negligence

Seventh Circuit reverses dismissal of ladder lawsuit that caused grievous penis injury

December 23, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can I wait a few months to pursue a personal injury claim?”

Six years ago, Kurt Stuhlmacher had just begun to put together rafters on the roof a cabin he was building for his parents. He later testified—in a lawsuit he brought against Home Depot and Tricam Industries—that the ladder he was standing on “just, like, fell out—fell this way out from underneath me to the left.”

Stuhlmacher could not see whether the ladder split before or after his fall, because he tried to hold onto the rafter as it gave way beneath him. That distinction—when the ladder split—ended up breaking Stuhlmacher’s case.

His expert—Dr. Thomas Conry, who has a doctorate in mechanical engineering—testified that the ladder’s splitting was “underway” at the time of Stuhlmacher’s fall, but he could not tell whether the ladder split before, at the same time or a fraction-of-a-second after the fall. Dr. Conry concluded that the ladder’s “material had that crack in it and the bracket under the load was prying that rivet through.”

Magistrate Judge Andrew P. Rodovich struck Dr. Conry’s testimony, finding that the doctor’s explanation of the ladder’s failure could not be reconciled with Stuhlmacher’s testimony that the ladder suddenly shot out beneath him to the left. Without Dr. Conry’s testimony, Stuhlmacher’s case lacked crucial evidence that Home Depot and Tricam—Tricam was the ladder’s manufacturer—caused Stuhlmacher’s injuries.

Vehicle owners can be liable for crashes caused by family or household members

December 18, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What if a loved one dies from the injuries sustained in a serious accident while the case is pending?”

If you have imbibed, over the holidays, a little too much of the alcohol-spiked eggnog, you should think twice before handing the keys over to your teenage child or relative to run out for supplies or snacks.

One Pennsylvania father has learned that the hard way.

Michael Ware initially told investigators that his 15-year-old daughter had taken his Sports-Utility Vehicle out for a drive without his permission. Authorities later learned, however, that Mr. Ware allowed his daughter—who did not have a driver’s license at the time—to drive his 2001 Chevrolet Suburban to a nearby barbecue restaurant.

Ware even walked his daughter and her three friends out to the car and asked them to bring him back a sandwich as they pulled away. A short time later, the daughter wrecked the Suburban, killing friends Cullen Keffer, Shamus Digney and Ryan Lesher. All three boys were just fifteen-years-old.

A witness to the accident said she could hear the boys crying out for the daughter to slow down before speeding around a sharp curve. The vehicle flipped, ejecting two boys from the vehicle and pinning a third beneath it. One of the boys passed away on the scene; two more passed away at a nearby hospital.

Medicine mix up means death for recovering cancer patient

December 11, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What if a loved one dies from the injuries sustained in a serious accident while the case is pending?”

Loretta MacPherson underwent successful brain surgery at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle last month. During her recovery from surgery, she sought out medication advice at a local hospital near her Oregon home.

Two days later, she was dead.

Michael Boileau, the chief clinical officer at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend, Oregon, said that medical staff had ordered the correct medication for Ms. MacPherson—Fosphenytoin, a drug intended to ward off seizures caused by brain surgery—and the Fosphenytoin had been delivered to the medical center.

However, an internal investigation at the hospital showed that a pharmacy worker had filled a bag for intravenous injection marked “Fosphenytoin” with another drug, Rocuronium. Rocuronium is a potentially paralyzing muscle relaxant used to sedate and stabilize patients during surgery.

After being administered the wrong medication, Ms. MacPherson suffered cardiac arrest and stopped breathing. Doctors advised her son, Mark, that she had suffered irreversible brain damage. Ms. MacPherson was taken off life support and passed away two days after she entered the medical center.

Fast-food worker who confessed to spiking cop’s Big Mac with glass wins $437,000

November 25, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” If an incident report was filled out, do I have a right to receive a copy?”

“At some point, something told me, grab a Big Mac.”

Those words—and that decision—would forever change the lives of two New York men. Officer John Florio was on duty and in uniform when he pulled into a Bronx, New York McDonald’s drive-thru late one evening in January 2005. Florio ordered a Big Mac, but when he bit into the patty he discovered he’d been served something he hadn’t ordered: shards of broken glass mixed into the sandwich’s “special sauce.”

A short time later, two inspectors, two captains, three sergeants and five detectives arrived at the McDonald’s to investigate, searching the kitchen and interviewing workers.

They ushered then-18-year-old McDonald’s worker Albert Garcia to a back room, where he admitted to “giving Florio something extra in his order.” In a statement he wrote for investigators, Garcia said he “put the little pieces of glass into the burger as a joke.”

By the time—five years later—Garcia’s criminal case came on for trial, Garcia had recanted and his lawyer—Raymond J. Aab—accused Officer Florio of planting the glass in the burger himself in order to obtain some quick settlement cash from the fast-food chain. Within two weeks of the incident, Florio sued McDonald’s asking for $6 million in damages.

Medical marijuana user sues, argues company violated law by denying her an internship

November 18, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What can you sue for in a personal injury case?”

A graduate student who was denied a summer internship at a textile company because of her use of medical marijuana has brought an employment discrimination lawsuit against the company.

The attorney who represents the student, Carly Iafrate of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the legalization of medical marijuana would be “an empty promise” if employers are allowed to discriminate against people based on their status as medical marijuana users.

The ACLU said it believes it is the first lawsuit of its kind brought in the state.

Lawsuits have been brought in other states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana, including New Mexico, Maine, Colorado and New Jersey. The New Mexico, Maine and New Jersey cases are still pending in courts in each of those states.

Last month, a Colorado quadriplegic named Brandon Coats lost an appeal in that state’s Supreme Court. Coats was fired in 2010 after failing a drug test. He said he used medical marijuana to control involuntary muscle spasms. Colorado’s high court ruled that legalizing the use of medical marijuana did not establish a Constitutional right to use the drug.

Mayor, city councilman, fire chief charged with DWI, sued by victims of crash he caused

November 13, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “Can I wait a few months to pursue a personal injury claim?”

A former mayor and Murrieta, California city councilman is facing a personal injury lawsuit brought by four teenage cheerleaders who were injured in a rear end automobile crash on October 16.

The girls allege that the vehicle in which they were riding was struck by a pickup truck being driven by then-Mayor Alan Long. The cheerleaders say Long was drunk when he caused the crash. Long was arrested at the crash scene and was charged with felony drunken driving.

Long’s blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was .08, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s office. Officers concluded that Long was impaired after he failed field sobriety tests. Long is due to be arraigned on a charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury on December 11.

The cheerleaders, who range in age from 14 to 17 and attend Murrieta Valley High School, suffered “severe personal injuries” that necessitated medical treatment and have caused them to incur medical expenses and to lose earnings, according to their lawsuit.

They were waiting to make a left turn at around 8:15 p.m. on October 16 when Long approached from the rear in a full-size pickup truck and plowed into the back of the girls’ car, according to Murrieta police Lieutenant Julie Hoxmeier.

Transgender military members face termination for becoming who they are

October 28, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What happens when the employer refuses to acknowledge my claim?”

Military regulations require the immediate dismissal of any service member who is found to be transgender. That is placing the some 15,500 transgender people serving in the military in a quandary, and forcing peers, supervisors and military doctors who are aware of members’ status to “look the other way,” according to sources and advocates interviewed by the Washington Post.

Political leaders from President Barack Obama to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have expressed support for examining the ban and, potentially, lifting it. The Pentagon, however, told the Post that no review was underway, and Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, worries that transgender service members are being lulled into a false sense of security.

She said openly transgender service members risk losing their jobs. Some two dozen service members have been discharged in the past two years after their transgender status was uncovered, according to advocates.

Military leaders are focused now on more urgent priorities such as the conflict with the Islamic State raging in Iraq and Syria and looming budget cuts. Army Maj. Gen. Gale S. Pollock told the Post that the military will eventually “do the right thing” by allowing transgender service members to serve openly. The change is just not going to occur as soon as some would like.

Spike in bicyclist deaths has two-wheeled travelers ducking for cover

October 23, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question ” If an incident report was filled out, do I have a right to receive a copy?”

Scenes and outtakes from countless television shows and movies have shown cyclists speeding past people jogging or skating alongside the sands of Southern California beaches. Many of these have featured the twenty-or-so mile paved Marvin Braude Bicycle Path that runs from Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles south to Torrance.

Cyclists may enjoy a relative safety on the seaside paths, but inland things have gotten downright tragic for bicycle riders. California saw 338 cyclists killed in collisions with motor vehicles between 2010 and 2012, according to a report issued Monday by the Governors Highway Safety Association. Florida lagged not far behind Golden State, reporting 329 cyclists killed in collisions with motor vehicles in the same period.

Bicyclist deaths nationwide increased by 16-percent between 2010 and 2012, according to the report, but Florida and California reported the largest increases in deaths.

Allen Williams, a scientist who worked at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, compiled the report. He observed what he described as “remarkable changes” in the profile of those killed in crashes involving bicycles and cars. Adult males accounted for 74-percent of bicyclists killed in 2012. In 1975, by comparison, only 21-percent of bicyclists killed were adults of either gender.

Two-thirds of bicyclists killed in 2012 were not wearing helmets, while nearly a third of those killed registered a blood-alcohol content of .08 or more.

Woman “virtually decapitated” by lap belt awarded $12.5 million

October 21, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What if the accident was my fault?”

A 17-year-old girl who was “virtually decapitated” at the waist when she “jackknifed” over the lap belt in a 1996 Toyota 4Runner has been awarded $12.5 million by a California jury. If she had brought suit in North Carolina, her case would have been dismissed.

Toyota spokeswoman Carly Shaffner said the carmaker respected the jury’s time and consideration, but she remained confident that plaintiff Chelsie Hill’s injuries “were not the result of a defect in the 1996 Toyota 4Runner.” The jury reached the opposite conclusion after four hours of deliberations.

Hill—now 22—was a passenger in the February 21, 2010 crash in Monterey, California. Driver Aaron Corn, who was only 18 at the time and was driving while under the influence of alcohol, struck a tree while driving 30 miles per hour. The jury found that Corn was five-percent responsible for Hill’s injuries and that Hill was five-percent at fault for getting into a car with a drunken driver.

Dr. Robert Lieberson, the neurosurgeon who treated Hill after the crash, said the lap belt severed the girl at her midsection, and she was only held together by her skin. Lieberson and others testified that Hill used the belt properly.

Hill’s attorney suggested that Toyota chose to install the least safe and least expensive restraint system in the seat. Videos shown to the jury depicting dummies compared crashes involving lap belts against those with shoulder belts. Test dummies with lap-only belts jackknifed violently in crashes, while dummies in lap-and-shoulder belts remained upright.

Wife of N.C. inmate who died of thirst after solitary confinement prepares to seek justice

October 16, 2014 | AS Personal Injury Lawyers

Charlotte Personal Injury Attorney Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What exactly is a wrongful death claim?”

The wife of an inmate who died of dehydration after two stints in solitary confinement has hired an attorney to pursue potential legal claims, the inmate’s sister has revealed.

Prison officials accused 54-year-old inmate Michael Anthony Kerr of flooding his cell, according to an autopsy released in September. Prison staff are permitted to switch off the water flowing to an inmate’s sink and toilet if the inmate is found to have misused “plumbing facilities,” according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

Kerr died on March 12 after he was found unresponsive in the back of a van while being transported from Alexander Correctional Institution in Taylorsville to a mental hospital at Raleigh’s Central Prison.

It is unclear whether prison officials turned off the water to Kerr’s cell. Records obtained by the Associated Press showed that Kerr was placed in “administrative segregation” in February. He was cited twice—on the 21^st and again on the 24^th of February—for flooding his cell. Kerr was also cited for disobeying orders and for “lock tampering,” although, according to WCNC, inmates can be cited for lock tampering if they “repeatedly bang on the steel doors of their cells.”

Kerr was moved into “disciplinary segregation,” or solitary confinement, on February 25. Medical Examiner Dr. Susan E. Venuti, who conducted Kerr’s autopsy, said that she was allowed to read an internal prison report regarding Kerr’s death, but she was not allowed to make a copy of the report. She said the report failed to answer key questions such as when Kerr had last consumed food or water. Venuti could not even classify whether Kerr’s death was natural, accidental or the result of a homicide, given the lack of information.