminated on June 13, 2017, a move that Lobato claims was due to his disability and inability to carry out his job duties.

The plaintiff further alleges that the defendants failed to create a favorable working condition and relationship to allow him to perform his duties safely and without discrimination. The defendant also failed to take any appropriate action with regards to workplace discrimination.

Through a jury trial, Lobato seeks compensation for exemplary and punitive damages, attorney’s fees, cost of suit, reinstatement of his job, and any other relief that the court deems just and proper. Attorney Amanda B. Whitten from Bryant Whitten, LLP based in Fresno is representing the plaintiff.

Why You Need a Workplace Injury Attorney

The California law offers certain legal rights and protection for anyone injured at work. The California Labor Code offers protection from dismissals due to injuries or disabilities occasioned by on-the-job injuries. However, some employers still disregard the law, and that’s why you need a certified workers’ compensation attorney to help you claim your legal rights.

If you sustain a work-related injury, your employer is required to offer workers’ compensation benefits depending on the severity of your injury. It’s illegal to dismiss or discriminate an employee even after claiming workers’ compensation benefits following a workplace injury in California. Again, after returning to work, your employer should not assign you duties that violate the work restrictions placed by your doctor.

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Conflicting Cause-of-Death Theories in San Francisco Vehicular Manslaughter Trial

Posted by David Brown 
· January 2, 2018 

A driver flicks a cigarette butt out of the window of their car, which ignites a pile of dry leaves on the front lawn of a single-family residence. Embers from the fire are blown onto the front porch of the house, which then catches fire. The fire department arrives but inadvertently sprays accelerant on the fire instead of water. The house burns to the ground.

Who, ultimately, is at fault? There would have been no fire at all were it not for the cigarette butt and the carelessness of the driver. But if the fire department arrived in time and then made the problem worse, not better, what is their ultimate responsibility?

James Harris, a San Francisco city worker, was driving a car registered to the Department of Public Health when he struck and killed wheelchair-bound, 38-year-old Thu Phan on February 5, 2016. He did so while attempting to make a left turn from a restricted lane reserved for buses, taxis, and bicyclists. Phan was in the crosswalk at the time of the accident.

Thrown from her wheelchair, Phan broke both legs and multiple ribs. The accident also caused her brain to start bleeding.

Prosecutor Kara Lacy told jurors that due to his negligent driving, Harris was to blame. “That negligence is what caused Ms. Phan’s brain to bleed and what caused her to pass away.”

Public Defender Dana Drusinsky suggested otherwise. Phan weighed 52 pounds and was less than three feet tall due to osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder. Drusinsky says that the treating hospital, San Francisco General, took a serious but non-fatal injury and made it much worse. “Everyone thought she would be okay,” said Drusinsky. “There was no indication that she would pass away.”

Drusinsky contended that while receiving treatment at San Francisco General, Phan was given intravenous fluids in amounts far too great for someone of her size. And regardless of the genesis of her injuries, she would not have died if her medical care had been competent.

“The accident didn’t kill her, but the gross medical negligence in the hospital did,” Drusinsky said.

In February 2017, Pham’s parents settled a wrongful death suit with the city for $2.9M.

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