South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

Dog bites are on the rise in Loudoun County, and Animal Control officials are encouraging citizens to take steps to prevent further incidents.“Dog bites are up nearly 50% this summer as compared to last summer,” reports Chief Animal Control Officer Kim Miller. “Alarmingly, we are seeing incidences of citizens being bitten by dogs that are on leash or otherwise under their owner’s control. It is important for both dog owners and those who may come in contact with dogs to be aware of simple safety precautions.”

If you know that your dog has a tendency to be easily agitated or is especially wary of strangers, then you should take extra precautions to avoid a potential bite.  Use a properly fitted basket muzzle when taking your dog out in public – just make sure that the muzzle allows the dog to pant.  You should also avoid situations where your dog could come in close contact with unfamiliar people, such as parks or trails.

A former railroad worker who suffered severe brain damage from long-term exposure to cleaning solvents in the workplace was awarded $1.8 million in compensation after a jury found the railroad company liable for the damages.

The personal injury lawsuit, filed against CSX Transportation, claims railroad employees were forced to work with toxic cleaning solvents with little or no protection, lead to hundreds of cases of serious injury.

Plaintiff Terry L. Williams worked as a machinist for CSX for 34 years and left the railroad in 2000 after he was diagnosed with toxic encephalopathy, which caused him to sustain permanent brain damage.

According to the suit, more than 600 other railroad workers have also been diagnosed with permanent brain damage as a result of prolonged workplace exposure to cleaning solvents without adequate protection.

Researchers have found that the chemicals used by railroad employees actually shrinks an area of the brain that aids in allowing both sides of the brain to communicate, leading to permanent damage.

While the use of such solvents was phased out by the industry in the early 90s, hundreds of current or former workers have filed civil lawsuits seeking compensation for their losses and suffering.

So far, CSX has paid $35 million in awards or settlements. There are still quite a number of pending lawsuits in several states.

A Pierce City dairy farmer and his parents have been awarded more than $2 million in a lawsuit brought against New-Mac Electric Cooperative in Newton County Circuit Court.

In a 10-2 decision after four hours of deliberation, the jury found the electric cooperative responsible for $1,675,349 in economic damages and $418,837 for inconvenience caused by stray voltage that killed and sickened cattle on the Chapman Dairy in eastern Newton County.

“It was clear we were right and they were wrong,” said dairy owner Steve Chapman on Monday.

Chapman and his parents, Pat and Judy Chapman, began discussing the stray-voltage issue with New-Mac officials in 1997 before filing the lawsuit in 2000.

In 2005, the Chapmans offered to pay $107,000 for 1.7 miles of new three-phase electric wires to their farm if the cooperative would install it. The cooperative declined.

In June, the cooperative rejected a settlement offer of $2 million.

Under Missouri law, the Chapman Dairy was able to claim financial losses to 1990, or 10 years before filing the lawsuit. The Chapmans sought about $3.2 million.

“We are, of course, very disappointed with the verdict,” said Mark Rakes, manager of consumer services and marketing at the cooperative’s Neosho headquarters. “We believe the evidence showed New-Mac was not responsible.”

Rakes said he could not comment on whether the cooperative would seek an appeal.

The Chapmans’ attorney, Scott Lawrence, of St. Nazianz, Wis., who has represented about 50 cattlemen in stray-voltage cases over the past 20 years, said the Chapmans’ case “went very well.”

“Clearly the jury believed our expert witnesses over theirs,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence said the Chapman Dairy settlement is among the larger awards in such cases, and the first winning verdict in Missouri. Other cases have been filed in Missouri, but were thrown out for lack of evidence before trial, he said.

Attorney Michael Reihn, of Cassville, who served as co-counsel in the case, said stray-voltage cases in the northern Midwest have been successfully tried for 20 years.

“It is finally starting to filter this way,” Reihn said.

Chapman said many dairies cannot hold out long enough to go to trail against large utility companies. Pat Chapman’s railroad pension allowed the dairy to keep going, he said.

“If we were just depending on the dairy for income, this trial wouldn’t have happened,” Chapman said. “New-Mac just kept hoping we wouldn’t pursue it or that we would go broke.”

Since 1997, the Chapman dairy has lost 100 Holstein cattle of all ages, which were attributed to stray voltage that entered the soil through copper ground wires, shocking the cattle.

The cattle suffered from a host of illnesses including chronic mastitis, bleeding ulcers and crippling joint ailments. Inability to breed and low milk production were also common, Chapman said.

“When the cattle were moved to another farm, those conditions disappeared,” Chapman said.

The Chapmans proved that poorly maintained, single-phase overhead electric lines, overgrown with vines and tree branches, were to blame. Instead of flowing through the lines, current would travel down the copper ground wires on each pole and into the ground, Chapman said.

Chapman said that besides sick cattle, the dairy also had increased labor costs because cows refuse to go in the milk barn. Once there, they kick the milkers off or won’t let their milk down, Chapman said.

“Milking takes twice as long as it should and takes at least two workers to milk the cows,” Chapman said.

Chapman said the last 10 years have been exhausting, first to figure out what the problem was, and then how to fix it.

“Most people don’t believe you when you tell them about it, or they don’t even understand what you are talking about,” Chapman said, adding that most of his expert witnesses are from dairy areas of Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota.

“We had to sacrifice everything else to keep this going,” Chapman said. “We couldn’t live a normal life.”

Chapman said the award covers losses suffered because of cattle death and illness, and debt incurred during the long legal battle, but has established nothing to prevent future losses if the problem isn’t corrected.

Chapman said he will return to court with the cooperative on Dec. 5 to determine how to correct the problem permanently.

“Hopefully, we’ll get our power lines rebuilt,” Chapman said. “Otherwise we will have future losses.”

Chapman said he recently lost another young cow when her stomach ruptured from bleeding ulcers. Lawrence said he will ask the judge in December to order the cooperative to install 1.75 miles of new power lines, including hardware, leading to the Chapman dairy.

“I’m assuming New-Mac will ask the judge to throw out part of the damages award,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence said that if the cooperative had replaced the hardware with modern equipment, the stray voltage would never have developed. The power lines near the dairy date to 1947, he said.

Chapman said that over the last few years he has invested in enough stray-voltage testing equipment that he could be a consultant for other dairies.

“I hope this case helps other farmers,” Chapman said.

Largest award

In February 2004, an Idaho jury awarded $17.5 million to a dairy that claimed electrical current from power lines harmed its cows. That was a record judgment in a stray-voltage case.

Jurors in Twin Falls ordered the damages after finding that antiquated Idaho Power transmission equipment was at fault for making cows sick and reducing their milk production at a dairy owned by Mike and Susan Vierstra.

Idaho Power argued during the 10-week trial that the stray-voltage levels were not dangerous and that the cows’ problems were the result of poor dairy management.

A jury has found Guardian Industries at fault in the death of a truck driver but did not award damages to the man’s estate.Darren Richard Long, 38, of Medford, Wis., died in 2004 after a 4,000-pound crate of glass fell on him as he was loading it onto the trailer of his truck at Guardian’s plant in DeWitt. He died at a local hospital.

New research indicates that preschoolers taking Ritalin—a popular drug prescribed for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)—are more prone to suffer side effects than children over six years of age.

While Ritalin provided clear benefits for children with severe ADHD, those under six-years-old required extra close monitoring because of their increased risk of adverse events such as insomnia, slowed growth, weight loss, and more.

Study Details

The new findings come from the first long-term government study—prompted by reports of the increasingly growing number of young children being prescribed psychiatric drugs—that looks at the effects Ritalin has on preschool-aged children.

The study involved children with severe cases of ADHD, whose behavior included playing with fire, hanging from ceiling fans, jumping off high playground equipment, and other dangerous activities.

Nearly 40 percent of the young participants in the study experienced Ritalin side effects and about 11 percent dropped out due to the adverse events including serious weight loss, irritability, insomnia, and more. Additionally, researchers found that preschoolers taking Ritalin gained about two pounds less than predicted during the course of the study and only grew about half an inch.

Illinois’ Supreme Court has overturned the rulings of two lower courts and the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, which had all found that a carpal tunnel injury claim was “time barred.” 

In the case of Deana Durand vs. The Industrial Commission, Ms. Durand was a policy administrator for RLI Insurance Co. who spent several hours each day typing on a keyboard and first filed a workers comp claim in 2001.

The Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission, formerly named the Illinois Industrial Commission, ruled that because Ms. Durand testified before an arbitration hearing that she first experienced pain in her hands and wrists in 1997, her claim was outside Illinois’ limitations period.

The arbitrator had found in Ms. Durand’s favor. But RLI appealed, and a trial court and an appeals court eventually upheld the commission’s decision.

But the high court ruled Thursday that Ms. Durand couldn’t have immediately known she suffered a work-related injury and said it declined to penalize an employee who continued to work despite pain. The court remanded the case to the commission for further proceedings.

Freight railroad system operator Norfolk Southern Corp. said Monday it agreed in principle on a class action suit settlement related to a train derailment in 2005.Norfolk Southern said the settlement would offer compensation for personal injury claims associated with the railroad’s Jan. 6, 2005, derailment at Graniteville, S.C.

The settlement will provide varying levels of compensation for people injured and who received medical treatment or were hospitalized as a result of the derailment and subsequent release of chlorine, the company said.

Norfolk Southern said the agreement covers claims that were not part of a prior class action settlement approved last year for property damage, evacuation expenses and losses, and minor personal injuries.

The company plans to submit the settlement for preliminary court approval in early November.

“Norfolk Southern is deeply sorry for all the losses, hardship, and inconvenience this accident has caused and again extends its regrets to those adversely affected,” the company said in a statement.

Two freight trains collided in Graniteville, S.C., in the early morning hours of Jan. 6, 2005, releasing a cloud of chlorine gas. Several people were killed, about 250 hurt, and some 5,400 people were evacuated.

Shares of Norfolk Southern rose 31 cents to $48.51 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Twenty-four people had crowded onto a dormitory elevator before it pinned and killed an Ohio State University freshman, exceeding its weight capacity by as much as 1,100 pounds, a fire official said Monday.The count came from a medic who interviewed survivors immediately after the Friday night accident, said Doug Smith, a battalion chief for the Columbus Division of Fire.

He said the elevator had a capacity of 2,500 pounds. “If you take the average freshman college kid, you’d probably average their weight somewhere between 140 and 150 (pounds), so without a doubt it probably exceeded the weight,” Smith said.

However, authorities have not concluded that the extra weight caused the elevator to malfunction, and the case remains under investigation.

“We can’t speculate or draw any conclusions at this point until we have all the facts,” Ohio State spokeswoman Shelly Hoffman said.

Andrew Polakowski was the last person to enter the elevator on Stradley Hall’s third floor when it began to descend with the doors open, campus police said.

Polakowski, 18, of Erie, Pa., was pinned when he tried to escape through a gap between the top of the elevator and the third floor, police said.

Polakowski had chest and abdominal injuries and died of asphyxia, Franklin County Coroner Bradley Lewis said.

The state Department of Commerce released documents showing the elevator had passed every safety test conducted by Otis Elevator Co. going back to 2003, including the most recent one, conducted July 24.

Some students said they have had minor problems with elevators in the 11-floor dormitory, which has more than 400 residents.

University President Karen Holbrook told school officials to arrange for an independent review of all dormitory elevators.

Workers spent several days digging through World Trade Center debris recently in a search for human remains before health officials tested the air and soil, officials said Tuesday.Though the mayor said the environmental tests performed Monday revealed no toxins, some critics said they should have been done immediately.

The tests on material pulled from manholes on the site’s edge were negative for asbestos and other threats, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

“We always err on the side of making sure that the people that are working there are safe,” Bloomberg said.

But that doesn’t satisfy some workers who have claimed that exposure to the debris at the trade center site has sickened thousands since Sept. 11, 2001.

“How many times you gotta learn?” said Marvin Bethea, a paramedic who said he got chronic asthma from working at the lower Manhattan site in the days after the terrorist attack. “They should have been properly geared up. They should have first have had someone come in there and test the air.”

A group of Consolidated Edison utility employees began work Wednesday on a manhole at the site; construction workers discovered human bones in the debris on Thursday. Since then, about two dozen workers daily have been digging through several manholes in the area for possible remains.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site and had overseen the manhole work, called in the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Monday “to ensure the safety of the project for the workers,” spokesman Steve Coleman said.

As of Tuesday, the workers were wearing protective suits and face masks, officials said. The search ended a couple of hours early on Monday to complete tests of air and soil, officials said.

OSHA spokesman John Chavez said federal standards require protection from asbestos and other toxic substances, and “that would appear to be a common concern at this site.”

A recent study has concluded that 70 percent of ground zero workers developed respiratory problems after working there; a lawsuit filed by thousands of workers and residents charges they were sickened by debris and dust that contained pulverized concrete, asbestos and other toxins.

Six dormitory elevators failed safety tests conducted by Ohio State University after a freshman was pinned and killed by an elevator in his residence hall, university officials said Tuesday.The six elevators, among 29 given a standard brake test, will be shut down until they are repaired and recertified, said Molly Ranz, the school’s director of facilities.

All six elevators had passed full-scale tests required every five years, including an August 2003 test that approved the elevator involved in the accident, Ranz said. That elevator also passed three spot safety checks in the past year, she said.

Ohio State plans to have all high-rise elevators in dormitories tested by Friday and the rest by next week.

Twenty-four people had crowded into the elevator on which Andrew Polakowski, 18, of Erie, Pa., was killed Friday night, a fire official said Monday. The 2,500-pound weight capacity of the elevator was exceeded by as much as 1,100 pounds, said Doug Smith, a battalion chief for the Columbus Division of Fire.

Authorities have not determined whether the extra weight caused a malfunction.

Polakowski was the last person in a group of students to enter the elevator on the dormitory’s third floor when it began to descend with the doors open, campus police said.

Polakowski tried to get back onto the third floor as someone shouted that the elevator was falling, said Rick Amweg, assistant chief of campus police.

The elevator wedged Polakowski against the floor of the third-floor lobby, Amweg said. Polakowski had chest and abdominal injuries and died of mechanical asphyxia, a coroner ruled.

In the past year, the university’s elevator repair service responded to six complaints about the elevator that killed Polakowski. In three cases, the elevator was either overloaded, someone was jumping inside or someone was temporarily trapped, according to university records. The records don’t provide additional details.