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Archive for News – Page 73

City Reaches a Nearly $3 Million Settlement With Castile Family

Posted by David Brown 
· July 13, 2017 

The city of St. Anthony, MN has agreed to pay a settlement of $2.995 million to the family of Philando Castile. Mr. Castile was shot and killed in July 2016 by a police officer employed by the city. The officer, Jeronimo Yanez, was acquitted in June 2017 on criminal charges that included manslaughter. Valerie Castile, the mother of Philando, receives the settlement as the family’s trustee.

The original shooting and subsequent trial of officer Yanez made national headlines and sparked protests. Mr. Castile, who was African-American, was in his car with his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter when he was pulled over by the officer for a broken taillight. According to Castile’s girlfriend, the officer shot him five time despite Mr. Castile cooperating and  informing the officer that he was armed. The shooting was captured on a dash camera in the police car, and the aftermath was recorded by Mr. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds.

Officer Yanez claimed in court that he believed Mr. Castile fit the description of a man wanted for robbery, and that Mr. Castile was not listening to commands and reached for his gun. Prosecutors argued that Mr. Castile was trying to put the officer at ease by telling him he was armed, and Ms. Reynolds told the court that Mr. Castile was reaching for his driver’s license at the officer’s request. The jury believed Officer Yanez, and his acquittal sparked protests that included shutting down a Minnesota highway.

The $2.955 million settlement will be paid by the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, allowing the city to avoid a potential lawsuit from Mr. Castile’s family. His girlfriend Ms. Reynolds, does not receive part of the settlement, which leaves the door open for her to make her own claim. Because the city’s claim limit is $3 million per incident, if Ms. Reynolds wins a suit the insurance company would pay out only the remaining $5,000. The city of St. Anthony would be liable for the remainder of any settlement or court judgment. The city has undertaken a voluntary review of its police department’s interactions with the public through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the Department of Justice.

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$10.7M Payment Ordered by Jury in Traumatic Brain Injury Case

Posted by David Brown 
· July 11, 2017 

In June 2017, a Los Angeles jury awarded $10.7 million to a young girl after determining that her traumatic brain injury was caused by an auto accident. The girl, who was ten years old at the time of the accident, received the verdict following unsuccessful settlement negotiations in which her lawyers asked for $2.25 million and the defendant countered at $1.25 million. Economic damages made up $6.78 million of the judgment, with the remainder awarded for non-economic damages.

The driver of the vehicle that struck the car in which the young girl was a passenger admitted his guilt in the accident. His lawyer argued that the girl had a pre-existing intellectual development disability that led to her brain injury. The girl’s attorney argued that while the girl did have a learning disability, it was the accident that caused the brain injury and led to an 11-day stay in a pediatric intensive care unit.

After a nine-day trial, it took the jury just two days to order the verdict in favor of the girl.

California law dictates that even if a plaintiff is unusually susceptible to injury, defendants cannot avoid their liability if they are responsible for injuries from car accidents in which they were at fault. While the girl in this case may well have been more susceptible to a traumatic brain injury because of her learning disability, this determination is not relevant in terms of whether the defendant had to pay for her injuries.

Defendants in California cases are not liable for damages related to a pre-existing condition, but they are responsible if that condition worsens or is aggravated. In this case, the girl suffered from moderate but permanent brain damage that was a direct result of the auto accident. The fact that she already had a visual processing disorder did not play into the jury’s decision under California law, as it was clear that the accident caused additional harm. The $10.7 million judgment against the defendant is to cover the costs the young girl will incur over the course of her lifetime due to her traumatic brain injury.

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18-Wheeler vs. Sagging Verizon Telephone Line

Posted by David Brown 
· July 6, 2017 

Court records indicate that a case was filed in Allegheny County Common Court in April 2016 against Verizon Communication Inc. This came after two brothers, Robert and Richard Hetrick, hit a sagging Verizon phone line while hauling a load of televisions during the night of November 17, 2014 driving on their way to New York City. This occurred on Route 40 in the rural area of Addison Township in Somerset County. The incident caused $16,000 in damages to the 18-wheeler by hitting and breaking the windshield and is said to have caused personal injuries to the two men as well.

According to the the lawsuit, a Verizon telephone pole and parts of its legacy copper-line networks owned by Verizon in Pennsylvania had not been maintained properly by the company which resulted in sagging lines.

The poles were not checked properly by the company when Verizon began their focus on investments with more updated wireless and FIOS TV and internet Services and failed to take measures to get rid of poles no longer needed for use by the company.

Verizon was unwilling to comment about the incident due continuing litigation; however, the attorney for the Hetrick brothers, Carlyle “CJ Engel” pointed out that there is proof that pole was installed in 1943 and was not a “double pole.” At the time of the investigation, Verizon still had not given proper records or documentation to prove that the pole had been inspected since its original install in 1943.

Furthermore, the lawsuit also claims that several poles near the crash scene along Route 40 are also leaning and a danger for future incident to occur if not removed. The poles were said to have some of the leaning poles also having “had makeshift ‘extensions’ bolted to the top of the poles with utility wires relocated to these extensions.”

In the settlement against Verizon brought on by the Communications Workers of America; the issue is to remedied by the removal of the estimated 15,000 poles over the next three years by Verizon in order to keep any future reoccurrences from possibly happening again.

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Former NBA player Marcus Camby being sued for nephew’s death

Posted by David Brown 
· July 4, 2017 

Former NBA player Marcus Camby is subject to a wrongful death lawsuit filed Thursday, June 22, 2017. The suit was filed by Marcus Kendall McGhee in the U.S. District Court in Houston. McGhee is the father of Camby’s autistic nephew, 9-year-old Marcus Carter McGhee, who drowned in the manmade pond at Camby’s home in November. According to the suit, the child was son to Camby’s sister.

In the suit, McGhee claims the former NBA Houston Rocket player’s pond was not fenced in — offering no protection to keep the child away from the water — which led to his son’s death while visiting family at Camby’s Pearland home. The report also alleges Camby did not properly supervise the child despite knowing of his nephew’s limitations.

Local news sources report that search crews and law enforcement conducted a search when the child went missing last Thanksgiving afternoon. The search concluded the weekend after Thanksgiving, with searches getting more community support when he was missing more than 24 hours. Locals were asked to check their home security footage and volunteers looked in a six-mile radius around the property. The boy was said to be shy around strangers and non-verbal, leading search parties to play ‘Wheels on the Bus’ — his favorite song.

When the body was found, Camby even expressed his gratitude to those who helped look when speaking with local news outlets:

“My family and I would like to thank the Pearland police department, search and rescue and everyone from the community who assisted in the search for my nephew Marcus. Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare and we are heartbroken.” He then claimed that he and his family would be “front and center” to help before requesting privacy.

Marcus Camby played in the NBA for 17 seasons and was named Defensive Player of the Year in the 2006-07 season, having the most blocked shots per game on average. Starting his career on the Toronto Raptors, he made his longest stays with the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets, playing for the Houston Rockets in 2012 and finally retiring from the Knicks in 2013.

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A Grand $100,000 Reward for Any Information about the Crash to Death of the Two Kvalvog Family Teenage Boys

Posted by David Brown 
· June 29, 2017 

It is unbelievable that two years have passed since the Kvalvog Family lost their two teenage sons. Their death was as a result of a crash on a journey to a baseball competition, in Wisconsin, along Interstate 94. During a radio interview on WDAY radio, Kvalvog recalled how he got the news an hour after he dropped the boys at the school parking lot.

Crash Report Analysis
Kvalvog confirmed that he is ready to pay a double price of $100,000 to anyone who might have a clue about his son’s cause of death. However, he narrated what  happened at the incident when the two brothers crashed. Based on an accident report by Minnesota State Patrol, Zach Kvalvog who was aged 18 was behind the wheel with his brother Connor, 14 years aged, in the passenger seat. They were also with other teammates from Park Christian School. A Semi-truck driver is said to have infringed on the young men’s path before they perished on June 23, 2015, near Dalton, Minn. As a result, Zach Kvalvog was forced to swerve out of the lane.

The semi driver never stopped, then the Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck that the two brothers were in, uncontrollably overturned. They rolled into the middle and wound up on the interstate’s westbound lanes. The two had no chance of surviving; they succumbed on the spot whereas the rest of the passengers Mark Schwandt and Jimmy Morton got hospital admission and later recovered.

Life After The Loss
As what almost every father would do, Kvalvog had to hold someone responsible. He moved to court and filed a death case against Park Christian, Josh Lee who was the basketball coach, the truck manufacturer and the insurance company. He affirmed that his stand was not to seek for financial compensation but to know what and how this happened to his boys. He expressed that it was so hard for him and his wife to move on when their sons meant so much to them. Moreover, the memories and imagination of their young one’s lives keep coming back.

In his view, it is necessary for schools to be careful on how the transportation of students is carried out. He also advocated for proper road marks to be put at the crash site, to keep drivers informed of the road bends.

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Austin Convention Center Sued by a Woman over Allegations of negligence after convention center fall

Posted by David Brown 
· June 27, 2017 

A lady is suing the Austin Convention Center and the city for $1 million. The complainant happened to have attended a meeting at the Austin Convention Center. She claims to have fallen off a flight of stairs she was using. The accident left her with bruises, personal damages, and severe injuries. She filed the suit against the center in Travis County district court.

As indicated by the claim, one of the pins came out as Julie Auslander, walked down the flight towards the end of the occasion, sending her tumbling to the floor. The impact of the fall resulted in multiple injuries and bruises on her body.

It is not the first time that conventions are being held at the Austin Convention Center. Such an incident however, has never happened before; preparations for such events involve great decorations and fitting of the decors that makes the place best suited for the members in attendance. However, proper pinning may not have happened in this event which may have led to the accident.

As a matter of fact, Julie Auslander felt infuriated when she moved to court in Travis County district court. She blames city representatives for neglecting to guarantee that stairs at the convention occasion were stuck appropriately to the stage. Julie argues that supervisions ought to have been done to ensure that all is safe and intact. She indicates that had there been due diligence from the defendants end she wouldn’t have fallen off the stairs.

The case additionally names as litigants the association that facilitated the conference that Auslander was attending. Other defendants are the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, and the firm that promoted it, Stovell Marketing and Public Relations. According to her, all the parties that were involved hold equal blames. In light of this, it is not yet known who will end up paying the fines that the court may decide.
Surprisingly, there was no available Austin city spokesperson to offer remarks about these allegations. The case has not been heard yet leaving the fate of all the parties involved unknown.

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Worker Alleges Mistreatment for Undergoing Chemotherapy

Posted by David Brown 
· June 22, 2017 

A lawsuit filed last month has shined the spotlight on San Francisco State University after an employee claimed that she was being harassed in the workplace for undergoing chemotherapy.

Angela Sposito’s work life was okay until she had to undergo chemotherapy in 2014 to treat a cancerous tumor. When she got back to work, her supervisors started to alienate her slowly.

Angela began being locked out of meetings, which she had access to previously, without being offered any explanation.

Sposito had, earlier in the year, been granted permission to bring her emotional support dog to the workplace. The dog, named Frankie, was supposed to help her get through her anxiety disorder. However, the university’s president Leslie Wong took issue with the animal saying that she did not want to be around Frankie. She also questioned the need for Sposito to have the dog with her in the workplace in a manner suggesting that she leave Frankie at home.

In 2015, Sposito had a new supervisor, Troi Carleton. Sposito alleges that Carleton tried to convince her to quit her job since she feared that she could one day find Sposito dead in the workplace.

A few months after working with her new supervisor, Sposito was unwillingly placed on administrative leave.

The lawsuit also alleged that during Sposito’s time on leave, the human resource staff began making false utterances regarding her cancer treatment. The suit cited Ann Sherman, who was the then associate vice president of HR, whom it alleges, communicated to other staff members that she believed Sposito was ailing from “chemo brain”.

Sposito was subjected to several fit-for-duty exams, before she was finally allowed to return to work in December 2016. At her return, she was transferred to the human resource department and placed with the same people that were causing her misery.

The university, however, denied the allegations and claimed that it acted appropriately. Daniel Ojeda, the school’s lawyer, argued that Sposito’s claims lacked merit and the university would provide a complete account of the facts to disavow these allegations.

Markedly, Sposito’s suit is not the first complaint to be filed in the courts against the school as Linda Ellis, who is a professor at the school, had accused the University of performing unfair medical exams.

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A Major Relief as a Young Woman Is Awarded $1.8 Million in a Court Ruling

Posted by David Brown 
· June 20, 2017 

Alexis Mongiello received a major relief after winning a case that has been dragging in the court since 2012. Alexis, aged 24, was awarded $1.8 million by Sussex County jury for permanent spinal injury she suffered after being involved in a car accident at the age of 19.

The accident occurred on the night of November 9, 2012, while Alexis Mongiello of Sparta was driving in an unknown location to meet her boyfriend who was back home for leave. She was looking forward to reconnecting with her boyfriend, who serves as a marine, after a long time. Unfortunately, her joy was cut short by what was to happen.

According to her narration, Alexis Mongiello said that she was in the front seat of the car, which had made a stop at a red light on Route 23 in Butler. Then suddenly she heard a loud bang from behind that immediately sent her to neck pain. It was Gabrielle Gallagher who had rammed into the rear of Alexis’ car. Shortly after the accident, Alexis Mongiello, was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. Since suffering the accident, Alexis has continued to receive treatment and now the medical specialists are considering spinal fusion surgery as the better option to solve the problem that was inflicted on her by the unfortunate event.

The parties in the case had tried to reach for an out of court settlement but in vain, which forced the case to proceed to trial. In the out of court deal, Mercury Insurance, the defendant’s insurer, had offered to pay only $18,000 against $250,000 policy paid by Gabrielle Gallagher, who was behind the accident.

The complaint was demanding the insurance company to pay Gallagher’s policy amount in full, a demand that was fiercely resisted by the company. This is the disagreement that forced the case to go to trial.

During the trial, the defense team for the complainant who included Andrew Fraser, Esq. and William Thayer, Esq., both of Laddey, Clark and Ryan, LLP in Sparta, NJ, argued that a value should be awarded to Alexis on the basis of harms, losses and lifetime suffering that is as a result of the accident. Fortunately, the court sided with Alexis and ruled to her favor, awarding her $1.8m.

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Corvettes May Be the Most Admired But Not Best In Performance

Posted by David Brown 
· June 15, 2017 

Everyone has his or her taste of a vehicle they admire and imagine themselves driving. One of the most admired is the Corvette. However, it may turn out not to be the best regarding performance.

Reasons Offered

According to some complaints tabled in a Florida federal court by a group of the vehicle owners, the makers failed to include a good cooling system. These drivers alleged that the Corvette Z06 would overheat and automatically get to what they referred as “Limp Mode.” Despite the fact that the vehicle is meant to operate on high race track performance capabilities, the condition ends up reducing the speeds dramatically in an unexpected way.

Based on their field tests, these racetrack enthusiasts, the Plaintiffs, they would no longer drive at their average speed of 125 Mph. Reasons being that in a short duration of 15 Minutes, the vehicle would heat up and get into the Limp Mode. As a result, Corvette Z06 would lose its stability of operation. What is most astonishing is that the vehicle speeds would drastically drop without even a single warning to the driver or other users. There exists a high chances of this overheating extending to the vehicle engine.
The racetrack enthusiasts blame GM for disregarding more than 117 numbers of different state and government laws, including just to highlight a few, false covering, rupture of guarantee and unreasonable enhancement.

Corvette Z06 Expectations

From the vehicle owner’s point, Corvette Z06 was something entirely different from GM’s promise of a track car. Based on the promise and the marketing done by GM, most of them had expectations of a technologically advanced track vehicle. Much to their surprise, their expectations are not what they received. The most astonishing part is that GM has already been informed of the many defects of the vehicle, but no solutions came with the 2017 model. Despite that the production was halted for some time in an attempt to get a solution, all the company did was make some beautifications. On top of that, GM went ahead and warned the clients of their automatic transmissions overheating, as it was the case with the 2015 and 2016 models.

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7 Figure Verdict Against Toyota Over 2006 Crash

Posted by David Brown 
· June 13, 2017 

Accelerator defect! Well, watch out giving this excuse to the US federal courts now. Yeah! Because there has been an interesting development on the ’06 car crash related case that proved fatal. On Friday, the court had reached a decision and it was, to the astonishment of many, against the winds and the court decided to go slightly in favor of the victims of the crash saying that Toyota Motor Corp will pay an amount of $11 million. This case has been in the news for quite some time now as the incident occurred some 11 years ago in Minnesota, USA. The court made the judgment that the accident’s primary cause was the defect in the accelerator.

A US federal court panel comprising of three judges further stated that although in their opinion the driver should be blamed for the accident, although 60% of the problem was with the defective accelerator of the 1996 Camry. The panel on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals subtly stated that the jury from Minnesota had ample evidence and in the year 2015 to come to the verdict that this tragic incident happened due to the fault of both the driver and the manufacturer of the car. They stated that Mr. Lee was only 40% liable for the incident yet he was sentenced and was sent to prison but Toyota Motor Corp is 60% liable.

Robert Hilliard, Mr. Lee’s lawyer, presented the argument that his client spent nearly three years in prison for a crime which he hadn’t committed. He further stated that he was released only when there were several reports of unintended acceleration in the vehicles from the same manufacturers. The reason for his release was the motion that he won in 2010.

The auto in the mishap was not secured by Toyota’s review of more than 10 million vehicles in the vicinity of 2009 and 2010 over increasing speed issues. Hilliard stated after the decision that he was not only grateful to the 8th Circuit but also relieved for the family of his client. The other side of the story is pretty daunting as well as the manufacturers of the car are still firmly claiming that the vehicle which was driven by Mr. Lee was completely fine and well designed. They also said that as the court has made its decision so they will respect it.

Unfortunately, the lawyer for the other injured people of the incident was unavailable for a comment but it is quite clear that the trial basically stemmed from the lawsuit which was filed mainly on behalf of the injured or deceased passengers. Mr. Lee had, later on, joined the lawsuit and repeatedly stated that it was completely unintentional and he felt extremely sorry for the family he crashed into. Having made the verdict, the 8th Circuit stated that improper calculations were made for the damages for the mother of those children in that vehicle and recalculations were ordered.

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