Federal authorities ordered Don M. Barron Contractor to pay over $152,000 in fines after investigators determined that bosses sent workers into a potentially dangerous work injury situation; two of them fell seriously ill after they inhaled toxic fumes.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued seven safety citations: six for serious violations and one for a willful violation. Investigators concluded that the company sent sewer workers into a confined space without first testing the atmosphere. Two employees completely lost consciousness and were rushed to nearby hospitals. “This employer must take responsibility for making sure these types of injuries and the potential for loss of life do not happen again,” declared OSHA area director Dorinda Folse. [Read more…] about Reckless Injuries To Sewer Workers
Investigation
3 Steps To Settling Cases On Favorable Terms
Almost all personal injury cases — upwards of 90 percent, in most jurisdictions — settle before trial, and many of these cases settle before a lawsuit is even filed. In most cases, the insurance company must present a reasonable settlement offer within thirty days, if liability is relatively clear. However, there are many loopholes in this standard, and the settlement process can sometimes last for months or even longer.
As a rule of thumb, a personal injury case is ripe for settlement once medical treatment is either entirely or substantially complete. How can an attorney maximize compensation in these situations?
Step One: Gather Evidence
The plaintiff has the burden of proof in personal injury matters, so plaintiff must present evidence to support his or her claims. Some of this evidence comes from eyewitnesses. They can be people that an attorney interviews later or that first responders contacted at the scene. It is important to talk to as many potential witnesses as possible, because typically, only a handful agree to give testimony at trial.
Eyewitnesses are often biased, at least to a certain extent; moreover, many eyewitnesses only saw part of the personal injury incident. To bolster eyewitnesses, attorneys turn to physical evidence, including:
- Skidmarks: These marks on the road give clues about velocity, braking, steering angle, and other vital information.
- Photographs: Pictures of both property damage and personal injury wounds give the attorney a better idea of how the crash occurred and are also very helpful to the jury.
- EDR: The Event Data Recorder automatically captures operational data, much like the “black box” flight recorders on airplanes.
Since memories fade, vehicle traffic rubs skidmarks away, pictures get misplaced, and the vehicle is usually destroyed a few days after the incident, a personal injury attorney must get to work quickly to preserve this evidence.
Step Two: Legal Theories
To establish first party liability, the tortfeasor (negligent driver) must either violate a safety statute, like DUI, or otherwise violate the duty of reasonable care. Such breach (violation) must cause physical damages, like lost wages or medical bills. Victims are also entitled to compensation for their noneconomic damages, like pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment in life. A third party liability theory, like negligent entrustment, may be available as well, and these third party theories are particularly important if the tortfeasor was uninsured or under-insured.
It is also important to anticipate what legal theories the insurance company might use to reduce or deny compensation to the personal injury victim.
Step Three: Negotiation
Before settlement negotiations begin, an attorney must calculate the personal injury case’s settlement value. This calculation is partially based on the objective numbers in the case, such as the amount of medical bills, and partly based on a subjective analysis, e.g. the amount of damages that a jury in that parish would likely award in such cases. As in all other situations, personal injury negotiations nearly always require some give and take, if a resolution is to be achieved.
T-Claude Devall and the other experienced Lake Charles personal injury attorneys at Lee Hoffoss Injury Lawyers are committed to maximum compensation for victims. Contact us today for a free consultation.
Feds Assign Blame In 2013 Plant Explosion
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) ruled that workplace safety deficiencies at the Williams Olefins Plant in Geismar, Louisiana caused an explosion that killed two workers.
Specifically, according to the CSB, in the dozen years prior to the incident, management neglected issues with a over-pressure reboiler, which ultimately ruptured. The facility normally employs about 110 people, but roughly 800 people were onsite at that time, as contractors worked to expand the petrochemical plant. At the time, the reboiler was offline and not hooked up to its pressure-relief device, so the heat build-up lead to a BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion) and subsequent fire. Most of the 169 casualties (two dead and 167 seriously injured) were contractors.
In announcing the findings, CSB Chairperson Vanessa Allen Sutherland said that “The tragic accident at Williams was preventable and therefore unacceptable. This report provides important safety lessons that we urge other companies to review and incorporate within their own facilities.” [Read more…] about Feds Assign Blame In 2013 Plant Explosion
Authorities Look For Clues In Deadly Crash
Investigators have little to go on after a wrong-way car accident in the overnight hours killed one person and seriously injured two others.
Louisiana State Police troopers report that 25-year-old Daniel Elwood, of Tallahassee, Fla., was southbound on State Highway 21 in one of the northbound lanes. Roughly four miles south of Bogalusa, Mr. Elwood collided head-on with a northbound car driven by 17-year-old Jodi Vasbinder, of Covington. Mr. Elwood, who was apparently not wearing a seatbelt, was declared dead at the scene; Ms. Vasbinder was airlifted to a local hospital with serious injuries.
19-year-old Nathan Nicolasi, who was a passenger in Ms. Vasbinder’s vehicle, was injured and transported to a nearby hospital via ambulance. [Read more…] about Authorities Look For Clues In Deadly Crash
Industrial Accident Triggers Investigation And Fine At Plant
The Department of Labor found fifteen serious violations at a Center, Texas Tyson Foods plant, and fined the company $263,000.
Investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration toured the poultry plant earlier this year, after OSHA received reports that a worker’s finger was amputated following an industrial accident. The worker tried to clear a belt jam by removing chicken parts, and doctors had to amputate a severely cut finger. Investigators ultimately cited the Arkansas-based company for a number of life-threatening violations, including improper safeguards on moving parts, dangerously high carbon dioxide levels, insufficient worker safety precautions, and improper compressed natural gas storage. Some violations were repeat violations, as this Tyson plant was also inspected and fined in 2012. [Read more…] about Industrial Accident Triggers Investigation And Fine At Plant
McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case: A Retrospective
The case which added fuel to the tort reform fires already burning around the country turns 22 this month. In the popular media, this personal injury case was about a woman who spilled a cup of hot coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s for $3 million. But, as is often the case, the truth is far different.
Pre-Suit Activity
Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants involved a 79-year-old department store clerk who pulled into the drive-thru of a McDonald’s in Albuquerque, New Mexico and ordered a cup of coffee on February 27, 1992. At the time, McDonald’s required its restaurants to serve coffee at 190 degrees, or only slightly cooler than boiling water. The restaurant knew, or should have known, that 190-degree liquid could cause third degree burns – the kind of burns that require skin grafts to address – in as little as two seconds. The restaurant also knew, or should have known, that most other fast-food franchises served their coffee at about 160 degrees, a temperature that was not significantly lower yet meant that the victim had twenty seconds between spill and serious injury. There’s more. In the ten years preceding the case, McDonald’s had received over 700 complaints about coffee-related personal injury, paid over $500,000 to settle these claims, yet did nothing to alter its procedures. [Read more…] about McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case: A Retrospective