South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

On March 30, 2000, plaintiff Jacqlene Hall, 7, attended a public elementary school. During lunch period, Jacqlene and five first-grade boys walked to the rear of the schoolyard, to an area that was not readily visible from the school building. Jacqlene claimed that the boys cornered her and that one of them demanded that she put his penis into her mouth, saying that the group would not let her go until she did so. She contended that she did as she was told. Jacqlene claimed that she subsequently suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and years of residual emotional trauma.

Jacqlene’s mother, Serina Tolbert, acting individually and as Jacqlene’s parent and natural guardian, sued the school’s operator, the Board of Education of the City of New York. The plaintiffs alleged that the school’s staff was negligent in its supervision of Jacqlene and the other students.

Defense counsel noted that a special-victims squad investigated the matter and that all of the children involved, including Jacqlene, told a detective that Jacqlene and one of the boys had agreed in class beforehand to “have sex” in the schoolyard. Thus, defense counsel contended that Jacqlene voluntarily participated in the act.

Judge Milton Tingling Jr. directed a verdict that established that the school’s staff was negligent. The matter proceeded to damages.

Jacqlene’s mother claimed that Jacqlene was sexually assaulted and that she subsequently suffered residual post-traumatic stress disorder. She also claimed that Jacqlene endured years of nightmares, unexplained anger and a fear of the men in her family. She sought recovery of damages for Jacqlene’s emotional suffering. She also presented a derivative claim.

Defense counsel contended that Jacqlene never underwent psychiatric treatment, despite her family’s immediate awareness of the alleged incident. Thus, defense counsel argued that Jacqlene did not suffer psychological trauma.

The jury rendered a defense verdict. It found that Jacqlene did not suffer psychological trauma.

The organic marketplace is sprouting litigation over fake organic and natural products, some of them harmful, that are being sold to unwitting consumers.

In Missouri, several class actions have been consolidated into one suit against the Aurora Organic Dairy Corp., which is accused of selling bogus organic milk that does not meet federal organic standards. The lawsuit also names several retailers that sold the milk. In Re Aurora Dairy Corp. Organic Milk, No. 4:08MD01907 (E.D. Mo.).

In California, the state attorney general recently filed a lawsuit against five companies, including Whole Foods Market Inc., for allegedly selling natural body care and household cleaning products that tested high for a cancer-causing chemical, in violation of state law. California v. Avalon Natural Food Products, No. RG08389960 (Alameda Co., Calif., Super. Ct.).

Also in California, the company that makes Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps is suing 13 competitors for allegedly misusing the organic label on their products and falsely advertising themselves as organic manufacturers. The lawsuit claims the defendants sold and promoted soaps, lotions and other products that are made with conventionally grown crops or chemicals derived from petroleum. All One God Faith v. Ecocert, No. CGC-08-474413 (San Francisco Co., Calif., Super. Ct.).

At issue in all these suits, lawyers and consumer advocates stressed, is the integrity of the organic industry, which, they claim, is being compromised by opportunists seeking to grab some of the industry’s $20 billion and growing revenue.

“I know that the consumers went to great lengths to create and protect the organic label, and that’s what we’re trying to do now — is to protect the integrity of the label,” said David G. Cox of Lane, Alton & Horst in Columbus, Ohio, who is one of several plaintiffs lawyers involved in the milk class action.

Consumer advocates see litigation as their only hope in protecting the organics label from further damage.

“After years of lobbying and complaints, we finally realized the, U.S. Department of Agriculture, is not going to take care of business, and so did a bunch of class action attorneys. The power of litigation is our only alternative,” said Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organics Consumers Association.

Don Downing of St. Louis’ Gray, Ritter & Graham, another plaintiffs lawyer in the milk case, said litigation is essential to protect consumers from being duped into buying fake products.

“We believe that it’s very important that when consumers go to grocery stores and want to purchase organic milk, that the milk they purchase is in fact organic by the standards under federal law,” Downing said.

Mark S. Mester, an attorney in the Chicago office of Latham & Watkins who is representing Aurora, declined comment. Aurora officials have denied any wrongdoing.

“There is absolutely no basis for claims we defrauded consumers by selling milk that isn’t organic, none whatsoever. Aurora Organic Dairy has maintained continuous organic certifications for all of our farms and facilities,” Marc Peperzak, Aurora Organic chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

Agriculture Department officials declined to comment.

The organics industry, meanwhile, is paying close attention to the California litigation as it addresses natural body care and household cleaning products.

Cummins said regulation of natural products is crucial because this is how most consumers, seeking healthier lifestyles, first experiment with natural and organic products. They first dabble with body care products, then move on to organic food.

In the California case, the state attorney general alleges that defendants failed to warn consumers that cleaning products such as body washes and gels and liquid dish soaps contained 1,4-dioxane, a chemical known to cause cancer.

California has a specific statute, known as Proposition 65, which mandates that businesses provide persons with a “clear and reasonable warning” before exposing them to such chemicals.

In addition to violating Proposition 65, the lawsuit alleges that each defendant has engaged in unlawful business practices that constitute unfair competition.

Whole Foods Market spokeswoman Libba Letton said Whole Foods “is cooperating.” She added, “We have conducted our own investigation into the allegations that some of our products contain 1,4-dioxane and do not believe that these products represent a health risk or are in excess of California’s Proposition 65 Safe Harbor level for 1,4-dioxane.”

On June 13, 2001, plaintiff Gabriel Maynoldi, 17, a student at a Miami Catholic high school, sustained brain damage and was rendered a quadriplegic when his car crashed into a tree while going about 50 mph. He had been at a drinking party celebrating the last day of the school year for the 11th grade class. The car split in two, and the sides of the car ended up on opposite sides of a roadway median. An eyewitness and the medical examiner could not determine if Maynoldi was driving or a passenger-another boy, Michael Sanchez-Agramonte, was in the car and he died-due to the severity of the accident and the manner in which the two boys were thrown from the car.

Gabriel’s family claimed that school officials at the Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School were aware of the party. In addition, the principal and a coach attended the party and witnessed the teens drinking alcohol. Misdemeanor charges were brought against Enrique and Yasmin Valcarcel, the parents of the student who hosted the party. Mr. Valcarcel was acquitted and Mrs. Valcarcel pleaded no contest.

Gabriel’s parents, Jose Luis and Olga Maynoldi, sued the school and the Archdiocese of Miami, the school’s owner and operator, for their negligence. Plaintiff’s counsel presented evidence that the school had signed a contract with the family promising to contact the proper legal authorities if school officials became aware of illegal activities at school.

The Maynoldis claimed that the school and archdiocese were negligent for promoting the party via a skit performed by Principal Robert Fenchak and school administrative officials over the school’s public address system. School officials also allowed students to distribute flyers that advertised the party. The flyers contained images of liquor bottles.

The Maynoldis claimed that school officials were negligent for going to the party and having willful blindness of the drinking going on all around them. Testimony revealed that many intoxicated students were right in front of Fenchak and the dance coach, one student drinking alcohol and smoking a cigarette and another student holding a 1.75 liter bottle of Grey Goose Vodka. One student was allegedly so drunk that he fell over cars, denting one of them.

The Maynoldis also sued Fenchak and the Valcarcels. Fenchak settled for a confidential amount. The Valcarcels were dismissed because evidence showed that Gabriel and his friend had left in their car before either parent arrived at home.

The defense named Christynn Vazquez, a 21-year-old who purchased alcohol that was available at the part, as a Fabre defendant. The defense also named the convenience store that sold the alcohol, the parents of the injured boy, and the Valcarcels as Fabre defendants.

Plaintiffs’ counsel showed jurors a Powerpoint slide show that included a timeline of events leading up to the crash. The demonstration included a copy of the contract between the defendants and the students’ families, with its specific provision concerning house parties. The boy who died in the crash, Michael Sanchez-Agramonte, had a high blood-alcohol level at the time of his death.

Gabriel was airlifted to Ryder Trauma Center. He was diagnosed with severe brain damage and quadriplegia. Gabriel resided at the HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital for several years. He was left without the use of his arms and legs, and he must have painful daily body stretching performed to prevent his muscles from contracting and his joints from becoming immobile. According to plaintiffs’ counsel, Gabriel is able to swallow and is aware of his circumstances. Treating physicians testified that Gabriel’s life expectancy was normal or near normal given the loving care provided by the parents.

Archdiocese of Miami and the high school were found jointly and severally 25 percent liable. Gabriel was allotted comparative negligence of 25 percent, and his father and mother were allotted liability of 13 percent and 15 percent, respectively. The Valcarcels were found to be a combined 20 percent liable, and Vazquez was found 2 percent at fault. The Convenience Store was not allotted any liability by the jury. Jurors awarded damages in the amount of $55,878,104.46, which was reduced to $13,969,526.11.

A motion asking Judge Gerard J. O’Brien to assign the entire award to the archdiocese and school, among other remedies, was granted because those defendants were found to have engaged in misconduct including hiding an original invitation that the school’s lawyers had in their possession, which contained handwritten notes by the principal mentioning police. The judge granted a motion to correct the final judgment to that effect and to include medical expenses in the past that are to be reimbursed.

Gabriel Maynoldi

$2,199,133 Personal Injury: Past Medical Cost

$27,000,000 Personal Injury: Future Medical Cost

$5,000,000 Personal Injury: Past Physical Impairment

$10,000,000 Personal Injury: Future Physical Impairment

$91,108 Personal Injury: Past Lost Earnings Capability

$1,587,863 Personal Injury: FutureLostEarningsCapability

Jose Luis Maynoldi

$5,000,000 Personal Injury: loss of consortium

Olga Maynoldi

$5,000,000 Personal Injury: loss of consortium

A former national champion skydiver has died after his parachute failed to open during a weekend accident at Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, Calif.

Richard Alvin Schindler, an off-duty Riverside County sheriff’s deputy, died Saturday. The 39-year-old had a back-up parachute, but there was no indication it had been deployed.

A Marine Corps veteran, Schindler began skydiving 15 years ago and had been working part-time at SkyDive Elsinore as an instructor.

At the 2005 U.S. National Skydiving Championships, Schindler was part of the Elsinore Equinox team that finished in first place in the four-way intermediate freestyle competition.

A student at Ohio University recently underwent an arm amputation that her parents feel is due to the wrong diagnosis given to her.

The Hudson Health Center, along with some of the center’s doctors, is currently under investigation for not diagnosing a life threatening infection until too late.

Molly Millsop, who is a freshman in college, awoke experiencing a great deal of pain in her arm which she had trouble explaining.

She immediately went to the Hudson Health Center and her doctor claimed she has just strained a muscle and was experiencing anxiety.

Millsop was sent home but returned later in the day feeling faint and dizzy.

Doctors then diagnosed her with a sore throat as well as a muscle strain, gave her medicine and again sent her home.

Millsop eventually returned to the medical center for a third time and doctors realized she was suffering from a flesh eating bacteria known as necrotizing fasciitis.

As a result of the late diagnosis, doctors were forced to amputate Millsop’s arm, along with portions of her arm and collarbone.

Her parents, who blame the medical center and doctors for the amputation, are looking to file a suit on their daughter’s behalf.

A large bus may seem like a relatively safe vehicle to ride, yet many Americans die annually in bus accidents, often as a result of someone’s negligence. If you have lost a loved one in a wrongful death bus accident, a bus accident lawyer can help you collect damages in a bus accident lawsuit.

Almost all buses are common carriers, meaning their business is to transport persons for compensation and they are open to the general public. As a result, a professional bus driver is legally held to a higher standard of care. That means you don’t necessarily have to prove that a collision was the driver’s fault, but rather that the driver could have avoided it by meeting his or her common carrier obligation.

School buses alone have more than 25 million passengers on 450,000 vehicles daily in America, and in a year’s time these produce 16,000 accidents, 12,000 injuries and 130 deaths. If your child is such a victim, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit against those responsible.

Shuttle buses ferrying people to various events also can be vulnerable. After a Massachusetts man was killed by a steel gate crashing into a shuttle bus at Gillette Stadium, his family filed a claim for damages and received over $6 million.

Overall, an estimated 330 people are killed in bus accidents each year.

A fatal bus accident can occur for a variety of reasons, including driver and supervisor negligence, defective brakes, poor maintenance, design flaws and absence of seat belts. After a February 2003 bus crash involving deaths and injuries, plaintiffs sued and were awarded $17.5 million in damages because the bus had no seat belts or safety glass. Many buses, in fact, are not equipped with seat belts.

Because of their bulk, buses also have a tendency to turn over or roll over in an accident. In such cases, passengers may be flung about the bus interior while trapped inside. If a bus causes an accident in which the driver or passenger of a car is killed, or a pedestrian is killed, the bus driver and the bus company also may be liable for wrongful death.

The persons who are responsible for such failures can be held accountable via a wrongful death lawsuit. These can be pursued when someone dies as a result of wrongdoing or negligence on the part of others. Their family or their estate can seek legal damages based on this wrongful death.

Since buses are rarely operated for personal use and usually involve distant owners and even federal regulations, a legal claim after wrongful death in a bus accident can be more complex than a claim involving an automobile accident.

It’s important whether a victim was a passenger on the bus, or a pedestrian, or a passenger in another vehicle. If a passenger on the bus, then the bus company as a common carrier owed that person “utmost duty of care.” This duty is higher than the negligence duty extended to pedestrians or those in other vehicles.

On March 24, 2002, plaintiff Jean Mamakos, a registered nurse and published nurse in her 50s, visited a friend who worked at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, in Manhattan. Mamakos had recently been fired after a seven-year-long tenure of employment at the hospital. The termination was acrimonious, and a hospital security official had been told that Mamakos could not enter the premises without first alerting a security supervisor. The hospital’s security officers had been given a photograph of Mamakos.

When Mamakos arrived at the hospital, she presented to the reception desk of the hospital’s Weill Cornell Medical Center. She reported that she wished to visit her friend, and she was told to wait. Soon thereafter, several security officers appeared. Four officers restrained her, and she was strapped to a gurney. She was transported to the hospital’s emergency room, where she was sedated by Drs. Osman Ali and Elizabeth Auchincloss. She was released after about 18 hours of observation.

Mamakos sued New York-Presbyterian Hospital, its Weill Cornell Medical Center, Auchincloss and Ali. Mamakos alleged that the actions of Auchincloss, Ali and the security officers constituted assault, false arrest and false imprisonment. She alleged that New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center were vicariously liable for those actions.

The defendants contended that they acted properly. They claimed that Mamakos presented an expired employee-identification card, and they also claimed that she had previously trespassed on the premises.

The defendants further claimed that Mamakos became agitated when she was told that she had to wait, and they contended that paramedics determined that she needed to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Mamakos claimed that she was restrained and subdued by four security guards. She was strapped to a gurney and transported to the hospital’s emergency room, where she was sedated. She was released after about 18 hours of observation.

Mamakos also claimed that she suffered residual emotional distress. She sought recovery of damages for her emotional suffering. She also sought punitive damages.

Judge Martin Shulman found that Ali and Auchincloss provided proper medical care to a person in extremis. He concluded that they acted reasonably, and, as such, he dismissed the complaints against them. The jury found that the remaining defendants did not assault, falsely arrest or falsely imprison Mamakos.

Several walls collapsed at a dormitory under construction at Rice University on Thursday, killing one worker and injuring seven others, fire officials said.

The walls collapsed on the second floor around 4 p.m., trapping five construction workers, Assistant Fire Chief Omero Longoria said.

“We had to dig them out,” he said.

One of the workers was dead, and four were taken to a hospital, Longoria said. The extent of their injuries was not immediately known, he said.

Three other workers were slightly injured while trying to dig out the victims and were treated at the scene, Longoria said.

All the construction company employees have been accounted for, and no one else was found in the rubble after additional searches, Longoria said.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately known, but storms passed through the area just beforehand.

Longoria said a separate investigation by the contractor and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration would try to determine the cause.

An air monitor is reportedly set up to detect the level of harmful emissions being released from Citgo’s refinery.

However, health officials are now questioning the accuracy of the monitor since the level changes depending on the direction of the wind.

According to reports, depending on which way the wind blows, the level of benzene detected varies.

Two uncovered tanks at the Citgo refinery are allegedly responsible for the emissions of any harmful substances.

Citgo is currently undergoing a trial and is facing criminal convictions due to their violations of the Clean Air Act.

Research has shown that on days when the wind blows directly from the tanks, the monitor claimed benzene levels to be 14 times higher than when the wind was going in the opposite direction.

Attorneys working for Citgo claim that it’s impossible to detect whether the emissions are coming from the uncovered tanks or from elsewhere.

However, many complaints have been filed in the area regarding people who claim they have gotten sick from the contaminated air.

A hit and run driver may have caused or contributed to the death of a motorcyclist along the Rickenbacker Causeway Sunday night, Miami police said.

According to investigators, a motorcycle and car appreared to have been drag racing early Sunday evening along the city-bound side of the causeway when the motorcycle driver either lost control or was hit.

The motorcyclist was thrown down an embankment and died at the scene. He was not immediately identified.

Miami Police said the driver of the car never stopped.

Investigators said the car was a green, late 90s model Nissan Altima or Sentra with prominent exhaust pipes.