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California $49 Million Personal Injury Award and Need for Reforms

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Sep 252009

On Monday, this week, a Santa Clara, California jury awarded $49 million in a single personal injury case. The short version of the case is that two trucks collided and one struck the Toyota Avalon that college student Drew Bianchi, 21-years-old was riding in. The result of the accident was traumatic brain injury to Bianchi.

The Northern California jury awarded $27.6 million in future medical expenses, $3.4 million in past medical expenses, $4.5 million in future lost wages and $13.5 million in general damages. The Santa Clara jury pool is generally thought to be conservative compared to other San Francisco area juries. This was the largest verdict in 10 years in Santa Clara County.

The sheer size of this award for a single person in an automobile accident will cause some people to become very vocal about two kinds of reform including lawsuit reform and healthcare reform.

Those who argue for lawsuit reform say that personal injury lawsuits should not be out of line with similar cases and should not unduly punish those who make mistakes. The costs of these large lawsuits is one cause that makes auto insurance rates to go up.

Those in favor of healthcare reform say that if healthcare costs were not so high right now, then juries would not feel compelled to award as much money for future healthcare costs in personal injury cases.

No matter which side of the arguments you are on, one thing is certain which is there is a causal relationship between large lawsuit awards and both the cost of auto insurance and health insurance. And those costs are spread out among those who did not receive the large awards from the juries.

Tenaha Texas Police Named in Shakedown Lawsuit

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May 062009

Police officers, prosecutors and even the mayor in Tehana, Texas are being named in a police misconduct lawsuit that involves the shakedown of minority drivers passing through the town of 1,000 people. More than 150 people from 2007 to the present are alleged to be part of a systematic and conspiratorial fleecing by police officers.

The police officers are said in the lawsuit to have taken cash and jewelry from the people passing through and making them sign waivers under duress. Several of the victims have said that police threatened to turn their children over to Child Protective Services unless the parents signed the waivers. A disproportionate number of blacks and Latinos were pulled over and made to pay up, according to the suit.

New York Amusement Park Lawsuit Settled

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Mar 242009

The wrongful death lawsuit involving a 7-year-old boy at the Playland Amusement Park has been settled for $1.25 million. Playland, in Westchester County, NY is also required to set up and enhance continual safety training in the amusement park.

In addition, as part of the settlement, a scholarship fund in the name of the deceased Jon-Kely Cassara will be setup for use by one Playland employee. The employee must have a good customer service and safety record in the park.

Jon-Kely Cassara was killed on the Ye Old Mill ride, which is the third death in the park since 2004. In that year a 7-year-old girl was killed when she was thrown from the Mind Scrambler ride.

Salmonella Peanut Butter Lawsuit Filed

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Jan 182009

A nationwide salmonella outbreak in peanut butter products is responsible for killing two elderly patients in Minnesota according to a lawsuit that has been filed. The lawsuit filed by a Minnesota law firm states that nursing home patients Shirley Mae Almer and Clifford Tousignant both died because of salmonella poisoning.

The two resided in two separate Good Samaritan nursing homes in Minnesota. The wrongful death lawsuit is being filed against King Nut of Ohio and Peanut Corporation of America in Lynchburg, Virginia. Several companies including Kellogg and Keebler have recalled products using the peanut products.

Tiger Mauling Lawsuit Filed

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Dec 282008

A year after Carlos Sousa, Jr., a 17-year-old was mauled by a Siberian tiger at the San Francisco Zoo, his family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit. On Christmas Day 2007, a 243-pound tiger, Tatiana, mauled the youth and injured his two friends, Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal.

Police investigators at first said that taunting may have been involved in the case, but have brought no charges against the youths. The family of the Dhaliwals have claimed their was a smear campaign by police and have filed claims for personal injury and character defamation.

NYC Homeless Families Lawsuit Settled

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Sep 182008

New York City Major Bloomberg and his administration have decided to settle a class action lawsuit concerning homeless families stemming back to 1983. The longstanding lawsuit acknowledges that plans to reduce the homeless population as expected have failed.

There are currently over 9,000 homeless families that include over 14,000 homeless children in New York City. The Legal Aid Society filed the lawsuit in 1983 to call attention to the problem of homelessness in the city.

At issue has been the right to shelter in NYC for men, women and homeless children. The settlement relieves the city of the burden of using time and employee resources to carry out over 40 detailed court order. After this settlement, however, a new lawsuit will go forward over similar issues.

Taser Product Liability Suit Gets $6 Million Award

Police Misconduct, Products Liability, Wrongful Death Comments Off

Jun 082008

In San Jose, California a federal jury awarded the family of Robert Heston, Jr. $6 million after the man died due in part to being repeatedly tasered by police. Taser International of Scottsdale, Arizona the maker of the taser guns were found to be responsible in the death of Heston.

According to the jury, Taser International failed to inform police that its product could be dangerous when used upon someone who was on drugs or in combination with chest compressions. Heston was tasered as many as 30 times after police were called to the scene.

Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Filed Against Secret Service

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May 102008

The U. S. Secret Service, long charged with protecting presidents, vice-president and their families has been hit with a racial discrimination lawsuit. According to the employment discrimination lawsuit, black agents have been passed over for promotions and have been subjected to racial epithets both verbally and in email form.

According to the employees filing the case, supervisors regularly use racial slurs when talking about criminal suspects or black leaders of foreign countries. Last month a noose was found by one of the black employees inside the Secret Service training center. The employee who tied the noose has been placed on administrative leave.

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Ex Bolivian President Proceeds

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Apr 172008

There is a wrongful death lawsuit against ex-Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada that has been consolidated this week in Maryland. Also implicated in the case brought forth by 10 Bolivians living in the U. S. is ex-defense minister Jose Carlos Sanchez Berzain.

Both ex-President and ex-defense minister fled to the United States seeking asylum. The plaintiffs’ lawyers are claiming that in 2003, the defendants took inappropriate governmental action that resulted in the killing of 67 Bolivians and that the defendants put themselves under the jurisdiction of U. S. law by fleeing to this country.

Parents of 6-year-old File Pool Entrapment Lawsuit

Products Liability Comments Off

Jan 292008

In Greenwich, Connecticut, parents of a 6-year-old boy have filed a lawsuit against the pool manufacturer, Shoreline Pools and the city in regard to a fatal drowning. According to the lawsuit, the boy was trapped by the water intake at the deep end of the pool and could not set himself free, nor the father who tried to free his son.

The child was eventually freed when the mother raced to cut power to the entire facility. The parents tried CPR but were unsuccessful in reviving their child. Over the past 20 years there have been 48 reported fatalities from swimming pool drain entrapments.

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