Personal Injury News: Pick Of Last Month: Mar-2023

The family of an employee who died in a forklift accident in February 2022 has filed a federal lawsuit against FedEx, demanding $3.5 million in damages.

Memphis' attorney filed the wrongful death claim on behalf of the deceased's 33-year-old family. The lawsuit seeks $3.5 million in compensatory damages, which is the highest permitted under Tennessee law.

On February 18, 2022, at 2 a.m., authorities received an emergency call reporting a "personal injury" at the FedEx World Hub at Memphis International Airport. According to preliminary information from the Memphis Police Department, a lady was driving a forklift when an accident happened, killing her.

After the plaintiff was slain, the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) launched an inquiry. For the first time, details from the investigation have been revealed, providing insight into the reason for the disaster.

The investigation, which included interviews, video surveillance footage examination, a walk-around inspection, and a study of papers and records, indicated that the following conditions existed at the time of the employee's death:

1. The employer did not verify that damaged yard ramps were removed from use and were not used by employees.

2. Adequate instruction in the safe use of forklifts, specifically on a yard ramp, was not provided.

3. The employer did not require employees to wear seatbelts when using a forklift.

4. The employer did not check that yard ramps were securely fastened to trailers before using the forklift on the yard ramp.

TOSHA found FedEx Express guilty of six "severe" infractions and one "other-than-serious" violation during the inquiry into the lady's death, resulting in $26,000 in fines.

According to the investigation report, the employee was a team lead in Heavy Weight Operations when the forklift she was driving toppled and landed on her. According to her coworkers, she was driving a forklift on a yard ramp in preparation for loading palletized material onto a trailer in the Trucking Section of the International Heavy Weight Operations Canopy prior to the disaster.

A witness stated that the forklift became stuck on the ramp when the left rear wheel went over the curb and off the ramp. The victim then exited the forklift. According to the witness, another Forklift Operator brought another forklift over to assist in getting the victim forklift unstuck. Following repeated tries with the other to dislodge the forklift, the victim returned to her forklift and shifted it into reverse. According to the witness, she then fell out of the forklift, which flipped over and landed on her. The victim was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the collision, according to the report.

According to the security footage, when the forklift rolled back, the right rear wheel seemed to crash into a depression in the yard ramp grating, causing the forklift to become unstable, ejecting the victim and overturning on top of her.

TOSHA's walk-around inspection revealed a major dent in the yard ramp, as well as numerous safety violations in the Trucking Area. According to the victim's attorney, she was concerned about working conditions at the time of her tragic death.

The University of Utah revealed on Tuesday that it had struck an agreement and will pay $5 million to the parents of an overseas student who was slain last year.

On Feb. 11, 2022, a first-year Chinese student was assassinated by a fellow student and lover at a downtown Salt Lake hotel, according to authorities. According to police, the accused injected a deadly amount of narcotics into his partner as part of a suicide pact.

The accused is presently imprisoned and awaits trial in the matter. Last year, the accused was charged in 3rd District Court with first-degree murder, as well as two charges of narcotics possession with intent to distribute, a second-degree crime, and a third-degree felony.

In July, the girl's parents blasted the institution for failing "to safeguard her when she needed it the most." Prior to her murder, the girl was threatened, missing, and allegedly a victim of domestic violence.

The university revealed the findings of an investigation into how its Housing and Residential Education team, Utah Global office, and public safety department handled the days and weeks preceding the girl's death in July 2022.

According to a joint statement from the university and the girl's parents, the settlement would honor her memory while also resolving any "outstanding legal claims against the university." The institution will give the family $5 million, and a memorial will be built on campus in her honor.

There will be no governmental appropriations or monies from student tuition in the settlement. The governor has accepted the settlement, and the Utah Legislature is scheduled to vote on a joint resolution to ratify it in the coming days.

Connecticut is expected to pay $12 million to resolve a dispute involving a neglected 14-month-old boy who was placed with a cousin who had charges of abuse by the state's child protection department in 2015. The youngster was extremely starved and physically tortured as a result of his ordeal.

The planned court settlement comes a year after the Connecticut Department of Children and Family was fully free of federal jurisdiction after three decades.

The agency's deputy commissioner of operations attempted to reassure members of the General Assembly's Judiciary Committee that the placement of the child, now eight years old and suffering from serious medical and developmental challenges, did not reflect the agency's policy at the time or currently.

The deputy commissioner described the circumstance as a "dump and run," which did not meet the agency's requirements for putting a kid in kinship foster care, a programme that tries to place at-risk youngsters with family members rather than strangers.

The agency, represented by the Connecticut Attorney General's Office, is requesting that the settlement negotiated with the boy's adoptive parents be approved by the Connecticut legislature. While members of the Judiciary Committee passed identical House and Senate measures approving the settlement on Wednesday, sending them to both houses for final approval, they made it clear that they are not pleased with the agency or the idea of paying such a huge legal settlement.

According to a deputy attorney general, while the state seldom accepts guilt, investigations revealed that this instance was unusually heinous, and the state might be responsible for up to $20 million.

Officials from the Department of Children and Family withdrew the kid from his parent's care due to neglect concerns and put him with the boy's mother's cousin, without collecting information about the woman's background, which included a criminal history and previous claims of mistreatment. In addition, the lady exhibited "widespread warning indicators," such as failing to satisfy Department of Children and Families foster licensing standards or consent to drug testing. She also reported the boy's inconsolable weeping to police and expressed her frustration to Department of Children and Family employees.

Five months later, the youngster was taken and left with another relative, who took him to the emergency hospital, where he was discovered to have several healed scars and wounds on his feet, untreated fractured bones in both arms, and a retinal hemorrhage. The kid was also unable to speak or feed himself, was very malnourished, and had signs of catastrophic brain damage.

The relative was eventually caught and pled guilty to endangering a youngster. According to the state Attorney General's office, the complete legislature has the option to reject the settlement, but they do not have to affirmatively approve it.

A $6.5 million settlement was given by a New Jersey jury to a 47-year-old man who was engaged in a catastrophic car accident when the at-fault motorist carelessly hit his vehicle in the rear, causing him to suffer many injuries.

The guy, like many other victims of head-on crashes, had serious spine injury, necessitating round-the-clock care. The plaintiff's experienced automobile accident lawyer claimed that the force of the incident caused damage to his kidneys and a thoracic herniation that impinged on the spinal cord.

Throughout the discovery phase of the case, the attorneys submitted proof showing the plaintiff's injuries were significant and life-changing. The business also called in an expert neurologist, who testified that the man's multiple sclerosis had deteriorated as a result of the ruptured disc he suffered in the accident.

The counsel demonstrated not just that the plaintiff suffered serious injuries in the accident, but that those injuries had a significant impact on the victim's quality of life. The jury returned a decision in the plaintiff's favour, paying him $6.5 million in compensatory damages.

BART officials have agreed to pay a $9.15 million compensation to a customer who was pulled by a train at Powell Street Station two years ago.

According to a complaint filed in November 2021, the event occurred on February 11, 2021, when the passenger became trapped in a door and was brutally pulled.

The allegations in the case included carelessness, violence, and mental anguish. The complaint also stated responsibility, while a BART representative stated that the settlement does not admit liability for the victim's injuries.

According to BART officials, the two parties struck a tentative agreement in November before the Board of Directors confirmed the agreement in a secret session in January 2023.

In December 2021, BART had a similar occurrence that ended tragically for a lady who was murdered after she departed a train at Powell station but she leashed dog stayed onboard. After then, the woman was dragged to her death. In such a situation, the dog was not harmed. The National Transportation Safety Board was called in to examine the incident.

BART had no more comment on the settlement announcement.

Following a trial for a medical negligence civil action over the man's death during a cardiac catheterization treatment, a Clarke County State Court jury awarded $4.36 million to the man's estate.

During a week-long trial, the jury returned a judgement against the Athens Heart Center and the doctor. The award is divided into three parts: $3.8 million for the worth of life, $500,000 for agony and suffering, and $63,000 for medical and funeral expenses.

The case was launched in 2017 in response to the death of an Athens businessman. He was also well-known in Athens' music scene, having performed with bands like as The Squalls, Go Van Go, and Little Tigers.

He sang and played bass guitar, drums, and the flute. He was 58 years old when he died during what his lawyer described as a regular medical procedure.

A tube is placed into a blood artery and guided to the heart during cardiac catheterization. It is used to diagnose issues such as a clog.

According to the lawyer representing the businessman's estate, the doctor inserted the catheter into his ventricular wall and injected a contrast or dye into the wall, which totally weakened the wall and resulted in a hole.

A woman with "locked-in syndrome" was granted a $47 million decision in a medical malpractice case this week, though her lawyer claimed she will likely only receive a portion of the money.

The plaintiff claimed in a complaint filed in 2020 that doctors at MountainView Hospital and Mountain's Edge Hospital neglected to effectively treat her low salt levels when she was hospitalized as a consequence of a fall. When physicians increased her sodium levels too soon, she now has Locked-in syndrome, which means her brain is still working but she can't move and can only communicate by blinking.

On Tuesday, at the conclusion of a five-week trial, a jury awarded the lady $47 million, $35 million of which was for noneconomic damages for pain and suffering. Nevertheless, due to a Nevada restriction on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice claims, the $35 million will be reduced to $350,000, according to the plaintiff's counsel.

The initial case included 11 defendants, including the two hospitals and other physicians and nurses. Following many agreements, just three defendants remained in court throughout the trial: MountainView Hospital, Dr. Ejo John, and a doctor.

Of the three remaining defendants, the jury determined the accused doctor to be 35% guilty of the woman's injuries. The remaining 65 percent of responsibility was assigned to already convicted criminals. According to the plaintiff's counsel, the doctor is the only defendant who will be required to pay any monetary damages as a result of the ruling.