California Injury Lawyers Blog

August 20, 2014

You Thought Your Move was Bad…..

A moving company is being sued by a couple who alleges that they caused more than $72,000 worth of damage to their belongings during a move.

As reported by The Louisiana Record, James and Kimberly Mathes Shepack filed suit against College Student Movers Inc., Fast & Affordable College Student Movers, their insurer and Shelly and Justin McDuffie in Louisiana’s 24th Judicial District Court.

The Shepacks hired College Student Movers to move their possessions from their home in St. Tammany Parish to a house in Metairie. The move was to be completed by Dec. 27, 2013. The plaintiffs assert that under the term of their agreement with the defendant company they were to have three able bodied movers assist in moving their belongings for which they would be charged $98 per hour per mover. The Shepacks contend on the day of the move two men and a female arived up at their home.

August 5, 2014

Medical Center sued for dropping patient

by Blady Workforce Law Group, APC

As reported in The Louisiana Record, a local hospital is being sued for allegedly dropping a patent from a surgical table.

Wallace Walker, individually and as a representative of the estate of Johnnie Mae Booker, filed suit against Ochsner Medical Center on June 30.

Walker claims that Booker, his mother, underwent surgery at Ochsner Medical Center of Kenner on Sept. 7, 2010 and that when she was being moved from the operating table she was dropped on the floor while unconscious. The plaintiff alleges his mother received serious injuries to her back, shoulders and hands in the incident. Walker asserts that neither he nor his mother were informed about he incident and it was not revealed until days later when they questioned medical personnel about the open sores on Booker’s back.

July 25, 2014

Home-buyer sues after Chinese drywall found in new home

by Blady Workforce Law Group, APC

After buying a home, in New orleans the purchaser realized a major fault was not disclosed to them by the seller, and has filed suit to rescind the sale, according to The Louisiana Record.

Jouandot Enterprises LLC filed suit against Wells Fargo Bank in the Orleans Parish Civil District Court on June 11.

The suit says the plaintiff purchased a home owned by the defendant that contained Chinese drywall, which must be taken out for the house to be inhabitable. The plaintiff claims it did not know the home contained Chinese drywall and that the defendant failed to disclose this fact.

July 13, 2014

Woman sues Home Shopping Network for Burns from Pressure Cooker

by Blady Workforce Law Group, APC

A New Jersey woman suffered first and second degree burns when a pressure cooker she purchased from the Home Shopping Network unexpectedly sprayed her with boiling water, according to a personal injury suit filed at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

As reported by The Pennsylvania Record McGowan, of Berlin, N.J., seeks compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $100,000 on nine separate counts from HSN and the maker of the appliance, Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc.

According to the complaint, McGowan purchased the pressure cooker on June 7, 2008, through an order placed on HSN. Pressure cookers prepare food by boiling liquids inside a sealed pot, producing steam that is captured inside the appliance.

June 27, 2014

Panel revives lawsuit over 13-year-old girl’s injury in Chicago park

by Blady Workforce Law Group, APC

The Chicago Park District must post signs in its parks stating that only children under the age of 12 can use its equipment, a state appeals panel held last week, overturning the dismissal of a lawsuit stemming from a 13-year-old’s injury on a slide.

As reported by the Cook County Record, in an order handed down June 27, 2014, the First District Appellate Court reversed Cook County Circuit Judge Kathy Flanagan’s ruling that tossed Artenia Bowman’s lawsuit against the park district on behalf of her then-13-year-old daughter. Determining that Bowman’s daughter had violated a park district ordinance restricting those older than 12 from using its equipment, despite the lack of a sign providing such notice, Flanagan granted the park district’s motion for summary judgment.

The appeals panel, however, reversed Flanagan’s ruling, saying the park district failed to inform parks users that the slide at issue was intended for kids under 12, or to cite a case in which a child was charged with knowing municipal ordinances. Justice Robert Gordon wrote the order, with Justices Stuart E. Palmer and William Henry Taylor II concurring.

June 15, 2014

Does “Baseball Rule” Apply to Minors?

by Blady Workforce Law Group, APC

The Atlanta Braves baseball team has asked an appeals court to find the team not liable for the serious injuries suffered by a 6-year-old girl who was struck by a ball.

As reported in the Insurance Journal, attorneys for the team want the Georgia Court of Appeals to apply what’s known as the “baseball rule.” Already in force in some other states, the rule holds that if a stadium operator provides protective screening behind home plate, it cannot be held liable for balls and bats inadvertently flung into the stands.

The ongoing lawsuit was brought by a father who took his 6-year-old daughter to a May 30, 2010, game at Turner Field. Braves outfielder Melky Cabrera hit a ball behind the third-base dugout. It struck the girl in the head, fractured her skull in 30 places and causing a traumatic brain injury.

May 30, 2014

Woman Injured at Fireworks Show Can Sue

by Blady Workforce Law Group, APC

A Vermont woman who was hurt trying to protect her daughter from a malfunctioning July 4 fireworks display can continue her negligence lawsuit, a New York appeals court ruled.

As reported in Courthouse News, Lisa Evarts and her family were attending a fireworks show in Ticonderoga, N.Y. in 2008. The show featured over 1,000 fireworks. A half-hour into the show, one of the shells malfunctioned and blew up inside the mortar. The explosion caused a second mortar to become dislodged, and a third mortar was fired into the crowd. It struck a spectator’s cooler and exploded.

Evarts tried to shield her daughter and her daughter’s friend, but her right hand slipped on the grass, and she felt a “pop.” She suffered a torn ligament, which required surgery.

May 14, 2014

Hang gliding instructor sentenced in wrongful death

by Blady Workforce Law Group, APC

After a woman died in a hang gliding accident, a launch site operator “swallowed the memory card from his video camera affixed to the hang glider, for the purpose of destroying evidence,” the woman’s parents claimed in court.

Miguel Godinez and Helinda Ramirez claimed in British Columbia Supreme Court that their daughter, Lenami Godinez Avila, plunged 300 meters to her death after taking off for a tandem hang glider flight with defendant William Orders.

They also sued Hurlstone Ventures Inc., Shaun Wallace, Vancouver Hang Gliding, the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada, the British Columbia Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association and the West Coast Soaring Club.

April 27, 2014

Woman sues hotel for fall off bar stool

by Blady Workforce Law Group, APC

Antoinette Allison of Reynoldsburg, Ohio was staying at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Syracuse, New York in April 2011 when she went to the hotel’s Library Lounge bar. Syracuse.com reports that Ms. Allison claims that while waiting for food at the bar, she fell off of a, “wooden, high-back bar stool,” and landed on her wrist, causing multiple fractures that required surgery. She is now suing the hotel for $1 million.

In her lawsuit, Ms. Allison claims that the bar stool was too high off the ground, and that, “hotel management knew of other problems with the height of the stools.” Her lawyer, Mark Ventrone, stated in a 2012 complaint that, “Said bar stools were more dangerous than patrons would expect and safer designs are on the marketplace.”

The lawsuit will proceed to court. Syracuse.com was unable to reach Mr. Ventrone for comment. They were also unable to reach Thomas Carafa, the lawyer for the hotel’s owner, Richfield Hospitality, Inc.

April 3, 2014

Connecticut Woman Can Not Sue State for Chimp Attack

by Blady Workforce Law Group, APC

A Connecticut woman whose face and hands were ripped off by a friend’s pet chimpanzee in 2009, on Wednesday was denied a bid to sue the state for up to $150 million to cover her medical expenses.

As reported in Reuters, the state legislature’s judiciary committee voted 35-3 against Charla Nash’s request to sue the state to cover injuries she suffered when the 200-pound chimpanzee mauled her. The attack occurred while she was visiting the home of her friend and employer, who owned the animal.

Legislators voted to uphold the state’s sovereign immunity, which protects it from lawsuits.