Premises Liability

May 6, 2010

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Kills One Tenant and Injures Three Others at Sudbury Home

A diesel generator emitting high doses of carbon monoxide has claimed one life while sending three others to the hospital. The accident happened at the victims’ Sudbury home that they were renting.

According police, one of the victims woke up early Friday to discover that she couldn’t breathe. She contacted 911. Firefighters and police officers arrived around 3:30am. They turned the generator off right away and took the remaining residents, who were unresponsive, from the house.

The woman who called 911, 42-year-old Aida Leone, was treated at a Framingham hospital and then later released. Two other tenants, 20-year-old Elvis Dasilva and 50-year-old Juraci Almeida, were transported to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where they were admitted with life-threatening illnesses. A fourth victim died at the hospital.

The rented house did not have electrical service. Firefighters say that there did not appear to be any working carbon monoxide detectors at the house. A Massachusetts law, known as Nicole’s Law, requires that homes contain functioning CO detectors that work.

Carbon Monoxide
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can be hard to detect. CO poisoning can prove fatal. Claiming hundreds of lives each year, it is the leading cause of poison-related fatalities in the US. Signs of CO poisoning include weakness, dizziness, pulsing headache, fatigue, breathing problems, confusion, nausea, and sleepiness.

Generator fumes blamed in man’s death, Boston.com, May 1, 2010
Man killed in carbon monoxide poisoning, Boston.com, May 1, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Carbon Monoxide Detectors, Mass.gov Continue reading

February 22, 2010

Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claims Big Dig Tunnel’s Handrails are a Danger

by Altman & Altman

Questions are being raised over whether the handrails that line several miles of the Big Dig tunnel are a danger to Boston motor vehicle accident victims. Seven of the victims that died in the tunnel system between 2004 and 2008 were dismembered after they struck the handrails. One Massachusetts traffic accident victim who did survive lost an arm.

In Suffolk Superior Court, Massachusetts trooper Vincent Cila’s widow is suing the turnpike and Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff for Boston wrongful death. Her Boston, Massachusetts motorcycle accident complaint claims that the sharp edges that support the handrails have the same effect on a person as would blades from a shredder. Cila was riding a motorcycle when he hit a handrail post in 2005. He severed his arm and broke his neck.

The handrails have earned the nickname “ginsu guardrails” after the ginsu knives. They were installed in the Big Dig System to prevent workers from falling into traffic.

February 14, 2010

Boston Slip and Fall Accidents are Common Occurrence When Snow and Ice Pose Additional Massachusetts Premises Liability Hazard

by Altman & Altman

Snow and ice on the ground are not only a danger to motorists, who must drive even more carefully to prevent their vehicles from slipping and sliding so they do not become involved in a Massachusetts motor vehicle crash, but also the ice and slush can prove a danger to people walking on sidewalks, driveways, in parking lots or on wet store floors. This it is why it is so important for cities, business owners, homeowners, and other property owners to clear ice and snow from their premises.

If a Boston slip and fall accident happens, not only is there a possibility that the victim can get seriously hurt-broken bones, hip injuries, back injuries, spinal cord injuries, neck injuries, joint injuries, and traumatic brain injuries are not uncommon-but the premise owner may find that he/she has become a defendant in a Massachusetts slip and fall lawsuit. Granted, Massachusetts landowners are not obligated to clear snow or ice that naturally accumulates on their property. However, if a defect exists that, along with the snow or ice, contributed to causing the Boston premises liability accident, the injury victim may have grounds to sue.

Slip and Fall Accidents
Property owners are not supposed to allow any hazard to remain on their property that can cause slip and fall, trip and fall, or step and fall accidents. Other offending fall accident dangers include spilled liquids or foods, floors that have been just mopped with water/cleaning liquid but have yet to dry, stairwells that lack handrails, uneven surfaces, exposed cables or power cords, item that are left on the ground, cracks on the floor, torn carpeting, loose floorboards, and inadequately lit stairwells.

A slip and fall hazard is a premises liability. If you were injured because a property owner was negligent, you have three years to file a Boston slip and fall lawsuit against the liable party.

Massachusetts slip and fall accidents can take place anywhere. It is important that you get medical help as soon as possible and that you or someone else takes photographs of the accident site while the evidence is still intact.

Snow and ice removal a matter of safety and liability, The Sun Chronicle, February 10, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Slip and Fall Accidents: Proving Fault, Nolo
Tips to reduce slipping and falling in icy and snowy conditions, Dhhs.Mo.gov Continue reading

November 13, 2009

Parents file $4 million Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit over 8-year-old’s fatal machine gun accident

by Altman & Altman

The parents of 8-year-old Christopher K. Bizilj are suing seven defendants for their son’s wrongful death. Christopher died after a Micro Uzi machine gun he was holding accidentally discharged last October at a Westfield gun fair. Charles D. and Suzanne M. Bizilj and their son Colin, 11, are suing for $4 million.

The defendants named in the Massachusetts wrongful death complaint are COP Firearms & Training, the Westfield Sportsman’s Club Inc., Edward Fleury, Carl Giuffre, Provost Precision Pistols LLC, Domenico J. Spano, and D & T Arms LLC. Giuffre, Fleury, and Spano have also been charged in criminal court over the fatal accident.

Per the Massachusetts wrongful death lawsuit, Charles Bizilj bought Christopher a turn at firing the machine gun at the “Great New England Pumpkin Shoot”.” Spano brought the weapon, which belongs to Guiffre, to the expo that COP Firearms & Training and the Westfield Sportsman’s Club were sponsoring. Fleury, who owns COP Firearms & Training and at the time was Pelham police chief, hired Spano and Guiffre as expo “renters.”

November 10, 2009

Boston Products Liability?: Kids’ Fingertip Amputations Lead to Recall of Approximately 1 Million Strollers by Maclaren

by Altman & Altman

Long known for the dependability of its strollers, manufacturer Maclaren may find that its reliable reputation has been tarnished following reports that 12 kids have suffered fingertip amputations while using its strollers. This week, Maclaren along with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, announced the recall of some 1 million strollers over concerns that fingertip amputations and lacerations can occur.

The children were injured when they placed their fingers in the stroller’s hinge mechanism when it was either being opened or secured. Nine models are included in the mass recall of products, which consists of both double and single umbrella strollers.

Recalled models are those made available in the US between 1999 and 2009: Easy Traveller, Twin Techno, Twin Triumph, TechnoXLR, Techno XT, Quest Mod,Quest Sport, Triumph, and Volo.

Parents and guardians are being told to stop using the strollers immediately and to contact Maclaren for a free repair kit.

Boston Products Liability
Injuries caused by a design flaw, a manufacturing defect, or a product malfunction can be grounds for a Boston products liability lawsuit. If the injured party is a minor, a parent or guardian will have to file the Boston injuries to minor complaint for damages.

Unfortunately, product manufacturers do make mistakes. It’s even more unfortunate for the infant or child who has been hurt because of such errors.

While recalls are a good way to find out about the dangerous defect before an injury or death occurs, in many cases someone will have already gotten hurt before a product defect is discovered and a recall is announced.

Maclaren’s Stroller Recall: A Stumbling Response Online, Time, November 9, 2009
Maclaren USA Recalls to Repair Strollers Following Fingertip Amputations, CPSC, November 9, 2009
Related Web Resources:
Maclaren

Kids in Danger
Continue reading

November 4, 2009

Boston Wrongful Death Lawsuit Seeks Damages For Family of 82-Year-Old Who Was Strangled When Clothing Got Stuck on MBTA Escalator

by Altman & Altman

It’s been eight months since an 82-year-old Dorchester woman died while riding an MBTA escalator. Now, the family of Helen Jackson is suing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for Boston wrongful death. The lawsuit alleges that Jackson died of strangulation when, during a fall accident while riding the escalator, her jacket, scarf, and hair got stuck in the metal machinery.

MBTA officials had implied that Jackson died because she went into cardiac arrest while riding the moving machinery located inside Orange Line’s State Street station. Witnesses, however, say otherwise.

A number of passersby unsuccessfully tried to free Jackson from the escalator, but they could not separate her clothing from the metal. Jackson died at the scene.

August 6, 2009

Scaffold Malfunction Leaves Two Boston Window Washers Dangling 37 Floors

by Altman & Altman

In Boston, the lives of two window washers were left hanging 37 floors above a street in the Financial District when the scaffold they were standing on collapsed. Julio Ortiz and Kyle Redmond banged on the windows of the skyscraper they were working on, calling for help.

Firefighters broke the windows, working carefully to pull the two window washers back into the building. The two men managed to stay tethered to rigging connected to the roof while they stood on the now slanted platform.

Redmond was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital for non-life threatening injuries and later released from the emergency room. Ortiz did not sustain serious injuries.

The two window washers are employed by Harvard Maintenance Company.

Scaffolding Accidents
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries, 88 workers died in scaffolding accidents in 2007. 72% of the workers that got hurt in scaffold accidents say the work accident happened because the support or planking gave way or because the worker was hit by a falling object or slipped. These kinds of scaffold accidents are preventable.

Scaffolds are often used by window washers, construction workers, and others whose jobs require them to work from great heights outside buildings and other large structures. A scaffolding that collapses can result in fatal fall accidents, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and other catastrophic injuries.

Window washers, construction workers, and others injured in Boston work accidents are likely entitled to Massachusetts workers’ compensation benefits. They may also be able to sue a negligent third party for personal injury or wrongful death. For example, if a scaffold collapsed because it was defective or malfunction and its manufacturer could have prevented the accident from happening, then the injured party may have grounds for a Boston products liability lawsuit.

A lurch and a lifeline 37 floors up, Boston.com, August 6, 2009
Window washers rescued from 37-story plunge as platform collapses, Boston Herald, August 6, 2009
Scaffolding, US Dept. of Labor

Related Web Resources:
High Risk: Despite Regulations, Scaffold Accidents Continue, Safety.com
OSHA
Continue reading

August 5, 2009

Deadly LA Fitness Shooting Leaves 4 People Dead and Injures 10

by Altman & Altman

Four people are dead after a lone gunman entered an LA Fitness gym in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, shut off the lights in an aerobics room, and began shooting at patrons. He then killed himself.

Three women died in the shooting and at least 10 others were injured from the 50 rounds that he fired. According to police, the man, who a law enforcement source identified as 48-year-old George Sodini, didn’t say anything before he began shooting at people. Sodini was a gym member.

In a note found in Sodini’s gym back, the source says that the shooter talked about how he hated women.

One hospital admitted at least 5 shooting victims. A spokesperson for the hospital says the patients arrived at the hospital in critical condition.

The gunman maintained a blog prior to his death. He used the online diary to talk about his anger at being rejected by women, his desire to have a partner, and his loneliness. He lists his death as August 4, 2009. He refers to the murders as his “exit plan” and appears to have been plotting to execute his strategy for about a year.

Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawsuits Stemming from Violent Crimes
If you or someone you love was hurt because of a violent crime, there may be grounds for filing a personal injury or wrongful death complaint, such as:

Premises liability: Did inadequate security on the premise allow for the violent crime to happen?
Nursing Home negligence or abuse: Did a nursing home worker or a resident commit the crime and could the assisted living facility have acted to prevent the crime from happening? Did the facility neglect to perform a background check on the person that committed the crime?

Even if the property owner, company owner, event organizer, or another party did not have anything to do with committing the violent crime (but they could have or should have acted to prevent a crime from happen), you may be able to hold them liable for the harm that you and your love one have suffered. You also may be able to pursue financially recovery from the person that actually committed the violent.

Four dead, including gunman, in gym shooting, CNN.com, August 5, 2009
At least four dead in W. Pa. gym shooting, Philly.com, August 4, 2009 Continue reading

July 16, 2009

Supreme Judicial Court Upholds $4.4 Million Wrongful Death Award for Family of Yarmouth Man Fatally Injured in Gillette Stadium-Massachusetts Bus Accident

by Altman & Altman

The Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the Massachusetts wrongful death award that a jury gave to the family of a Yarmouth man who died after the bus he was riding was hit by a large security gate arm. The tragic Foxborough, Massachusetts premises liability accident happened in 2003 as the bus was driving through an empty parking lot.

As wind struck a 300-pound metal parking gate that should have been secured, the gate swung open, crashing through the windshield and causing an 8-inch double shafted pole to strike 64-year-old Thomas Kelly. Five other people were injured in the tragic accident. One woman who was injured had to have one of her legs amputated below the knee.

Kelly broke his right leg and mangled his left leg in the accident. After undergoing multiple surgeries, he died several weeks later.

June 8, 2009

Boston Wrongful Death: Families of Firefighters Killed in West Roxbury Restaurant Blaze Agree to $2.2 Million Settlement

by Altman & Altman

In Massachusetts, the families of Boston firefighters Warren J. Payne and Paul J. Cahill have reached a $2.2 million Boston wrongful death settlement with defendants Tai Ho Mandarin and Cantonese restaurant, J& B Cleaning, and the restaurant’s landlord, Continental Realty LLC. The two men died in 2007 while trying to put out a fire at the restaurant. 12 other firefighters were sent to the hospital following the blaze.

The plaintiffs contended that the three companies knew or should have known that grease from the exhaust pipe in the restaurant kitchen had leaked into the ceiling. They claim that this caused the fireball that killed Cahill and Payne. While Payne died immediately, Cahill died from smoke inhalation.

Autopsy reports indicate that there were signs of cocaine in Payne’s system and alcohol in Cahill’s body. This information was given to the defendants before a Massachusetts wrongful death settlement was reached. The attorney for Continental Realty maintains that his client did nothing wrong.