Alabama Injury Attorneys Blog

The Chicago City Council Finance Committee approved a $6.5 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit arising from a May, 2004 accident in which an unmarked police car hit two minors. An 8-year-old boy died, and an 11-year-old girl sustained injuries including a fractured skull and hearing loss for four months. Under the settlement, the girl, who is now 18, will receive $590,000; the family of the deceased lad will receive the balance.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people ages 3 to 14 (based on 2007 figures, which are the latest mortality data currently available from the National Center for Health Statistics). In 2009, a total of 4,092 pedestrians died; those age 14 and under accounted for 244 (6%) of the fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Furthermore, of the estimated 59,000 pedestrians who were injured in 2009; 13,000 were age 14 and younger.

Continue reading "$6.5 Million Payout for 2 Persons Hit by Unmarked Police Car " »

The Texas Attorney General's Office is investigating claims of neglect at a Brownfield, Texas nursing home. Three people have been arrested after a 71-year-old patient died of hypothermia in February, 2011. The patient suffered from Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Surveillance video is believed to show the patient walked outside unattended in frigid temperatures; the patient was found dead several hours later.

Continue reading "Nursing Home Patient Death Leads to Investigation, Three Arrests" »

A four-year-old boy's precious life is gone because of someone's negligent actions. Accompanied by his mother and two siblings at the time of the accident, the young victim was crossing a busy street north of Atlanta in April 2010 when he is believed to have bolted from the median before a hit-and-run van driver killed him.

The jaywalking death led prosecutors in Georgia to file vehicular homicide charges against the grieving mother, whom a jury recently convicted. The judge sentenced the mother to one year probation, ordered 40 hours of community service and took the unusual step of offering the mother a new trial. The driver served six months in prison after pleading guilty to hit-and-run accident.

Continue reading "4-Year-Old Boy Killed in Hit-and-Run Jaywalking Accident; Judge Grants Mother New Trial" »

The family of Darryl Turner was awarded a $10 million jury verdict after his untimely death in 2008.

Darryl Turner was a typical17-year-old teenager working at Food Lion in Charlotte, North Carolina when an argument erupted with one of his supervisors. Officers responded on the scene after receiving reports of a store manager being assaulted by another employee.

According to police, Turner became "highly agitated and refused all verbal commands and began walking towards the office." The police officer in turn used a Taser on Turner. Surveillance video shows an office firing his Taser twice. The first shock was held for 37 seconds followed by a second shock of 5 sec.

Turner was rushed to nearby Carolinas Medical Center-University where he died on March 21, 2008. The autopsy declared the shock from the Taser sent him into cardiac arrest.

After Turner's death, Turner's mother, Tammi Fontenot, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Charlotte. Fontenot won a $600,000 settlement against the city of Charlotte and filed a wrongful death suit against Taser International, an Arizona-based company.

A federal jury awarded Tuner's family a $10 million verdict against Taser International. According to testimony at trial, the police officer stunned Turner for about 37 seconds, which caused his death. The personal injury attorney representing Turner told the jury in closing arguments that Taser International knew their Taser could potentially cause heart problems even death. However, Taser failed to warn customers of the dangers. To date, Taser International has beaten 127 wrongful death cases and prior to this case, had only lost one.

Taser International plans to appeal the verdict.

Continue reading "$10 Million Jury Verdict Awarded in Wrongful Death Case" »

A California court has ordered Barron Hilton, the younger brother of the infamous Paris Hilton, to pay $4.9 million to a gas station attendant he struck with his vehicle.

In 2008, Hilton was reportedly driving erratically down Pacific Coast Highway when he swung into a gas station and hit the attendant, Fernando Tellez, with his Mercedes-Benz. Hilton was arrested with a blood-alcohol level of 0.14%, and later charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Hilton denied he had driven the vehicle that struck Tellez.

Hilton's drunk driving accident caused the gas station attendant, Tellez, to suffer permanent injuries. Tellez was out of work for a "significant amount of time" and had numerous surgeries.

The court awarded Tellez with $4.6 million for pain and suffering, medical expenses and loss of earnings. The judgment also awarded Tellez $225,000 in punitive damages, and another $71,000 for interest on the damages.

Continue reading "Drunk-Driving Accident Victim Awarded $4.9 Million Judgment" »

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a day care facility after a 22-month-old toddler was found dead earlier this week.

Dominicue Andrews was found outside a daycare van at the Jomiba Learning Center on Krome Avenue. According to reports, police and emergency personnel received a call of an injured toddler and arrived on the accident scene to find the body of Dominicue Andrew's lying on the ground. There has been no official cause of death released; however, authorities believe that the child was left inside the van. The weather station reported temperatures in the mid 90's on that day making the inside of the van that much hotter.

The plaintiff attorney representing Dominicue's family stated earlier in a press conference that he believed the van's driver and attendant failed to keep a log of the children and left Dominicue inside.

State records indicate the day care's owner, Misael Ramose, was the only person authorized to transport children in the vehicle. However, eyewitness accounts report there were other unauthorized drivers driving the van. The personal injury attorney representing Dominicue's family said, at this point, there are more questions than answers.

The Jomiba Learning Center has been open for less than a year and is temporarily closed while under investigation.

Continue reading "Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed after Toddler Found Dead at Day Care" »

Shirley Osborn, a Putnam County resident, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Genesis Nursing Home after the untimely death of her husband, John A. Osborn.

Mr. Osborn, resided at the nursing home facility, from July 22, 2009 to July 29, 2009. According to Mrs. Osborn, the nursing homes negligence and abuse led to the physical and mental destruction of her husband. Mrs. Osborn alleged that Genesis Nursing Home engaged in nursing home abuse, and failed to meet Mr. Osborn's basic needs. Mrs. Osborn described the nursing home as an "unsafe" environment where Mr. Osborn suffered from dehydration, urinary tract infection and sepsis. Mr. Osborn sustained a fractured right hip after a fall at the nursing home, and Mrs. Osborn claims that an unknown jury lead to Mr. Osborn's untimely death.

Mrs. Osborn is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages after the loss of her husband.

Continue reading "Nursing Home Sued in Wrongful Death Lawsuit " »

A Bakersfield, Calif. elementary school teacher of the year was killed after a school bus driver crashed into her vehicle. The deceased's 2 ½-year-old daughter suffered two broken arms; the bus driver was uninjured. As part of the settlement agreement, the deceased's husband and daughter will receive most of the payout; her father, who witnessed the crash, and her mother also will receive compensation.

Continue reading "School District Agrees to $7.5 Million Settlement in Wrongful Death Suit" »

Ken Riley, a partner with the law firm Farris, Riley and Pitt, LLP, was recently appointed Chair of the Governance and Board Development Committee for the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation (ACJF). Nominated by the new ACJF president, Riley will oversee all aspects of the committee's responsibilities including focusing on recommending board policies and nominating new board members as well as maintaining board diversity. As committee chair, he will also be responsible for ensuring the Alabama Civil Justice Foundation is in compliance as a nonprofit.

A carwash worker recently won an $80,000 lawsuit after his employer failed to pay him overtime and failed to provided him with proper employment records.

Thomas Rodriguez, 41, filed the overtime lawsuit against his former employer, Handy J. Carwash, in October, 2010. Rodriguez, originally from Hidalgo, Mexico said "At the time, [when I came to the U.S.] I didn't know much about my rights."

Workers are asked to report to work two or three hours before they are allowed to clock in. Rodriguez stated that his hours were reduced years ago after the owners brought in additional workers to work only for tips. According to Rodriguez, he was unable to make enough money to eat or pay the rent and therefore he then resorted to collecting recyclable bottles, cans and metal to pay the rent.

A Los Angeles Superior County Judge ruled in favor of Rodriguez and cited the carwash owners Scott Arditi, Juan Lucatero, Fari Shoehed, Shariar Shoehed who were liable for $50,000 in back pay and another $30,000 for damages.

There were nine workers initially involved in the overtime lawsuit but due to intimidation, eight declined to continue pursuing the matter. According to one of the organizers with the Clean Carwash Campaign, the use of intimidation tactics immigrant workers is quite common.

In 2008, the Los Angelos Times reported that carwash owners frequently violated immigration laws and state and federal labor laws. They hire illegal immigrants and wind up paying them less than minimum wage often forcing them to work only for tips. The L.A. Times found that between 2003 and 2008, two-thirds of inspected carwashes did not comply with state regulations. Most of these violations included hiring workers under the legal age of employment, declining to pay minimum wage, failing to have worker's compensation insurance and denying employees their breaks.

Continue reading "Overtime Wage and Hour Lawsuit- Worker wins $80,000" »