Personal Injury News: Pick of Last Month: Feb-2019
Settlement Reached in a 3-year-old's Wrongful Death Lawsuit
The parents of a 3-year-old girl who fell to death at an Anaheim hotel in 2015, reached a tentative settlement, ending the lawsuit blaming the hotel's owners and the property management company for the incident.
Attorneys representing the parents filed a settlement notice on December 21, 2018, regarding the wrongful death in Los Angeles Superior Court, which claimed that negligence at the Embassy Suites caused the death of their toddler.
The family stayed at the hotel during their visit to Disneyland, and while the mother was showering, the child rushed from the fifth-floor walkway in an indoor courtyard. In an attempt to reach to her family members sitting in the courtyard downstairs, the toddler climbed over the railing; as per her cousin, seeing her dangling at the railing, the mother screamed that is when the toddler let go off the railing and plunged into the courtyard. The attorneys stated the hotel owned by Urban Commons Frontera and UCF 1 and managed by Brighton Management was "dangerous, defective and unsafe." It is not clear if the settlement terms would become public after the agreement is brought before a judge.
A Santa Fe jury awarded $73.2 million to the plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit involving a newborn. The incident took place in 2013 when the child suffered life-altering injuries due to the medical negligence of the authorities. The medical authorities performed risky delivery of the pregnant woman that resulted in severe laceration for her.
Birth Injury Program Lawsuit Settled For $20.7 Million
The State of Virginia paid $20.7 million to the U.S. government to resolve allegations that a birth injury compensation program was wrong in asking participants to submit Medicaid claims for the lifetime care of severely disabled children.
The Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program was established more than 30 years ago to safeguard doctors from medical malpractice lawsuits and stabilize health insurance premiums. The program paid out the money in October to end an investigation led by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Roanoke County couple sued the state program in 2015, in an attempt to receive and pay for their son's care, who was severely disabled at birth in 2013. The settlement recovers the money federal government spent on the family as well as other affected participants in the birth injury program during the 11-year period. The program has admitted 255 people since its creation, among them 59 have died. A law firm that represented the couple was also given an undisclosed amount as legal fees by the program.
More than $4.1 million of the settlement funds were paid to the family, who alleged that the state program was incorrect in asking them and other families to apply for Medicaid as a primary source of fund for the care, even as the federal law says, the program to act as the payer of last resort.
A similar incident took place at Allina Health Cambridge Medical Center, where a certified midwife mishandled the delivery of a pregnant lady that resulted in a broken right arm and severe nerve damage to the baby after his birth. The baby's shoulders got stuck at the time of delivery that prompted the midwife to apply extreme force to pull him out, which eventually resulted in a broken arm and torn nerves that control the arm motions.
Injured Seaman Gets More than $630,000 in Grinder Accident
On January 3, U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo awarded more than $630,000 to a former seaman who claimed he got injured while working aboard a vessel owned by Marquette Transportation.
In May 2015, the seaman's face was injured while using a grinder on the underside of an overhead deck aboard the M/V Ross Salvaggio. According to the lawsuit filed, the grinder hit a rust pocket, making the victim lose control of the grinder when it jerked back and hit his face knocking him down right away. He cited the Jones Act and claimed negligence, unseaworthiness and maintenance, and cure in his lawsuit. As per the court documents, "the Jones Act creates a cause of action for negligence when a seaman is injured in the course of his employment. An employer is liable under the Jones Act if the negligence of its employees played any part, even the slightest, in causing the injury or death for which damages are sought." He was awarded $138,835.50 for past loss of earnings, $318,106.64 for loss of future earning capacity, $65,250 for medical expenses in the future, and $112,500 for general damages.
The expert testimony for the victim stated, Marquette was responsible for not providing adequate safety equipment to the seaman for grinding rust spots located above the head; grinding the rust spots with a 7-inch grinder was an unsafe way of working; the vessel's unseaworthiness was a crucial factor for the victim's severe condition. Marquette's marine ergonomic expert testified had the victim been wearing a face mask at the time of the accident, the grinder would have hit the mask and not his face, thereby circumventing the mouth injuries.
A Wrongful Death Suit of Jail Inmate Ends in $3 M Settlement
Hampton Roads Regional Jail, its former medical provider and the state have agreed to pay nearly $3 million to the family of a 24-year-old inmate who died at the regional jail on August 19, 2015, which sparked outrage throughout the nation.
As per the additional documents released by the U.S. District Court in Norfolk, the former medical provider will have to pay $1.8 million of the proposed $3 million settlement, another $875,000 will be paid by the Regional Jail, and $325,000 will be paid by the state. If the settlement gets approved by the court, plaintiff attorneys will get $1 million. An additional amount of $58,690.77 will go to plaintiff attorneys to compensate them for the costs incurred during the case preparation. Of that, $27,512.50 will go to experts.
The remaining $1.94 million will be divided among the surviving members of the victim's family after a judge decides upon the settlement in a hearing. His parents and seven half-siblings have not reached on a common agreement yet.
The victim was arrested for stealing snacks worth $5 from a Portsmouth convenience store, and four months later, he succumbed to death in the regional jail. His family claimed in the lawsuit filed the following year that he suffered from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, was beaten, starved, ill-treated, and ultimately left to die in his cell. According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, probable cardiac arrhythmia accompanying wasting syndrome of unknown etiology was the reason for Mitchell's death.
In a wrongful death lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier awarded $4.2 million to the widow and children of a longshoreman. The incident took place on June 16, 2015, when the victim fell from 50 feet after stepping through a hole in a decommissioned oil platform. A two-day bench trial was conducted in June 2018, where a 13-page finding of fact and conclusions helped the jury to decide about the lawsuit.
Seattle Pays $65.7 Million To Injured Lawyer’s Family
In what appears to be the largest personal injury settlement in Washington state's history, the city of Seattle and its insurers paid $65.75 million to the family of a lawyer who suffered a brain injury when her car collided with a Seattle Fire Department ambulance in 2016.
The victim's income was a significant factor in determining the amount of settlement. According to the claim, on April 24, 2016, while she was driving her Porsche 911 Carrera towards the west on Seneca Street through a green light, a Seattle Fire Department aid unit heading north on Fourth Avenue crashed into her car. The aid car hit the victim's sports coupe in the left rear quarter panel which resulted in it to go counter-clockwise spin and bang into a traffic signal box and a tree which was near the northwest corner of the intersection. While the city-employed driver said he had activated the lights and siren, he was actually required by Washington law to only proceed through a red traffic light after slowing down as may be necessary for safe operation. The victim claimed that the driver did none.
The victim was taken to Harborview Medical Center after she suffered a traumatic brain injury due to the accident. Her family filed claims for damages in September 2017, and the parties agreed to settle the case in October after a judge approved the settlement on December 27. After the fatal accident, the Seattle Fire Department revised their training and instructions for the drivers of the aid-car.
A similar lawsuit was settled on Friday, October 26, 2018, where Dallas District Judge Dale Tillery upheld a $242M verdict awarded against Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC) and Toyota Motor Sales. The accident happened in 2016 and resulted in permanent brain damage to two small children. Both the companies were found guilty of manufacturing defect of their vehicles. As per the settlement Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC) is ordered to pay 95% of the penalty, whereas the remaining 5% will be levied upon Toyota Motor Sales.