Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog

North Carolina-based Bus Company Faces Significant Lawsuit over Injuries

March 6, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

North Carolina-based Sky Express is now facing a $500,000 lawsuit after one of its passengers was injured in a crash. The bus crashed in Caroline County, Virginia, and that is where the passenger, Shirley M. Dai, filed her complaint. In addition to Sky Express, Dai also named the driver, Kin Yiu Cheung, and Ivy Media Corp., doing business as GotoBus.com.

GotoBus.com was the site where Dai purchased an overnight bus ticket from Greensboro, North Carolina to New York. The complaint explains that Dai suffered serve physical and emotional injuries. It also alleges that 50 people were injured in the crash and four people died.

Apparently, Cheung fell asleep at the wheel while driving, which caused the crash. Cheung and several other individuals are facing criminal charges in connection with the four deaths from the crash. The complaint alleges that the North Carolina company, Sky Express, failed to provide Cheung with adequate resting time for the overnight trip and thus were negligent. A dispatcher in North Carolina told Cheung that even though he was too tired to drive the bus, he had to make the overnight trip. Sky Express released a statement indicating that the civil matters would be handled by the company’s insurance agency.

GotoBus.com denies any wrongdoing, releasing a statement expressing its condolences to the families of the victims, but saying that it was is no way affiliated with Sky Express and sold tickets for several bus companies. The complaint alleges that the two companies operated as a joint enterprise, thereby making both companies liable for the injuries.

Charlotte Construction Company Faces Lawsuit in Tennessee Sewage Plant Accident

March 1, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to a recent report by the Charlotte Observer, a Charlotte construction company is now facing a lawsuit in connection with the deaths of two employees at a Tennessee wastewater facility. The accident happened back in April of 2011. Two employees of the Veolia Water North America plant, John Eslinger and Don Storey were killed when the wall of the equalization basin suddenly collapsed against the pressure of heavy rain. The wall fell onto the top of the building that Eslinger and Storey were in at the time. According to plant officials, Eslinger and Storey were in the process of making adjustments to valves to deal with the heavy downpour that had recently happened.

Eslinger and Storey’s families have filed two wrongful death complaints in the Sevier County Circuit Court in Sevierville, Tennessee, naming as defendants the City of Gatlinburg, Vaugh and Melton Consulting Engineers, Middlesboro, KY, Carpenter Wright Engineers, with offices in Knoxville and Nashville, TN, and Crowder Construction Company of Charlotte, NC.

The equalization basin was actually built by Crowder Construction. The suit is alleging that the both the design and the construction of the basis were defective. A state inspection in October revealed that there were not safety violations at the plant and the lawsuit is not alleging that there was negligence on the part of the plant itself. Instead the suit is claiming that the engineers who built the basin and the construction who fabricated the basin did so in a manner that was defective. The suit also claims that the wall should have been modified because it was deficient, but it was not. After the original wall of the basin was completed in 1996, it failed under stress in 1997. Subsequent to that failure, a portion of the basin wall had to be rebuilt, which was a contributing factor to the failure in 2011. The suits seek $17 million in damages each.

Another man was killed at the plant while working on the demolition of the deficient wall. Michael Wells was killed when he was hit from behind by a chunk of rock or dirt that fell from an earthen wall behind him. The Eslinger and Storey suits were filed just one day after Wells died.

Charlotte Fatal Truck Accident Caused by Delivery Driver

February 23, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

WBTV recently reported that two young children were killed after being struck by a Sears delivery truck in a fatal trucking accident in Charlotte, North Carolina. On Wednesday, February 22, 2012, police responded to the intersection of Shady Lane and West Tyvola Road after a harrowing accident. Two brother, Jeremy Brewton, 1, and Kadrien Pendergrass, 5, died from injuries they suffered after a Sears delivery truck barreled through the intersection. The delivery truck driver, Dirk Jerome Brown, has been arrested and charged criminally for the incident.

The children were walking with their father, who also had his infant daughter with him. He and his children were walking near the edge of the street, with the father pushing one stroller and Pendergrass, the 5-year-old, pushing the other stroller. The driver was trying to turn right onto West Tyvola Road when he hit the two boys and their father. The young boys were rushed to Carolinas Medical Center, but they were pronounced dead at the hospital. Thankfully, the father and his infant daughter were not hurt in the accident.

Sears released the following statement through its spokesperson, Kimberly Freely: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of these two children… We’ve asked our third party delivery company to fully cooperate with local authorities as they investigate this tragic accident.” Apparently Sears contracts with a third party for all of its delivery services. This may be an important aspect should the family of these young boys decide to pursue a civil action against the major corporation for their deaths.

This accident will definitely raise liability issues for the third party delivery company because Brown, the delivery driver, was an employee of the company. Under the doctrine of respondeat superior, an employer can be held vicariously liable for the negligence of its employees if: (1) the employee’s actions were authorized by the employer; (2) the employee’s actions were committed within the scope of and in furtherance of the employer’s business; or (3) the employee’s actions were later ratified by the employer. It is likely that Brown was on his way to a delivery or coming from a delivery when struck the two young boys, which would make it very possible that he was acting within the scope of his employment with the delivery company. As such, the delivery company may be vicariously liable for the wrongful death of the two brothers.

Several Car Accidents in Charlotte Area Due to Bad Weather

February 21, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Drivers should have been cautious after winter weather hit the Charlotte area over the holiday weekend. Things, however, do not always go as planned. As drivers began their morning commute on President’s day, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police were called to several car accidents due to the treacherous road conditions. The winter weather left behind patches of ice on the interstates, which proved to be difficult for Charlotte drivers.

There were four major accidents reported to the police in the Charlotte area, with two of those accidents being on major interstates. Just after 7 a.m. on Monday morning, police responded to the scene of an accident on I-85 where a vehicle flipped over several times. Road crews spent most of the morning clearing the accident scene to try and spare the rest of the morning commuters a traffic standstill. Snow began to fall late Sunday night and as temperatures continued to drop, the moisture on the roads began to transform into ice.

These kinds of road conditions require that drivers be extremely cautious. The best advice for driving in the snow and ice is not to drive at all. You are safer at home than you are driving on an icy road.

However, if you must go out there are several things that you can do to make sure that you reach your destination safely. First, decrease your speed and give yourself plenty of room to stop. This also means that you may have to leave home a little earlier to make sure that you make it in a timely manner. Second, apply pressure to the brake gently to prevent the car from skidding. If you feel the car begin to skid at any time, release the brake. Third, make sure that you keep your headlights on and your windshield clean so that you have the maximum visibility. Fourth, do not attempt to pass snowplows or sanding trucks. Doing so will drastically decrease the visibility, which is the last thing you want to happens when the roads are dangerous. If you want more tips on how to drive in snow and ice, consult the Weather Channel’s website.

Internal Affairs Clears Cops in North Carolina Teen’s Injuries

February 16, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

According to a recent report by WBTV, the police have been cleared of any wrongdoing for injuring teenager Tanisha Williams. Williams was taken into custody after she was arrested for shoplifting at a CitiTrends in west Charlotte. When Williams was placed in the back of the cruiser, she repeatedly beat her head against the window. She also wrapped a harness around her neck. As a result of her actions, Williams suffered severe brain damage and is now brain dead.

The Internal Affairs Division conducted an investigation into the conduct of the officers and concluded that they were not at fault. After the officers observed Williams banging her head against the window, they went to retrieve a restraining device from another police officer in the area. When the officers returned to the cruiser that Williams was in, she had stopped banging her head against the door and they did not need the restraining device. The report revealed that it only took Williams 13 seconds to wrap the harness around her neck. The officers did not see the harness at first because it was dark and because Williams’ hair was obscuring the officer’s view of the harness.
Officers asked Williams on several occasions if she was ok. Although she never responded, according to the officers she was still breathing when they asked her. When the officers discovered the harness, they immediately cut if off of her and Williams received appropriate medical attention. Williams is currently on life-support in the hospital and is receiving around-the-clock care.

Charlotte Patients Need to be on the Lookout

February 14, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Whether it’s from your mom or a message on a poster in your employer’s restroom, you hear it all the time: Wash your hands after using the bathroom and before eating. Use soap and hot water. And make sure you wash your hands long enough to kill the germs lurking on them.

You might think that doctors of all people would know the rules of hand washing, right? Wrong, at least according to a recent study discussed in Time Magazine. The report indicates that an alarming number of medical students may not know everything there is to know about hand washing despite engaging in the practice of medicine and regularly assisting in operating on patients.

Researchers at a German med school surveyed 85 medical students who were about to enter clinical training – the stage where they first begin to interact with actual patients. The med students were given seven scenarios, five of which required hand washing: before contact with patients, before preparing IV fluids, after removing gloves, after contacting patients’ beds and after contact with vomit (the other two scenarios did not require hand-washing).

Unfortunately, the doctors didn’t do so well on the test. Only 1 in 5 students correctly identified what to do in all seven situations. Just 1 in 3 got all five hand-washing scenarios correct. Most students knew that they were supposed to wash their hands before contacting a patient, after touching their bed and after contacting vomit, but 15% to 20% could not correctly identify the other two hand-washing situations.

What does this mean for you? Improper hand washing by physicians is a leading cause of spreading germs and contagious diseases from one patient to another in North Carolina. This is because much of a doctor’s job involves direct physical contact with patients. Thus, doctors who conduct surgery on someone with one disease and then don’t properly wash their hands, could easily spread germs and cause infection once their hands come into contact with new patients.

Family of Young Charlotte Girl Who Was Killed by Dogs Receives Settlement

February 9, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

WBTV.com reports that the family of a 5-year-old girl who was mauled to death by a loose pit bull finally received their wrongful death settlement, more than one year after the girl’s horrific death. The attorneys for the family said that Makayala Woodard’s family received a $20,000 wrongful death settlement.

On January 12, 2011, Makayla and her great-grandmother were viciously attacked by their neighbor’s pit bulls. The great-grandmother’s name is Nancy Presson. She suffered serious injuries as she was attempting to pull the dogs off of Makayla. Both victims were taken to the Carolinas Medical Center. Soon after arriving at the hospital, Makayla succumbed to her injuries. Presson was treated for her non-life threatening injuries and then discharged from the hospital.

The owners of the dogs were brought up on criminal charges, but the homeowner’s insurance policy will only pay the $20,000 for the wrongful death settlement. A wrongful death claim exists when a person’s death has been caused by the negligence, wrongful act, or fault of another person. The key to the claim is that if the deceased person had lived, he or she would have been able to sue for his or her injuries. The purpose of the Wrongful Death Act in North Carolina is to give the legal beneficiaries the same financial benefit if the deceased person had not died.

North Carolina Neighbors Sue Noisy Gun Range

February 7, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Dr. Michael Land is having his day in court after his neighbors became fed up with the constant barrage of machine gun fire coming from his shooting range. According to a recent report by WCNC.com, 41 of Land’s neighbors have come together and filed a civil suit against him. The lawsuit alleges that machine gun fire has occurred on Land’s property, use of which is against state and federal laws. The neighbors also allege that the constant spraying of bullets amounts to negligence, private nuisance, intentional infliction of emotional distress and assault.

On Monday, the plaintiffs and the defendant argued before the judge and now the parties are waiting on a ruling. The ruling will determine whether the case will move forward to trial or whether the case will be dismissed. The defendant filed a motion to dismiss the suit. His attorney said, “Their [the plaintiffs’] fatal flaw is they haven’t shown a single person with any damages above and beyond anyone else in the group… The complaint does not allege that any bullets or debris ever left Dr. Land’s property. It does not allege anyone was ever injured by an explosion, bullet or firearm, or that Dr. Land has ever threatened anyone with his firearms.”

The plaintiffs’ attorney said that Dr. Land claimed that the reason for the machine gun fire was protection of his business, but, when questioned in court about his use of the machine guns, he invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The plaintiffs’ attorney says that should be seen as a strong indication that Land believes he has broken the law.

Charlotte Principal in the Midst of Investigation Commits Suicide

February 2, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools principal was found dead while in the midst of an investigation surrounding his involvement with a gun incident according to a report by WCNC.com. Barry Bowe was principal of Northwest School of the Arts. On the day Bowe was scheduled to meet with administrators regarding an incident involving a gun, he failed to show up. When he failed to show up, his colleagues tried to reach him at his home. He did not answer so they sent someone to his house and that is where they discovered his body.

The incident, which precipitated the investigation, began at a school dance. An individual brought a gun to the dance, pulled the gun out on another student and attempted to fire it. Thankfully the gun jammed, though the student ended up being punched in the face. The school district was concerned about the amount of security at the event and that was the subject of the meeting with administrators.

Rumors swirled that Bowe was in some way negligent, but everyone who knew him did not believe he had done anything wrong. His supporters say that he was not in trouble over the incident, but the administrators were concerned and wanted to know how he planned to handle the situation. The president of an association that supports the school, Friends of Northwest School of the Arts, said “To say that he’s negligent in the area of school safety is absurd. There have been much more egregious safety violations at other schools.” They also say that the school’s response to the incident was too harsh and should have been viewed as an incident that was beyond Bowe’s control.

Elderly North Carolina Woman Killed as She Crosses the Street

January 31, 2012 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

The family of an elderly Charlotte woman is grieving her loss after a car stuck her as she was trying to cross the street. According a recent report on www.WBTV.com, 73-year-old Bernice Williams Whitmire was trying to cross a busy street when she was hit by a car. She was quickly rushed to the hospital where she succumbed to her injuries that same afternoon. The intersection she was trying cross was an extremely busy section of road at the corner of Sharon Amity Road and Milton Road.

Her family is still reeling from the loss. Her son said, “Everybody is going to take a loss from this. The little kids she looks out for at the bus stop in the morning… the little one’s gonna hurt. The big one’s gonna hurt.” Even her neighbor expressed sadness at that the community will feel. “We are suffering a loss around here. She was like family; nobody can replace Ms. Bea. She was like everyone’s grandma. We adopted her and she adopted us,” said her neighbor, China.

The woman responsible for her death, Kendra Huey, was driving a 2008 Suzuki Forenza. Huey said that Whitmire walked in front of her truck and she could not avoid hitting her. The police are in the beginnings of the investigation, but Huey stayed at the scene of the accident and has thus far cooperated fully with the investigation. Some witnesses say that Huey seemed as if she sped up, but the police so far say that Huey was not at fault for the tragic accident.

It seems that the family at this point does not have any criminal recourse against the driver of the vehicle. That, however, does not exclude possible civil liability. Just because Huey was not criminally responsible does not mean that she is not civilly liable for Whitmire’s death. The standard of proof in civil cases is much lower than in criminal cases. In a civil case, the plaintiff only has to prove that the defendant is liable for plaintiff’s injuries by a preponderance of the evidence, whereas in a criminal case, the prosecution has to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.