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Mealey's Personal Injury

  • April 19, 2018

    Federal Judge Cuts Expert’s Testimony In Suit Over Traffic Stop

    TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge on April 16 nixed seven out of eight opinions offered by an expert for a man who says he was injured by a police officer’s excessive force during a routine traffic stop; the judge then further barred the expert from making several assertions to support his eighth and final opinion (Barsoum S. Israel v. Lieutenant Dean R. Smith, et al., No. 13-cv-0097, D. N.J., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64043).

  • April 18, 2018

    Justice Again Refuses To Dismiss Insurer’s Suit Seeking $1M For Personal Injury Claim

    NEW YORK — A New York justice on April 9 adhered to a prior decision that denied one insurer's motion to dismiss another insurer's lawsuit seeking recovery of the $1 million it paid to settle an underlying personal injury action (Old Republic Insurance Company, directly and as Subrogee of STS Steel, Inc., v. United National Insurance Co., No. 155995/2012, N.Y. Sup., New York Co., 2018 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1338).

  • April 18, 2018

    Family Of Man Killed In Truck Crash Settles For $8 Million

    SCRANTON, Pa. — The family of a former combat veteran who was killed in a collision with a water truck on April 16 settled with the driver and the company the driver was working for, a press representative of one of the attorneys representing the family confirmed to Mealey Publications (Katherine Stevens v. Canyon Environmental LLC, et al., No. 3:15CV2172, M.D. Pa.).

  • April 18, 2018

    Judge: Insurer Owes No Defense, Indemnity For Sexual Abuse Claims Against Teacher

    BIG STONE GAP, Va.— A Virginia federal judge on April 10 granted an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in its lawsuit disputing educators employment liability insurance coverage for underlying claims that a fourth-grade teacher sexually abused a student in 1984 and 1985 (Horace Mann Insurance Company v. Judy Walton Barney, et al., No. 17-00016, W.D. Va., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60318).

  • April 17, 2018

    Judgment For Doctor Affirmed In Botched Eye Surgery Suit

    INDIANAPOLIS — In an unpublished opinion released April 17, an Indiana Court of Appeals panel found that judgment in favor of a doctor in a botched eye-surgery suit was properly granted because the plaintiff’s expert’s opinions were contrary to the evidence (Donald Bunger v. Jason A. Brooks M.D., No. 45A05-1709-CT-2165, Ind. App., 2018 Ind. App. Unpub. LEXIS 426).

  • April 17, 2018

    Woman Sues New Jersey Insurance Guaranty Association For Personal Injuries

    NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey woman filed a personal injury lawsuit April 13 in a New Jersey trial court against the state’s insurance guaranty association for damages caused when an unidentified vehicle struck her while she was crossing the street (Anita Strickland v. New Jersey Property Liability Guaranty Association, et al., No. ESX-L-002649-18, N.J. Super., Essex Co.).

  • April 17, 2018

    Ohio Appeals Panel Reverses Summary Judgment In Stair Injury Suit

    AKRON, Ohio — A Ninth District of the Ohio Court of Appeals panel on April 16 reversed summary judgment for a restaurant and the owner of the building in which it was located because the defendants did not show that a woman who claimed that she was injured after falling off of a step did not traverse the step before she fell (Marlene C. Matus v. The Jacts Group LLC, et al., No. 17CA0056-M, Ohio App., 9th Dist., 2018, Ohio App. LEXIS 1583).

  • April 16, 2018

    Texas High Court Majority Reverses Judgment On Vicarious Liability Crash Suit

    AUSTIN, Texas — A majority of the Texas Supreme Court on April 13 reversed a trial court’s decision to grant summary judgment to a company contracted to conduct drilling on a land after finding that the company was vicariously liable for a car crash that killed two people and injured another two because the accident happened on the way back from work and the driver was being paid to drive the crew home from the work site (Steven Painter, et al. v. Amerimex Drilling I. LTD., No. 16-0120, Texas Sup., 2018 Tex. LEXIS 310).

  • April 16, 2018

    Rulings On Experts Play Into Judge’s $3.7 Million Award For Motorcyclist’s Death

    FLORENCE, S.C. — The widow of a motorcyclist killed in a crash involving a U.S. mail vehicle was awarded $3.7 million in damages from the federal government April 12 by a South Carolina federal judge, who upheld two government experts’ use of several driving safety standards and then relied on their testimony to find that the motorcyclist was also slightly at fault for following other cyclists in his group too closely (Kimberly L. Jackson v. United States, No. 4:16-cv-03219, D. S.C., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 61922).

  • April 16, 2018

    Magistrate Judge Recommends Allowing Punitive Damages Claim Against Nursing Home

    SCRANTON, Pa. — The administratrix of the estate of a woman who developed bedsores shortly after being admitted into an elder care facility should be allowed to pursue a claim for punitive damages as part of her wrongful death suit, a federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania ruled April 9, finding that the complaint sufficiently alleges that the facility had previously been cited for regulatory violations and that it altered medical records after the woman’s death (Terri Allfrey v. GGNESC East Stroudsburg LP, et al., No. 17-CV-2200, M.D. Pa., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60695).

  • April 16, 2018

    USA Gymnastics Sues Insurers In Indiana Court, Seeking Coverage For Nassar Suits

    MARION, Ind. — On April 6, USA Gymnastics (USAG) sued seven of its insurers in Indiana court for breach of contract, seeking a declaration as to comprehensive general liability and directors and officers (D&O) coverage for underlying negligence lawsuits arising from the sexual abuse committed by the former doctor of the American gymnastics team Lawrence “Larry” Gerard Nassar (USA Gymnastics v. Ace American Insurance Co., et al., No. 49D011804PL013423, Ind. Super.).

  • April 13, 2018

    Family Awarded $3M Against Hospital For Death Of Man Labeled ‘Fall Risk’

    MEDIA, Pa. — A Pennsylvania state court jury on April 6 awarded the family of a man who died following a slip and fall in a hospital a total of $3 million damages after finding that the hospital was negligent in allowing the man, who was labeled a “fall risk” after having a pacemaker inserted, to get up out of bed without assistance (Rose DeGeorge, et al. v. Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital, No. 2016-006622, Pa. Comm. Pls., Delaware Co.).

  • April 13, 2018

    Appeals Panel Affirms Denial Of Attorney Fees In Premises Liability Suit

    SAN DIEGO — In an unpublished opinion released April 12, the Fourth District California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s decision to deny a woman’s motion for attorney fees in a premises liability suit because her common-law negligence claims did not enforce or interpret her homeowners association’s covenants, conditions and restrictions (Lorraine Martini v. Bel Azure Homeowners Association, et al., No. DO72288, Calif. App., 4th Dist., 2018 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 2428).

  • April 13, 2018

    Maryland High Court Affirms Judgment Against Correctional Officer

    ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Maryland Court of Appeals on April 12 unanimously affirmed a reduced judgment against a correctional officer who was found to be grossly negligent, which led to the murder of a prisoner on a prison transportation bus because the officer did not waive statutory cap on damages against state employees (Melissa Rodriguez, et al. v. Larry Cooper, et al., No. 27, Md. App., 2018 Md. LEXIS 185).

  • April 12, 2018

    Legionnaire’s Disease Case Against Hotel Franchise Stands, Judge Rules

    COVINGTON, Ky. — A federal judge in Kentucky on April 10 denied a hotel company’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a former employee who contracted Legionnaire’s disease while performing maintenance duties, concluding that the work the man was doing when he was exposed to the Legionnaire’s bacteria was not was “regular or recurring” (Paul Tarter v. AP/AIM Rivercenter Suites, No. 16-78, E.D. Ky.; 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60295).

  • April 12, 2018

    Louisiana Appeals Panel Affirms Defense Verdict In Botched Surgery Suit

    SHREVEPORT, La. — A panel of the Second Circuit Louisiana Court of Appeal on April 11 affirmed a defense verdict in a medical malpractice suit after finding that the jury’s verdict did not go against the weight of the evidence in the suit where a man claimed that a surgeon reattached the man’s stomach to the wrong part of the bowel (Martin Van Buren Jr., et al. v. Claude B. Minor Jr. M.D., No. 51,960-CA, La. App. 2nd Cir., 2018 La. App. LEXIS 659).

  • April 12, 2018

    Denial Of Summary Judgment In Medical Malpractice Suit Affirmed

    ATLANTA — On remand from the Georgia Supreme Court, a panel of the Georgia Court of Appeals on April 11 affirmed its decision to deny a doctor summary judgment after finding that the evidence showed that there was a genuine question over whether a suicidal man’s condition met the requirements of emergency medical care (Brian Jordan v. Richard Bernard Everson, et al., No. A16A1710, Ga. App., 2018 Ga. App. LEXIS 220).

  • April 12, 2018

    Federal Judge Dismisses Casey Kasem’s Widow’s Suit Against Health Care Company

    TACOMA, Wash. — A Washington federal judge on April 4 dismissed the claims against the sole remaining defendant in a personal injury and wrongful death lawsuit filed by the widow of radio and TV personality Casey Kasem, but granted the widow leave to file an amended complaint as to one of her claims (Jean Kasem v. Kerri Helen Kasem, et al., No. 17-5461, W.D. Wash., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57710).

  • April 11, 2018

    Federal Judge Remands Premises Liability Suit To State Court

    DENVER — A federal judge in Colorado on April 9 remanded a premises liability suit in which a woman claimed that she was injured when gutters at a Home Depot store fell on her because she is seeking less than $75,000 in damages, despite the woman’s earlier statements about the amount of damages she was seeking (Elizabeth Shaw v. Home Depot U.S.A. Inc., No. 1:17-CV-02571, D. Colo., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59456).

  • April 11, 2018

    Minnesota Appeals Panel Reverses Dismissal Of Medical Malpractice Suit

    ST. PAUL, Minn. — In an unpublished opinion released April 9, a panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s decision to dismiss a medical malpractice suit in which a woman claimed that a doctor’s failure to properly treat her resulted in her left foot having to be amputated because there is a genuine issue over when she and her doctor ended their relationship (Heather Fitzgerald v. Lance Silverman M.D., et al., No. A17-1224, Minn. App., 2018 Minn. App. Unpub. LEXIS 266).