Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

November 5, 2014

Ex-Catholic Priest Settles Boston Child Sex Abuse Lawsuit With Former Student

Sean Leo Rooney, an ex-Roman Catholic priest, has settled a Boston sexual abuse lawsuit filed by a man who claims that the defendant molested him when he was a 14-year old student. According to the plaintiff, now 48, Rooney masturbated and fondled him on a bus during a school trip to Massachusetts and also while at the Salesian Junior Seminary in New York where he was studying. The former priest was on the faculty there at the time.

In his Massachusetts sex abuse case, the plaintiff said that he didn’t realize until years later that it was Rooney’s behavior that had caused him such harm. He says that he continues to suffer from emotional trauma, depression, panic attacks, sleeping difficulties, and problems with alcohol because of the explicit abuse committed by the defendant.

Rooney was a priest for 50 years before he was defrocked six years ago. Aside from the civil case, Rooney could also be subject to criminal charges in Massachusetts. Last week, BishopAccountability.org, a watchdog group, added Rooney’s name, and the names of three other people, to its public database of religious leaders accused of sex abuse.

November 3, 2014

Put a Freeze on Fatal Fires This Winter

by Altman & Altman

The tragic deaths of two young boys from Lawrence several weeks ago, caused by a fast-moving electrical fire in their family’s apartment, marked the 47th and 48th fire fatalities in Massachusetts this year. With the first wave of winter weather this weekend, more and more residents are beginning to bundle up and turn on their homes’ heat and wood stoves. While residential fires naturally rise during this part of the year, often more common than fire emergencies are non-fire carbon monoxide emergencies. At Altman & Altman, we’d like to send out a reminder to all residents of the steps they can take to prevent such a tragic accident from occurring in their homes.

Facts and Statistics

Currently in Massachusetts the number of deaths caused by fire-related accidents, stands at 48. According to the National Fire Protection Association, the leading causes of residential fires include:

– Appliances and equipment; including those used for cooking and heating, washing machines and dryers, air conditioners and fans, and more.
– Arson and juvenile fire setting; children playing with fire and intentional fires – Candles – Chemicals and gases; natural gas and gases that might cause spontaneous combustion – Faulty electrical wiring – Holiday decorations including Christmas trees and holiday lights – Smoking materials (i.e.; cigarettes, hookah, etc.)
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October 31, 2014

Halloween Is the Deadliest Night of the Year for Child Pedestrians: Keep Your Trick-or-Treaters Safe Tonight

by Altman & Altman

Halloween is known not only for being the spookiest night of the year, but also the deadliest for child pedestrians. Children, according to the Safe Kids Coalition, are twice as likely to be struck and killed by a car on Halloween night than on any other night. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 30 people are killed each year on October 31-nearly triple the average number of fatal pedestrian accidents that occur everyday in America. Combine those statistics with the fact that Halloween falls on a Friday this year and add in drunk drivers, and it’s a very scary combination for parents.

The fact is, is that trick-or-treaters can be very hard to see. Halloween is one of the only holidays in which there are hordes of people outside and on the streets during dark hours. Additionally, dark-colored costumes make it particularly difficult for drivers to spot pedestrians at night, especially pint-sized pedestrians, until its too late.

Young children who are excited by the special occasion and buzzed on sugar may be more apt to dart into the road without paying attention to oncoming traffic. With this in mind, both parents and drivers on the road should exercise extra caution and take the necessary steps to prevent a tragic accident from happening.
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October 31, 2014

Woman Awarded $9.5M Waltham, Massachusetts Medical Malpractice Verdict After Doctor Fails to Diagnose Her Ovarian Cancer

by Altman & Altman

A jury in Middlesex County has awarded a Burlington woman a $9.5 Waltham, Ma. medical malpractice million verdict. Cristen Lebel, 41, and her husband sued Dr. Kim Thornton at Boston IVF for not detecting Lebel’s ovarian cancer, which has now advanced to Stage 3. According to their Boston injury lawyer, Lebel is likely to die and this could have been avoided if only she received the proper medical care. With interest, the jury award is $11.3 million.

According to the plaintiffs, from June ’08 through May ’09, Thornton did not take the necessary steps to detect Lebel’s cancer, failed to identify the signs and symptoms, and did not order tests to rule out whether her cancer was malignant. Thornton, however, maintains that while treating Lebel for fertility issues, she complied with the standard of care and did not contribute to or modify the course of the patient’s diagnosis.

Cancer Diagnosis

October 30, 2014

Mechanical Failure May Have Caused Deadly Halloween Hayride Crash

by Altman & Altman

According to officials, a mechanical issue may have caused the Jeep serving as the Gauntlet Haunted Night hayride vehicle at Harvest Hill Farms to go down a hill at rapid speed, strike a tree, and overturn earlier this month in Maine. 17-year-old Cassidy Charette sustained fatal injuries in the crash. 22 others were injured.

Charette was with seven other students from her high school for their annual hayride when the tragic vehicle crash happened. Among the injured were two with critical injuries, including 16-year-old Connor Garland and David Brown, 54, who was driving the Jeep. Garland was transported to Boston Children’s Hospital. According to Fox News, Brown was hauling a flatbed trailer as part of the ride.

Following the hayride accident, State Police impounded the 1979 Jeep CJ5a. A safety probe was conducted.

October 29, 2014

MIT Survey Reveals Prevalence of Sexual Assault on Campuses

by Altman & Altman

MIT has attempted to put a precise estimate on the prevalence of sexual violence on its campus in a comprehensive survey taken anonymously by its students.

According to results, which were published on Monday, about one in six female undergraduates at MIT who responded reported being sexually assaulted at least one time while enrolled at the university. 5 percent of those respondents said they reported the crime, according to results released Monday by the school. The Boston Globe reported that 3,800 students responded to the survey out of 10,800 who were invited to participate.

According to The Boston Globe, “MIT became the highest-profile college to put such a specific estimate on the prevalence of sexual violence on campus, amid heightened national attention on the issue. Many schools have been hesitant to conduct such surveys, but advocates have urged colleges to do so because victims are more likely to reveal that they were assaulted if they can remain anonymous. Undergraduates, in particular, are viewed as most at risk.”

MIT university president L. Rafael Reif said in a mass email sent to students and faculty of the school, that he was “disturbed by the extent and nature of the problem” reflected in the survey results.

“Sexual assault violates our core MIT values,” Reif wrote. “I am confident that, with this shared understanding and armed with this new data, the MIT community will find a path to significant positive change.”
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October 28, 2014

National Transportation Safety Board Announces Likely Cause of NY Train Derailment

by Altman & Altman

Nearly 11 months since a Metro-North train derailed in New York City, killing four people and injuring dozens more passengers, federal investigators believe they have reached a conclusion as to what caused the horrific wreck.

According to WCVB reports, the National Transportation Safety Board said it is prepared to announce today the probable causes of the December 1, 2013 train derailment and address four other Metro-North accidents in both New York and Connecticut, which all occurred within 11 months in 2013 and 2014.

The NTSB said it has poured over hundreds of documented findings from the investigations. It is only now that the board has reached probable conclusions as to why the crash occurred. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut stated that he has seen the report, which, according to Blumenthal, “document[s] the cascading catastrophes over a single year illustrating the urgent need for dramatic upgrades and improvements in safety and reliability.”

Though no confirmation has yet been made, early reports in April suggested that the engineer of the derailed train, William Rockefeller, suffered from undiagnosed sleep apnea, which ultimately interrupted his sleep dozens of times each night. Likely, Rockefeller was overly drowsy at the time the accident occurred, according to these preliminary reports. Investigators questioned Rockefeller on whether he was clearheaded enough to realize he was hitting the curve at such a high rate of speed, to which Rockefeller replied, “apparently not.”

According to WCVB, other accidents within the 11-month span include a derailment and collision in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that injured more than 50 people on May 17, 2013; the death of a track foreman who was hit by a train in West Haven, Connecticut, on May 28, 2013; the derailment of a freight train on Metro-North tracks in the Bronx on July 18, 2013; and the death of a Metro-North electrician who was hit by a train in Manhattan on March 10, 2014.
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October 27, 2014

GranuFlo Plaintiffs Want Massachusetts Law Applied to Their Dialysis Lawsuits

by Altman & Altman

127 plaintiffs want the courts to apply Massachusetts law, not Mississippi law, to their GranuFlo injury claims against Fresenius Medical Care North America. Even though the dialysis patients are from Massachusetts state, they filed their complaints in Massachusetts.

The manufacturer is seeking to have the claims dismissed, noting that they exceed the three-year statue of limitations in Mississippi. The plaintiffs contend that there is a discovery exception to the statute that mandates a case-by-case assessment.

The dialysis patients claim that using Fresenius’ GranuFlo Dry Acid Concentrate and NaturaLyte during dialysis can lead to cardiopulmonary arrest and even death. The two products are dialysate components that are designed to maintain the correct base-acid balance in the blood during hemodialysis. Unfortunately, say the plaintiffs, the powders can also cause unsafe modifications in the blood.

October 22, 2014

Two Young Women Sue Website in Boston for Sex Trafficking

by Altman & Altman

Two young women are suing Backpage.com after they became the victims of sex trafficking. Their Massachusetts lawsuit, filed in Boston is accusing the company of setting up a business model that enabled child sex trafficking in the U.S. The plaintiffs’ lawyers describe Backpage.com as a website that carries advertisements for illegal commercial sex.

One of the plaintiffs says that sold for over 1,000 times in 18 months when she was 15 and 16 in ’12 and ’13. The other girl says she was trafficked as a teen between ’12 and ’13. The two girls were purportedly trafficked in separate “stables” of girls who were moved to different cities, including Boston, other Massachusetts cities, and Rhode Island.

The plaintiffs claim that Backpage.com and parent company Camarillo Holdings LLC violated the Massachusetts Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2010 and the Trafficking Victims Reauthorization Act of 2008. They also are accusing the defendants of succeeding in purposely becoming a lead player in the online sex trade and making misrepresentations to non-profits and law enforcement to make it appear as if the website was trying to get rid of the child sex traffic ads when that wasn’t the case.

October 21, 2014

Massachusetts Suspends ET-Plus Guardrail Use Because of Traffic Injury Risks

by Altman & Altman

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has decided to stop the use of a guardrail-end terminal over concerns that there may be safety issues. The rail-end guardrail pieces, known as the ET-Plus, are made by Trinity Industries of Texas. The manufacturer has already have been the subject of products liability lawsuits by motorists claiming they lost their legs in traffic crashes.

This week, a federal jury ruled that Trinity should pay $175 million in a whistleblower lawsuit that exposed the hazards involved with using the guardrail end caps. It was guardrail installer Josh Harman who accused Trinity of making the ET-Plus unsafe when the company redesigned it.

He sued Trinity under the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions. As the whistleblower, Harman is entitled to a percentage of what is recovered. Because of statutory mandate, the $175 million figure is expected to triple.