South Florida Personal Injury Lawyers

Federal agencies are distributing 182,000 public alert radios to schools across the country.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the current effort will provide the radios to preschools, Head Start programs, school district offices and nonpublic schools and offices.

The 97,000 public elementary and secondary schools across the country received radios in earlier phases of the distribution.

The NOAA Public Alert Radios sound an alarm automatically to warn of weather hazards and other emergencies.

NOAA is distributing the radios with funding from the Department of Homeland Security and assistance from the departments of Education and Health and Human Services.

Michigan authorities say a shoplifting suspect has died after being crushed in a trash compactor where she was hiding.

The Eaton County sheriff’s department said two women fled a Lansing-area TJ Maxx discount store after spraying a security guard with mace. A deputy found one of the women behind a nearby trash compactor.

Deputies say the woman wouldn’t say where the other woman was hiding.

Shortly afterward, authorities got a call about a woman trapped in the trash compactor. Tyree Monique Tate of Delta Township was pulled from the machine by rescuers and taken to a hospital, where the 26 year old later died.

The surviving suspect’s name hasn’t been released

A 5 year old Brooklyn boy trying to escape a stuck elevator plunged 10 stories to his death this morning in a Brooklyn housing project, police said.

The boy and his 8 year old brother were heading to school when the tragedy occurred just before 9 a.m. in the building, where residents complained of constant problems with the elevators.

The elevator became stuck between the 10th and 11th floors just after the two boys climbed on board, police said. The older boy began pressing the elevator’s buttons, and the door opened.

The 5 year old managed to squeeze through a small opening and jump to the 10th floor landing - but he lost his balance and tumbled down the shaft, police said.

The boys’ parents were out shopping when the accident occurred in the Taylor Wythe Houses. Neighbors said the two boys were inseparable.

“He’s a very sweet little boy,” said Pessie Gelb, an 11th floor neighbor of the family. “We’re really going to miss him.”

Residents of the building at 70 Clymer St. said the elevators were often plagued with problems.

“All these elevators are past their useful life,” said Salomon Lieser, president of the tenants association.

“They were supposed to be overhauled a couple of years ago.”

Two data collection companies violated the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act by obtaining the personal information of hundreds of thousands of Missouri drivers from the state’s Department of Revenue and selling it to third parties, according to a class action lawsuit.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, names The Source for Public Data, ShadowSoft Inc. and state Revenue Department Director Omar Davis.

Plaintiffs Emily Roberts and Sarah Smith seek to represent a group of licensed Missouri drivers whose personal information the state’s Revenue Department allegedly disclosed to the defendant companies.

The complaint says the proposed class is easily identified through the Revenue Department records.

According to the suit, Public Data and ShadowSoft illegally conspired with Revenue Department employees to obtain the highly restricted personal information, including the Social Security numbers of licensed Missouri drivers.

The companies then made the personal information available for search and sale on the Web site publicdata.com, according to the plaintiffs.

The complaint alleges violations of the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act which prohibits all state-run motor vehicle agencies from knowingly disclosing “highly restricted personal information” except under conditions outlined in the statute.

The law provides an exception in cases where a person provides, in writing, permission to disclose his or her personal information, according to the suit.

The plaintiff class members, however, did not consent to the release of their personal information, the complaint says.

Public Data and ShadowSoft made false representations to acquire the personal information they posted on the Web site, the suit says.

The complaint also alleges that unidentified Revenue Department employees, agents and contractors violated 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The statute provides a private right of action when a state actor deprives a party of constitutional rights.

The plaintiffs allege that Revenue Department employees knew or should have known that they were violating the plaintiffs’ privacy rights by disclosing their personal information to Public Data and ShadowSoft.

In addition the defendant companies were unjustly enriched when they violated Missouri’s Merchandising Practices Act, the suit says.

The plaintiffs are seeking actual and statutory damages and penalties for the alleged violations of state and federal laws.

They are represented by Don Saxton and Ralph Phalen in Kansas City, Mo.; Mitchell Burgess of Burgess & Lamb in Kansas City; and Tim McDuffey of Bergmanis & McDuffey in Camdenton, Mo.

A Lauderdale Lakes girl will start school without her brand-new back-to-school supplies.

Her room was destroyed in a fire that sparked around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Teyairah Morgan, 8, told firefighters she was sleeping in her mother’s room because she was scared of the thunder and lightning due to Tropical Storm Fay.

The family did get out of the house safely before fire crews arrived at the home along Northwest 36th Terrace.

Neighbors said they heard a loud boom right before the fire sparked. Firefighters are checking to see if the fire was the result of lightning.

Authorities say Hollywood producer and talent manager Joan Hyler was in critical condition after she was hit by a car Friday night on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California.

Hyler, who has represented Bob Dylan and Madonna and is a former president of the nonprofit Women in Film, was hit as she was heading to a home in the area.

In a posting on the Web site of UCLA Medical Center, her family says she sustained “severe and multiple injuries.”

A hospital spokesman says Hyler remained in critical condition Sunday.

Residents in Wildwood, which is a residential area outside of St. Louis, are concerned about the ongoing benzene problems.

Some residents believe a local parcel of fields and woods should be developed while others believe the benzene problems lurking in the area should prevent houses from being built on the land.

Developers Remain Hesitant

According to reports, the open area of land has contained signs warning developers of benzene problems for years.

However, this past fall, it appeared the land was safe and city officials approved a small subdivision to be built.

This approval marks the first time in history homes will be permitted to be built on the Superfund site.

Questions Raised About Testing

Since the approval, residents and developers alike have questioned whether the land is safe and if it has been tested for benzene and other toxic chemicals.

Many believe a multinational company pressured a city consultant and the land was never tested for hazardous substances.

Benzene is a known carcinogen that has been linked to fatal illnesses like leukemia to those who are exposed.

People taking drugs to treat depression drive worse than other people, according to a new report. 

Depressed people on antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil or Zoloft have even more trouble concentrating and reacting behind the wheel, researchers from the University of North Dakota said.

A team of psychologists had 60 people take a driving test in a simulator.

Thirty-one of the participants were taking at least one type of antidepressant while 29 control group members were taking no medications, with the exception of birth-control pills.

“Individuals taking antidepressants should be aware of the possible cognitive effects as (they) may affect performance in social, academic and work settings, as well as driving abilities,” the researchers wrote. “However, it appears that mood is correlated with cognitive performance, more so than medication use.”

A news release about the research said that antidepressant use in the U.S. tripled in the decade before 2004, and now one in 10 women takes one.

The study about driving was released at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

In 2004, plaintiff A. Mena, an Albertsons employee since 1987, took a leave of absence from her job as a cashier for treatment and recovery from throat cancer. On her return, she informed her managers that she was required to constantly drink water because her salivary glands no longer functioned, and as a result she would require frequent bathroom breaks. Management agreed to accommodate her by allowing her to keep water at her register and telling her she would be relieved to go to the bathroom upon request.

On Feb. 11, 2005, Mena was the only cashier on duty, and the only person who could relieve her was the acting store manager, who was new to the store and not aware of her need for accommodations. Starting at approximately 8 p.m., she began requesting bathroom breaks. In response to her first two requests, the manager told her she would have to wait. After her third request, the manager still did not come to relieve her. Mena lost control of her bladder, soiling herself with urine and menstrual blood. Mena continued to ring up customers until the manager arrived at the front of the store, 20 minutes after Mena asked a courtesy clerk to find her. Mena sought psychiatric help and did not return to work until August (with one month of the delay caused by a death in the family). She remains an Albertsons employee to this day.

Mena sued Albertsons, LLC for failure to provide reasonable accommodations and failure to enter into the interactive process regarding her return to work in August.

Mena contended that Albertsons did not follow their agreed upon process for accommodation, and that it had failed to put in place a system to inform new supervisors of her need for accommodations.

Mena testified that, on her third request for a break, the manager hung up the phone, giving her the impression that she was on the way to relieve Mena.

The manager testified that she gave Mena permission to leave her register before hanging up.

Albertsons contended that Mena was at fault for failing to explain to the manager that she needed to use the bathroom as an accommodation.

Mena alleged significant psychological harm caused by humiliation and embarrassment. After the incident, she barely slept and showered obsessively to try to remove the scent of urine and blood. She was later hospitalized in a psychiatric facility for auditory hallucinations and other psychotic symptoms. She also received several months of outpatient treatment at Kaiser.

Mena asked for $12,000 in lost wages, two-to-three years of future psychological treatment and damages for emotional distress.

Albertsons contended that Mena’s psychological damages were not caused by the incident at work, but by her childhood experiences in El Salvador, where there was a civil war.

The jury returned a verdict of $200,000 in favor of Mena on the failure to accommodate claim, representing $12,000 in lost wages, $40,000 in future medical expenses, and $148,000 in emotional distress damages.

The jury found for the defense on the failure to engage in the interactive process cause of action.

A. Mena

$40,000 Personal Injury: Future Medical Cost

$12,000 Personal Injury: Past Lost Earnings Capability

$148,000 Personal Injury: emotional distress

The defendant’s motion for a new trial was denied. The plaintiff was awarded costs and fees in an amount to be determined at a future hearing.

Horrified bystanders banded together to lift a 5 ton school bus off a pregnant woman pinned underneath, enabling doctors to save her son.

Donnette Sanz, 33, a traffic agent for the city police department, was pronounced dead Thursday, shortly after her baby’s birth by an emergency Caesarean section. The 3 pound, 6 ounce boy was in critical condition.

Sanz was walking across a Bronx street around lunchtime Thursday when she was struck by a van that pushed her in front of the bus.

“I ran out of my house to join 10 people trying to lift up the bus,” said Cheryl Brown, 47. “At first, we couldn’t get it up, so then another 10 people ran over to help, and we got the bus up and the lady out.”

The van’s driver, Walter Walker, was arrested on charges of criminally negligent homicide and driving without a license, police said.

“My brakes went out,” said Walker, 72. “The light turned red, and I couldn’t stop.  I tried to miss her.”

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said Walker had 20 suspensions to his driver’s license.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg met with Sanz’s husband, Rafael, at nearby St. Barnabas Hospital.

“It’s a terrible poignancy that Donnette’s son’s birthday will now coincide with the day his mother died,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

Sanz’s sister, Beverly, said the baby was named Sean Michael.