South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

Relatives of victims of the 2005 Helios air crash near Athens have filed a $105 million lawsuit against Boeing, the maker of the aircraft, court officials said Monday.The lawsuit was filed late last week in an Athens court by relatives of 17 of the victims. They petitioned for damages against the U.S.-based maker of the Boeing 737-300 aircraft which crashed on Aug. 14, 2005 on a hillside north of Athens, killing all 121 passengers and crew aboard. It had been on a flight from Nicosia to Athens.

The plaintiffs said that Boeing was responsible for a series of design errors including faulty warning signals that led to fatal mistakes by the pilots of the aircraft.

The relatives say the level of compensation being demanded is based on Boeing’s profit levels, which they said included an annual turnover last year of $44.5 billion and annual net profits of $2.2 billion.

It is not yet known when the case might come to trial.

In their Oct. 2006 report on the crash, Greek investigators cited human error as the main cause of the crash, saying the pilots had left cabin pressure controls at an incorrect setting. However, the report also cited Boeing for “ineffectiveness of measures” in response to previously known problems of cabin pressurization aboard its aircraft.

The crash was the worst-ever air disaster for both Greece and Cyprus.

A woman whose sister died in the Sept. 11 attacks filed a lawsuit over last week’s steam pipe eruption in Manhattan, saying Tuesday that the explosion brought back horrible memories.Francine Dorf’s lawsuit accuses Consolidated Edison of negligence, saying the utility didn’t properly maintain the pipe that ruptured outside her office and sent a geyser of steam, mud and asbestos-tainted debris over the neighborhood near Grand Central Terminal.

“I thought a building was going to collapse,” said Dorf, 52, a legal secretary. She is seeking unspecified damages.

Dorf’s attorney, Kenneth Mollins, said Dorf suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and “a legacy of fear” from the 2001 attacks. He said the lawsuit is intended to force Con Ed to improve maintenance of its infrastructure.

Her sister, Maria La Vache, was an employee of insurer Marsh & McLennan and was on the 99th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center when it collapsed. Her body was never recovered.

Dorf said she called her brother and mother after the steam pipe rupture last Wednesday to say goodbye.

“I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. If I lay down I can see the smoke,” she said. “And I think of my sister over and over again. What she must have went through on 9/11.”

A Con Ed spokesman said the utility does not comment on pending litigation.

A U.S. House hearing yesterday revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) refused to acknowledge dangerous levels of the chemical formaldehyde in some of the 120,000 housing trailers it provided to people who were evacuated from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

The director of FEMA, R. David Paulison, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that, in hindsight, FEMA could have moved faster when formaldehyde problems were first reported in March 2006, six months after the first trailers were delivered to evacuees.

Formaldehyde in Building Materials

Formaldehyde is sometimes found in building materials. Several government agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, classify formaldehyde as a probable human carcinogen. It can also cause respiratory problems, sore throats, and burning eyes, all of which have been reported by evacuees living in FEMA trailers.

The House committee criticized FEMA for its limited response to the trailer residents who reported respiratory problems and formaldehyde fumes, and to a reported death of an evacuee that may have been linked to formaldehyde in his trailer. Subpoenaed records showed FEMA lawyers warning the agency’s officials of potential liability problems if safety testing revealed dangerous chemicals.

” The Clock Is Running on Our Duty to Respond”

One e-mail from a FEMA lawyer to field staff advised: “Do not initiate any testing until we give the OK. … Once you get results … the clock is running on our duty to respond to them.”

Tens of thousands of people are still living in the FEMA trailers in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi. FEMA’s lack of response to the reports of illness was blasted by the committee chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who noted, “It’s sickening and the exact opposite of what government should be. It is impossible to read the FEMA documents and not be infuriated.”

FEMA director Paulison publicly apologized to the evacuees, saying, “We were not formaldehyde experts…we recognize now that we have an issue. We are dealing with it in the best manner we can.” The day before the hearing, FEMA announce that it has asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to run tests on the air quality in the FEMA trailers that are still occupied.

On Aug. 15, 2003, plaintiff Ari Meehan, 33, a structural ironworker, was working on the Bronx Whitestone Bridge. Workers were attempting to hoist a 3,000-pound fiberglass panel using a power vacuum lift. As a result of the previous day’s blackout, the power suction cups weren’t completely charged. Thus, in the middle of moving the panel, the suction cups failed, causing the fiberglass panel to fall 30 feet to the roadway below. Meehan attempt to run out of the way, but the panel struck him in his upper back and hard hat. Meehan claimed that he sustained back, head, neck, pelvis and shoulder injuries.Meehan sued the bridge’s operator, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. He alleged that the defendant violated the labor law.The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority commenced third-party actions against the manufacturer of the power vacuum lift, Anver Corp.; the distributor of the lift, the Lively Co.; the project’s general contractor, NAB Construction Corp.; and the project designer, Parsons Corp. It sought indemnification. The third-party suit was severed.

Meehan’s counsel claimed that the incident stemmed from an elevation-related hazard, as defined by Labor Law § 240(1), and that Meehan was not provided the proper, safe equipment that is a requirement of the statute. Meehan’s counsel moved for pretrial summary judgment of liability, and the motion was granted. The trial addressed damages.

Meehan lost consciousness. He was placed in an ambulance and transported to a hospital, where doctors determined that he had sustained a shear axonal injury of the brain, a traumatic brain injury and a concussion that produced post-concussion syndrome and headaches. Meehan claimed that he also sustained herniations of his C4-5 and C5-6 intervertebral discs, a bulge of his C6-7 disc, a fracture of one his spine’s transverse processes, a comminuted burst fracture of his T12 vertebra, compression fractures of his L2 and L4 vertebrae, fractures of three ribs, a fracture of his right shoulder’s scapula, and an open-book fracture of his pelvis, with disruptions of the sacroiliac joints and pubic symphysis. Meehan further claimed that he sustained a 7-inch peri-anal wound when he fell on his tool belt and wrench. He also suffered a pneumothorax and a hemothorax, and he had to be placed in a medically induced coma.

Meehan underwent a corpectomy and fusion on the T12 burst fracture, with an insertion of a titanium cage at T12, and fusion of the L2 vertebra. He also underwent open reduction and internal fixation to treat the pelvic fracture.

Meehan’s spinal-surgery expert testified that Meehan will need three additional fusion surgeries to treat his lumbar, thoracic and cervical injuries. Meehan claimed that he has begun to have degeneration at the hip joints and that he will have to undergo replacement of his hips. He also contended that he suffers residual bowel, bladder and sexual dysfunction.

Meehan contended that as a result of his injuries, he suffers major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. He claimed that he is permanently and totally disabled and continues to be treated with pain management and medication. He contended that he could not resume his joband that he attempted to be retrained in boat design, but that it was unsuccessful. He sought recovery of his future medical expenses, his future lost earnings and benefits, and damages for his past and future pain and suffering. His wife sought recovery of damages for her loss of services.

Defense counsel disputed Meehan’s disability and contended that Meehan would be able to eventually return to work in some capacity. The defendant’s economics and vocational experts also determined that Meehan exaggerated the extent of his economic damages.

During the trial, the parties agreed to a $15 million settlement. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority agreed to contribute $1 million from its primary insurance and $9.9 million from its excess insurance; Anver’s insurer agreed to contribute $2 million; Lively’s insurer agreed to contribute $385,000; and Parsons’ insurer agreed to contribute $200,000. The remaining $1,515,000 was owned by NAB Construction, but it refused to relinquish the money. Thus, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority agreed to pay the amount from individual funds. The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority has commenced an action against NAB Construction in an attempt to recover that amount.

Lawyers for nine people have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation for ailments caused by eating and drinking at the Log Den Restaurant in Egg Harbor.The action filed in Door County Circuit Court seeks punitive and compensatory damages, plus lost wages, out-of-pocket expenses, medical expenses, lawyers’ fees and court costs.

“Restaurants are not supposed to serve food and drink that cause people injury,” said Brett Reetz, one of three lawyers who brought the suit. “These injured people need to be compensated, and this action facilitates an efficient process to handle their claims.”

Owners of the business were unaware a lawsuit had been filed, said Wayne Lautenbach, a co-owner of the business. He declined to comment further on the lawsuit.

Joining Reetz in preparing the suit were Shane Brabazon of Green Bay and Linda J. Schaefer of Sturgeon Bay. The trio represent at least seven adults and two minor children and “all others similarly situated.”

The suit seeks to recover damages from the Log Den, the trust company that owns the land where the restaurant operates at 6543 Division Road, Egg Harbor, and the unnamed insurance companies that provide coverage to the business.

According to the suit, each of the plaintiffs — members of the Estes, Baur, Hogan and Roy families of Sturgeon Bay and neighboring communities — became ill after eating at the Log Den.

The plaintiffs are typical of at least 225 people who became ill after consuming food or drink prepared and sold at the Log Den during the period beginning May 1, the lawsuit stated.

Serving food and beverages that caused ailments were a breach of “the implied warranty” of the business that those items were “reasonably fit for human consumption,” the lawsuit stated.

Most of the ailments were reported during the week prior to June 1, according to the Door County Health Department.

Investigations into ailments alleged by 241 people led the department to conclude that a fecal source contaminated the well water used by the restaurant. The contamination caused an outbreak of gastro-intestinal illness.

County officials continue their investigation into the source of the contamination. The restaurant owners have cooperated with the investigation and efforts to remediate the situation, according to county officials.

On Aug. 18, 1995, plaintiff Irving Celestin, 3, underwent a test that revealed that his blood’s lead concentration measured 15 micrograms per deciliter. It eventually increased to 62 mcg/dL–more than six times the generally accepted toxicity threshold of 10 mcg/dL. As a result, he had to undergo chelation therapy.The New York City Department of Health subsequently inspected Irving’s apartment, which was located at 2525 Aqueduct Ave., in the Bronx. The inspection revealed the presence of lead-based paint and multiple violations of city codes. Irving’s mother, Seanice Daniel, claimed that Irving and his sister, Benna, suffered lead poisoning as a result of their exposure to the apartment’s lead-based paint.Daniel, acting individually and as parent and legal guardian of Benna and Irving, sued the building’s owners, F.M.B.S. Realty Corp., Abraham Leiner and Shirley Unger Leiner. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants were negligent in their maintenance of the premises and that their negligence created a dangerous condition.

Benna’s claims were addressed via a $15,000 pretrial settlement. The remaining plaintiffs’ claims proceeded to trial.

Plaintiffs’ counsel claimed that the defendants should have been aware of the presence of lead-based paint and that they failed to address the hazard. They contended that the defendants’ failure to abate the lead paint made them liable under New York City Local Law 1, which specifies that any peeling paint in dwellings built before 1960 should be presumed to be lead paint. It also specifies that the owner has an affirmative duty to remove peeling paint if there is a child younger than 7 years old residing there.

Daniel claimed that her children suffered lead poisoning.

Irving underwent chelation therapy. He was hospitalized for about a week before being discharged to a safe house. He needed to take medication for an additional month while remaining under a doctor’s care.

Daniel claimed that Irving has problems at school and suffers learning disabilities, including difficulties with visual information processing and problem-solving. She also claimed that he has poor written language skills. She contended that he will require special education as a result of his delays. She sought recovery of damages for Irving’s past and future pain and suffering. She also presented a derivative claim.

Defense counsel argued that there was nothing wrong with Irving. He contended that if Irving did have any learning disabilities, they were not caused by exposure to lead paint.

The parties agreed to a $725,000 pretrial settlement. The money was to be placed in an investment vehicle that is expected to pay a total of about $3.2 million over the course of Irving’s life.

An appeals court chastised the Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday and ordered the agency to pay retroactive benefits to Vietnam War veterans who were exposed Agent Orange and contracted a form of leukemia.”The performance of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has contributed substantially to our sense of national shame,” the opinion from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals read.

It was not immediately known how much the department would have to pay under the order or how many veterans would be affected.

VA spokesman Phil Budahn said late Thursday that officials were reviewing the ruling, and declined further comment.

The VA agreed in 2003 to extend benefits to Vietnam vets diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, known as CLL. U.S. troops had sprayed 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides over parts of South Vietnam and Cambodia in the 1960s and ’70s to clear dense jungle, and researchers later linked CLL to Agent Orange.

But the VA did not re-examine previous claims from veterans suffering from the ailment, nor did it pay them retroactive benefits, which was at the heart of the latest dispute.

Thursday’s opinion was on a technical matter involving whether a lower court had properly interpreted a landmark agreement in 1991 on benefits, stemming from a class-action lawsuit originally filed in 1986.

The appeals court sided with veterans groups who said the veterans were entitled to retroactive benefits.

“We would hope that this litigation will now end, that our government will now respect the legal obligations it undertook in the consent decree some 16 years ago, that obstructionist bureaucratic opposition will now cease, and that our veterans will finally receive the benefits to which they are morally and legally entitled,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the court’s opinion.

Richard Spataro, a lawyer with the National Veterans Legal Services Program, said Thursday’s ruling could finally halt years of legal battles - if the VA does not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Spataro said if researchers link other disabilities to Agent Orange the decision will prevent the VA from denying retroactive benefits for those veterans, too.

Central American banana workers were left sterile after being exposed to a dangerous pesticide that was improperly applied and used in amounts exceeding guidelines, an attorney said Thursday during his opening statement in a civil trial.”Some of them were sleeping in hammocks and at night they would breathe those vapors,” attorney Duane Miller said.

The lawsuit accuses Dole Fresh Fruit Co. and Standard Fruit Co., now a part of Dole, of negligence and fraudulent concealment while using the pesticide DBCP in the 1970s. Dow Chemical Co. and Amvac Chemical Corp., manufacturers of the pesticide, “actively suppressed information about DBCP’s reproductive toxicity,” according to the lawsuit.

Miller claimed Dole sprayed the pesticide rather than injecting it into the soil or mixing it with ground water as its manufacturer recommended on the product’s label.

“The remainder is in the air, on the dirt and on these plants, and that’s the environment where my clients worked,” Miller told jurors. Eleven of the 12 plaintiffs have no sperm in their bodies as a result of exposure to DBCP, he said.

DBCP was used to kill microscopic worms on the roots of the banana plants. Dole told workers to apply 10 gallons a year, when label instructions called for just 1 1/2 gallons, according to Miller.

DBCP was approved for use in the United States by the Environmental Protection Agency until 1979. In Nicaragua, it was legal from 1973 until 1993.

Dole attorney Rick McKnight said in his opening statement that Dole stopped buying the pesticide three days after the U.S. government suspended DBCP. He also emphasized how little of the chemical was sprayed when the company did use it once or twice a year.

“The amount was less than a tablespoon per banana plant,” McKnight said, holding up a tablespoon for the jury.

The pesticide was diluted with water, sprayed at night for 15 minutes, and the plants were then washed with 56,000 gallons of water for more than an hour afterward, he said. The company wanted the chemical on the roots, not the leaves, he said.

McKnight pointed out that there are other reasons why some people are sterile. He said that a number of the workers had conditions that could have affected their fertility, including gonorrhea, heavy drinking and, in one case, an extra chromosome.

Dow experts found that the workers would have had to have been exposed to 500 times the amount of DBCP to have suffered from sterility, said attorney Gus Filice.

“The Dow Chemical Co. acted in a responsible manner,” Filice said.

Late last week, the judge granted Dow’s petition to apply Michigan law to the amount and types of damages. Michael L. Brem, one of the attorney’s for the Midland, Mich.-based company, said this would prevent punitive damages and cap any compensatory damages at $394,200 per plaintiff.

Dole made a similar argument opposing punitive damages but was turned down, he said.

Amvac reached a $300,000 settlement in the case shortly before the trial, spokeswoman Kelly Kozuma said.

The case is one of five filed in Los Angeles County by at least 5,000 agricultural workers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama.

In April, all five were placed under the jurisdiction of Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney.

Attorneys for the workers have said this is the first time such a case has come before a court in the United States.

Over the past 30 years, the production of animals such as cows, pigs, and chickens for human consumption has become increasingly concentrated on factory farms, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The people who live near factory farms have been found to be more prone to respiratory problems and other adverse health conditions.

Symptoms of Unspecified Illnesses

Recent studies have revealed that people living within several miles of a factory farm report having higher-than-average incidence of the following symptoms:

• Cough
• Fever
• Headaches
• Musculoskeletal aches
• Shortness of breath
• Wheezing
• Chest tightness
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Skin rashes
• Runny nose
• Burning eyes

Thousands of Animals Kept in One Farm

Most of the livestock produced in the U.S. for food now comes from factory farms. According to the National Pork Producers Council, 85 percent of the 95 million pigs killed each year in the U.S. come from factory farms. An individual factory farm houses and slaughters animals numbering in the thousands or tens of thousands. It’s estimated that factory farms produce about 250 million tons of manure each year.

Dangerous By-Products

Farms with that many animals in one place produce a tremendous amount of waste, odor, flies, and unwanted materials that can seep into the soil and groundwater or travel through the air. Residents of the areas surrounding such farms may be exposed to a number of potentially dangerous agents, including:

• Pathogens — e.g., parasites, viruses, and bacteria that can cause disease
• Antibiotics — may contribute to the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens
• Pesticides and hormones — associated with hormone-related changes in fish
• Solids — e.g., animal feed and feathers, which can protect disease-causing microorganisms and damage the health of desirable aquatic plants in surface waters
• Nutrients — e.g., phosphorus, nitrogen, and ammonia, which can contaminate drinking-water sources and reduce the level of oxygen in surface waters, encouraging the growth of harmful algae blooms
• Trace elements — e.g., copper and arsenic, contaminating surface waters and possibly harming humans

Miles from the Factory Source

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been studying factory farms and their by-products, and the CDC reported that infections compounds from livestock and poultry can migrate into the soil, air, and water near factory farms. The migration can be as far as several miles from the source.

It’s a growing concern — a higher and higher concentration of animals in huge operations where the animals are living in very crowded and often disease-producing environments, releasing tons of manure and other by-products. The health problems linked to the bacterial, chemical, and viral compounds produced by factory farms are not yet fully documented, let alone understood.

Although the EPA and CDC are aware of the problems, the existence of factory farms is not expected to change — the public’s appetite for meat and poultry in the U.S. and around the world continues to grow exponentially.

When the World Trade Center was destroyed by terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, about 10,000 “first responders” such as police, firefighters and rescue workers were on the scene immediately. Their exposure to toxic materials such as asbestos, lead, and other contaminants caused many respiratory illnesses and possibly cancer.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the White House are now dealing with accusations that they played down the risks of being at or near Ground Zero in the months after 9/11, telling workers and residents that it was safe to go back into the area although evidence indicated otherwise.

Thousands Sickened by Contaminants

The clean-up workers comprise another few thousand people exposed to contaminants, and the residents in the area and those who came into Lower Manhattan for their jobs were also exposed. The World Trade Center Health Registry is tracking the health of some 71,000 New York City residents and workers.

Researchers with the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York found that nearly 70 percent of the 10,000 first responders they examined had newly developed or worsened lung problems after their work on and after 9/11. The same medical problems have been documents among lower-Manhattan residents by doctors at the New York University School of Medicine.

Bellevue Hospital in lower Manhattan has a new World Trade Center health clinic for treating people exposed to dust or fumes from the tragedy on 9/11. The clinic is currently treating more than 1,300 such patients, with many more on a waiting list.

EPA Assurances about Safety

A June 2007 hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives examined the charges that the EPA issued reassuring public statements about air safety and asbestos levels in the Ground Zero area even though the agency was informed of unsafe levels of toxins there. Former EPA director Christine Todd testified that the EPA’s early assurances were based on reports by scientists, not on political expedience.

However, an August 2003 report by the EPA’s own inspector noted that some of the EPA statements about the air quality and safety soon after the attacks were made without scientific evidence, and the report also implicated the Bush administration in the mitigation of the health warnings to New Yorkers.

In early 2007, a federal judge ruled that Whitman knowingly lied to residents of lower Manhattan about the health risks rising from 9/11. An appeal of the ruling is underway.