Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

December 10, 2012

MBTA Fires “Inattentive” Driver Involved in Boston Train Crash

The MBTA has fired the driver of a Green Line train that recently collided with another train, sending numerous riders to the hospital.

The reason for the termination is that the driver was “inattentive” at the time of the crash, said MBTA General Manager Jonathan R. Davis.

Davis said the driver was “solely responsible” for the accident. The driver had worked another, non-MBTA job from midnight to 8:00 a.m. before starting his MBTA job at 11:00 a.m., approximately an hour before the crash. The MBTA has not released the name of the driver or a description of the second job.

MBTA rules do not specifically prohibit employees from working additional jobs, but by not having sufficient rest before reporting to work, the driver was unfit for duty, violating MBTA policy, said Davis.

“Because of his alarming disregard for customer and employee safety in performing his duty as a Green Line operator, today he was fired,” Davis said at a news conference prior to a regularly scheduled meeting of the state transportation board. “The conclusion is he was inattentive to his duties as a Green Line operator, resulting in a collision with the other vehicle.”

The driver reported to investigators that he did not fall asleep while operating the train, said Davis. Investigators were unable to determine if that was in fact the case, said Davis.

The collision between two Green Line trains at the Boylston Street station occurred just before noon on Thursday, injuring tens of people. The train was entering the station when it rear-ended another train that had stopped on the platform.

37 people were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries. “People went flying, got their knees banged up. It was pretty hectic,” said one rider.

None of the trolleys were damaged in the crash and the station opened in time for the evening commute.
Continue reading

December 6, 2012

Boston Carbon Monoxide Exposure in Mattapan Homes Sickens Seven

by Altman & Altman

According to a local fire official, seven people fell ill after they were exposed to a carbon monoxide leak in a Mattapan home on Wednesday afternoon. Two of the victims were reportedly children. As of yesterday evening, reports The Boston Globe, all of the victims except for one woman, who was being treated for an unrelated condition, had been released from the hospital.

Boston EMS said that the CO exposure was likely triggered while a worker was fixing the triple-decker residence’s heating unit. Also, there were a couple of carbon monoxide detectors missing from the building while another one didn’t have batteries. Following the evacuation of the residents, the company that had been working on the unit tightened a lose duct that may have been the source of the gas leak.

CO Poisoning
Too much exposure to carbon monoxide can be fatal, and with the cold weather now here, this is the time of year when the number of leaks rises. While CO is emitted any time something is burned and this generally isn’t a problem as long as ventilation isn’t an issue, danger can occur should the gas build up in an enclosed space and/or when ventilation is poor. The reason that the winter months is a time when CO poisoning incidents go up is that this is when many Americans use fireplaces, furnaces, water heaters, gas cooking stoves, and space heaters-appliances that emit carbon monoxide.

CO is a gas that has no smell or color so victims usually don’t know when they’ve been exposed. Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms can also be deceptive: headache, a feverless flu, nausea, breath shortness, dizziness, and fatigue. Exposure to a high concentration of CO can render a person unconscious, and may even prove fatal. The elderly, infants, and people whose red blood counts are low or who are suffering from respiratory or heart conditions are at greater risk of serious effects from CO poisoning.

Depending on what happened, you may have grounds for Boston personal injury case against the owner of the property where the CO poisoning occurred, the manufacturer of the appliance that leaked the gas, or a maintenance company that played a role in allowing the leak to happen. Failure by a property owner to install working CO detectors that are supposed to warn when a leak has happened can also be a reason to file a Massachusetts premises liability lawsuit if serious injuries or a death occurred.

Winter Heating Safety Alert: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention, American Red Cross
Seven people sickened after carbon monoxide exposure, The Boston Globe, December 5, 2012

More Blog Posts:
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Sends Boston Mother and Kids to Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, January 23, 2012

Boston Family Suffers Carbon Monoxide Exposure, Boston Injury Lawyer Blog, January 23, 2012

Massachusetts Manufacturer Cited by OSHA for 34 Safety Violations, Massachusetts Workers’ Compensation Lawyer Blog, May 21, 2009 Continue reading

December 4, 2012

Boston University School of Medicine Finds Additional Evidence Linking Brain Damage to Head Injuries

by Altman & Altman

According to a study published this week by the Boston University School of Medicine, researchers have discovered more evidence affirming a causal connection between repeated head injuries and chronic brain disease. The findings can be found in the journal Brain and will likely provide support for brain injury lawsuits filed by numerous professional football players who claim that concussions that they sustained during their career caused them to develop permanent brain damage or injuries.

One need only look to recent headlines to read about how Kansas City Chiefs’ Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend and then killed himself in front of his coach and general manager. Family and friends believe his inexplicable actions were due to head injuries he had sustained while playing the game.

Researchers examined brain samples from 85 deceased people ranging in age from 17 to 98 who had suffered from concussions and other types of mild TBIs, including well-known professional athletes such as running back Cookie Gilchrist. They compared these samples with those of other people who didn’t have the same brain injury history.

December 3, 2012

No Cell Phone Use or Mechanical Failure in Boston Green Line MBTA Crash

by Altman & Altman

Last week, our Boston Personal Injury Lawyers blogged about the MBTA crash involving two Trolleys in Boston, MA. Investigators now report they have found no evidence that cell phone use or mechanical failure caused the crash between two Green Line trains on Thursday that injured 37 people, said the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

The collision occurred when “One trolley bumped into the rear of another trolley that was making a regular stop at the station,” said MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo. According to one rider, “people went flying, got their knees banged up. It was pretty hectic.”

“The train was going, and all of a sudden we heard a loud crash,” and “All of us just piled on top of each other,” one witness said.

EMTs set up a triage center outside the station to treat injured riders. 37 passengers were taken to area hospitals. The operator of the second trolley was also injured, Pesaturo said.
Chief of Boston EMS James Hooley said several people “complained of neck and back pain that required them to be carried up and extracted, but the majority of them – 28 or so – were walking, wounded.”

About 200 people were on the Green Line trains at the time of the crash.
MBTA officials downplayed the severity of the incident, saying it was a “slow-speed crash” that damaged no trolleys. There were no serious injuries, Hooley said.
Continue reading

November 30, 2012

Securities and Exchange Commission Received 3,001 Whistleblower Tips During Fiscal Year 2012

by Altman & Altman

During this past fiscal year, the SEC received 3,001 whistleblower tips from tipsters in all 50 states and from 49 nations. Outgoing SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said that the Commission’s whistleblower program has proven valuable in uncovering financial fraud. Earlier this month, the agency issued its “2012 Annual Report on the Dodd Frank Whistleblower Program.”

The SEC whistleblower program allows parties to offer up original, quality information about possible securities law violations. Should the information result in a successful SEC enforcement action that leads to over $1 million in monetary sanctions, the whistleblower is entitled to 10-30% of this amount. The award is paid to the whistleblower from the Investor Protection Fund.

If you are someone who has such information, do not hesitate to contact our Boston whistleblower lawyers at Altman & Altman, LLP today. Filing a Qui Tam case can be a complicated process especially when done without legal help. In addition to making sure that your rights are protected throughout the process, an experienced Massachusetts whistleblower attorney can make sure you receive the reward that you are owed.

November 29, 2012

35 Hurt in Boston Trolley Accident Involving Two Trains

by Altman & Altman

A Boston train crash at Boylston Station this morning has left at least 35 people with injuries. Nine of the victims were immobilized because of possible neck or head injuries.

The Boston trolley collision happened when a Green Line train departing Park Street Station rear-ended a trolley that was at the Boylston Station platform. Both trains were two-car trains.

According to MBTA Transit Police, initial signs indicate that the moving train wasn’t going at a fast speed when impact was made. However, The Boston Globe quotes one witness who said that she didn’t think the operator of the train, which she was riding, had braked before the collision. Another witness said he saw one passenger, who was boarding the stopped trolley at the time, get knocked back onto the concrete platform where he landed face down.

November 29, 2012

FDA Shuts Down Nut-Processing Plant After Many are Sickened with Salmonella

by Altman & Altman

The Food and Drug Association shut down a nut-processing facility in Portales, New Mexico, after it was tied to a nation-wide salmonella outbreak in June of this year. The plant, operated by Sunland Inc., was set to open this week, however the FDA stepped in and put the reopening process to a halt.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the plant produced salmonella contaminated nut butter, which sickened at least 41 people in 20 states, most of whom were children. The nut butter was sold in restaurants and retailers such as Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, Whole Foods and Target stores nationwide, including several in Massachusetts, and was pulled off the shelves following the recall.

The recalled Sunland Inc. products were not only jars of peanut butter, but also other nut products the company produces. A complete list of products is available on the FDA’s website.
Continue reading

November 28, 2012

Springfield, MA Natural Gas Explosion Caused by Human Error

by Altman & Altman

Our Boston Personal Injury Attorneys previously blogged about a natural gas explosion at Scores Gentlemen’s Club that injured 18 people and damaged 42 buildings in Springfield’s entertainment district.

Now, authorities appear to have identified the cause. State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said the blast was due to a “human error” that occurred when an unnamed utility worker accidentally punctured a high-pressure pipeline while looking for a leak.

The worker pierced the gas line while using a metal probe to search for a leak, said Coan. Gas then filled the strip club, with a spark of some kind igniting the blast. “Unfortunately when he put the probe in the ground he punctured and penetrated the gas main itself. That allowed a high volume off free flowing gas to enter the building,” Coan said.

The worker was following older markings on a sidewalk that located the position of the gas line, but the markings were incorrect, Coan said. “Some old markings that were in the street from some previous work that had been done were not exactly where they should have been and were off a couple of feet. So while the employee thought he was a safe distance from the gas line, in fact he was directly on top of it,” Coan said.

The explosion damaged 115 residential units located in 42 buildings. Officials condemned three of those buildings immediately, and indicated that 24 others need structural inspections by engineers to assess their safety. The blast completely destroyed the gentlemen’s club. Most of the people hurt in the blast were gas workers, firefighters, and police.

Authorities had evacuated several buildings in the area after the pipe was damaged. Springfield Fire Commissioner Joseph Conant commended the department’s firefighters, saying they “did an excellent job evacuating the area which certainly prevented additional civilian injuries and saved many lives.”
Continue reading

November 25, 2012

Boston Products Liability?: Keep Kids Away from Single-Load Liquid Laundry Pods

by Altman & Altman

The CPSC recently put out an alert warning that a new type of laundry detergent-the single-load liquid laundry packet-is proving toxic for kids. While laundry detergent was never supposed to be ingested, what makes this product especially child unfriendly is that they look and even feel like they might be small pieces of candy or a teething toy.

It doesn’t help that they tend to come in bright, attractive colors and their texture has been likened by some to that of a gummy bear (soft and gooey). Liquid laundry pods are also small enough to put in the mouth and easy to puncture so that it is no wonder that the detergent, which contains toxic ingredients, can easily make contact with the eyes and skin. Also, the majority of liquid laundry packets don’t come in childproof containers.

Already, the CPSC knows of at least 500 incidents involving kids and adults getting sick from this type of detergent. Serious side effects may include throwing up, sleepiness, problems breathing, eye irritation, diarrhea, temporary vision loss, and/or ocular burns. The American Center of Poison Control Centers is reporting about 10 calls a day over injuries involving this laundry product during one 20 day period.

November 23, 2012

At Least 18 Injured in Springfield, Massachusetts Natural Gas Blast at Strip Club

by Altman & Altman

At least 18 people were hurt during a natural gas blast in Springfield, Massachusetts’s entertainment district at around 6 pm tonight. The explosion at the Scores Gentlemen’s Club, leveled the local strip club, and also damaged a five-story building and a nearby day care. A tattoo parlor a block and a half away also experienced property damage from the incident.

The blast happened after gas workers had wrapped up their investigation of the smell of gas in the area. They had evacuated the street and were just about to let people return when the explosion occurred.

Spokespeople at Mercy Medical Center and Baystate Medical Center say that none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. Among those hurt were 10 firefighters and cops and three gas workers. One dancer from the strip club reportedly told The Republican that the smell of gas had been present for a while. She says the gas company even checked it out earlier this week.