News Archive

Personal Injury News

Judge Asks Appeals Court to Uphold Dismissal of Consolidated HRT Cases
A Philadelphia judge has asked the Pennsylvania Superior Court to uphold a series of rulings dismissing the claims of plaintiffs who allege that the manufacturers of their hormone replacement therapy drugs are liable for their breast cancer. Fourteen cases decided by a Philadelphia Common Pleas judge have been consolidated for consideration by a single Superior Court panel. The Common Pleas judge granted defense motions for summary judgment in all of the cases because, he said, there was sufficient public information at the time all of the plaintiffs were diagnosed with breast cancer for the plaintiffs to learn that there was a risk of developing breast cancer from taking HRT drugs. He also noted that product package inserts warned of an increased risk of breast cancer. The pharmaceutical defendants are Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Pharmacia. 

Inmate Death Lawsuit Settled Out of Court
The father of a heroin-addicted inmate who died in Bedford County Prison has settled his four-year lawsuit with the firm that provides health care to the inmates and a county prison official. The inmate was a 23-year-old admitted heroin addict who was placed in prison for a parole violation. When his condition deteriorated over a period of several days. Eventually he became dehydrated and unconscious, yet he was not hospitalized. At one point, he was even denied food and water. After the inmate died, his father filed a federal lawsuit against PrimeCare, two of its employees and the deputy warden of the prison. 

New Rules on Drains Put Pools in Hot Water
The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, passed by Congress in 2007, was named for the 7-year-old granddaughter of former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. She died in 2002 when trapped underwater by the suction of a hot-tub drain. The law requires the drain systems at public hot tubs and pools to meet strict standards which required many pool owners to buy additional parts to cover drains. Many are still confused by the law and have missed the deadline of December 2008. The cost to comply with the law is also expensive, ranging anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000.

Judge Awards $65 Million to Men Taken from USS Pueblo
A federal judge awarded more than $65 million to several men who were captured and tortured by North Korea after the communist country seized the U.S. spy ship USS Pueblo during the Cold War. North Korea never responded to the lawsuit. The USS Pueblo was seized off North Korea while it was on an intelligence-gathering mission in 1968. The North claimed the ship was inside its coastal zone while the U.S. Navy contended it was in international waters. One of the U.S. ship's 83 crew members was killed and 10 others were wounded. The crew members were released after 11 months of captivity and sometimes torture. 

China Dairy Boss Pleads Guilty in Melamine Case
An executive for the dairy company at the heart of China's tainted milk scandal admitted knowing there were problems with Sanlu-brand products for months before she informed authorities and pleaded guilty to charges that could lead to the death penalty. The trial of the former board chairwoman and general manager of Sanlu Group Co., was the most high-profile yet in a food safety crisis widely seen as a national disgrace, highlighting corporate and official malfeasance. Along with the former board chairwoman, three other top Sanlu executives and the company itself were charged with producing and selling fake or substandard products. The executives could be executed if convicted.

Class Status Denied in Suit Against DuPont Over Chemical-Tainted Water
The use of medical monitoring as a remedy for mass exposure to toxic chemicals has suffered a setback in New Jersey. A federal judge in Camden has denied class certification sought on behalf of 15,000 people whose drinking water may have been contaminated by a chemical spilled from DuPont's Chambers Works in Salem County. The plaintiffs want DuPont to pay for medical monitoring to provide early warning of health problems caused by perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, that seeped into the water of the Penns Grove Water Supply Co. New Jersey courts have recognized medical monitoring as a remedy for groups of plaintiffs exposed to dangerous substances, which works unless there are so many significant individual issues that the case would break down into litigation of individual claims. That is what led to the ruling that there were too many variables among the potential class members' exposure to the chemical or their potential risk of disease. The judge ruled that "rather conducting in-depth research and meaningfully identifying a group of individuals who have actually suffered significant exposure, the plaintiffs have relied on risk assessments and superficially identified a group of individuals who have potentially suffered a significant exposure, which is insufficient for purposes of a class certification." 

Owner of Former Kerr-McGee Corp. Must Pay
A Luzerne County prothonotary signed court papers ordering the former Kerr-McGee Corp. to pay more than $900,000 to eight plaintiffs who filed lawsuits against the Avoca-based plant. The papers stem from a federal arbitration award decision that a county judge upheld last month. Attorneys had recently filed court papers stating that the Alabama-based Tronox Inc., which now owns the former Kerr-McGee Corp., has continually delayed in paying the plaintiffs. The Kerr-McGee plant manufactured railroad ties from 1956 until it closed in 1996. The plaintiffs allege they developed health problems from three highly toxic substances that were released into the air from the plant.  

Appeals May Delay Payments in Pet Food Case
More than 23,000 pet owners in the United States have asked for money from a $24 million settlement for owners of dogs and cats who were sickened or died after eating pet food contaminated with an industrial chemical. U.S. pet owners with claims were set to start receiving checks sometime in 2009, but their payments could be held up even longer while a judge sorts out last-minute appeals to the settlement filed by four people. The case began in 2007, when dogs and cats mysteriously started getting sick. The common thread was pet food produced under nearly 200 labels. The main company, Menu Foods, agreed to pay pet owners up to $24 million. However, four pet owners are appealing the case for a variety of reasons, including one allegation that the settlement does not address concerns that the contaminated food was labeled "Made in the USA" though it was made in China.

Chinese Dairies to Compensate Sickened Babies
The companies whose tainted milk products sickened nearly 300,000 children and were blamed in the deaths of six will likely pay 1.1 billion yuan, or $160 million, in compensation to victims' families. Details of the compensation plan came after trials began for 15 people on charges related to the production and sale of melamine, an industrial chemical added to milk to falsely boost protein readings in quality tests. The 22 companies blamed in the scandal will make a one-time 900 million yuan, or $131 million, cash payment to victims. The remaining 200 million yuan, or $29 million, would be used to cover medical bills for lingering health problems.

3rd Circuit Slashes Punitives and Imposes 1-1 Ratio
Slashing a $6.25 million punitive damages award down to $2 million, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that in most cases where the plaintiff wins a "substantial" compensatory award and the damages were purely economic, a 1-1 ratio should apply. The ruling is the clearest sign to date that large punitive damages awards face an increasingly hostile audience on appeal because of a string of decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court. Although the Supreme Court hasn't mandated a 1-1 ratio between compensatory and punitive damages, the 3rd Circuit found that the justices are leaning in that direction in cases where there is no physical injury and where there is no evidence of some of the traditional factors used to measure the "reprehensible" nature of a defendant's conduct. 

Families in China's Milk Scandal Denounce Payout
Chinese families whose babies suffered painful kidney stones from drinking tainted infant formula said that a planned payout by dairies is too low and their lawyers pledged to continue attempts to sue for more compensation. The release of details of the 1.1 billion yuan, which equals $160 million, compensation plan and the opening of the trials for those blamed for the contamination signal that authorities hope to end what was widely seen as a national disgrace, highlighting widespread food safety problems and corporate and official malfeasance. Contaminated milk powder has been blamed for the deaths of at least six children and the sickening of nearly 300,000 others. The dairy at the center of the scandal will soon be tried for making shoddy products, but the moves offered little consolation to some parents who feel the government breached their trust after their children died or were sickened from milk powder certified by authorities as safe. 

Case of Lead-Tainted Wells Climb in North Whitehall
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found elevated lead levels in the well water of about one-third of the homes that it has tested in North Whitehall Township. The results show a lower portion of properties containing elevated lead levels than the EPA saw when it first started tests last month. After it tested 85 households, the EPA announced that nearly 70 percent of wells checked had levels above 11 parts per billion, its threshold for action. Since then, the EPA has tested another 260 or so properties and offered testing to 800 property owners. The EPA began its investigation after soil tests on a nearly relocation project showed elevated levels of arsenic, which likely came from pesticides once sprayed on trees in a nearby orchard. While some households have lead levels that are 50 times above what the EPA deems as safe, none have tested with elevated levels of arsenic.  

Tronox Late in Paying Injured
Attorneys for plaintiffs in a lawsuit involving more than $900,000 claim that the defendant, Alabama-based Tronox Inc., has continued to delay in paying plaintiffs. The lawsuit involves nearly 3,500 plaintiffs who filed 24 original lawsuits in 2005 alleging that they developed health problems, including cancer, from chemicals released into the air by a company that Tronox now owns. A Luzerne County judge recently upheld an arbitration award decision made by a federal judge totaling $943,885 to be paid to eight of the plaintiffs. Tronox has since refused to make public its assets and has skipped scheduled depositions regarding the plaintiffs' payments. 

California Teen's Family Sues Cigna Over Transplant
The family of a 17-year-old leukemia patient has sued health insurance giant Cigna Corp. for her death in 2007 after the company initially refused to pay for a liver transplant. The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, unfair business practices and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit accuses Cigna of delaying and rejecting valid claims, which resulted in the wrongful death of their daughter. The insurer eventually approved the transplant, but only after the girl's family held a rally outside the company's offices. The teenager, however, died hours after the approval was secured.

Church Volunteers Stricken with Lung Ailment
Twenty Americans who traveled to El Salvador earlier this year to rebuild a church returned with serious cases of histoplasmosis, a lung disease caused by an airborne fungus. More than half of the 33 church volunteers from Pennsylvania and Virginia got sick, including six who had to be hospitalized. The fungus that causes histoplasmosis grows in soil contaminated with bird or bat droppings. The spores become airborne when the soil is disturbed. The volunteers may have kicked up the spores as they cleaned indoor and outdoor renovation sites, built rooms, installed plumbing and electricity and excavated a septic tank.  

Desert Gust Blows Health Risks from California Mines
Heaps of toxic mine waste rise like church steeples over this wind-swept desert town, threatening the health of residents and of thousands of off-road bikers. Tests on dust samples have revealed some of the highest arsenic levels in the country, as much as 460,000 times the level deemed safe by the federal government. But while the poison can cause cancer in people and harm wildlife, little has been done to remove the costly waste here or similar hazardous waste at thousands of other abandoned mines around the nation. Many worry that particles of arsenic scattered by the area's stiff wind could be slowly poisoning the estimated 300 residents of Randsburg, Johannesburg and Red Mountain in California. 

Amazon Pollution Case Could Cost Chevron Billions
For the past 15 years, a class action lawsuit has been winding its way through the courts on behalf of the more than 125,000 people who drink, bathe, fish and wash their clothes in tainted headwaters of the Amazon River. Now a single judge is expected to rule in the case. Statements from a court-appointed expert suggest Chevron Corp. will be held responsible for the many oil spills and dumping of wastewater. If Chevron loses, it could be ordered to pay up to $27.3 billion in damages. Chevron is accused of contaminated the Amazon rainforest with its oil wells and pipeline grids that allegedly led to 1,401 pollution-caused cancer deaths. While Chevron doesn't deny "the presence of pollution" or the impacts, it contends a 1998 agreement with Ecuador that included $40 million of remediation, absolves it of any legal responsibility.

Appeals Court Rejects Missing Pants Case
An appeals court says there will be no new trial for a former District of Columbia judge who tried to sue his dry cleaners for $54 million over a lost pair of pants. The D.C. Court of Appeals rejected the request to overturn a 2007 ruling that denied him damages. The judge had argued that Custom Cleaners failed to live up to its promise of "Satisfaction Guaranteed." Three appellate judges agreed that he failed to show the store's advertising amounted to fraud and said his argument defied logic. 

Hospital May Face Lawsuit Over Woman's Death
The family of the 89-year-old woman who died on the roof of a Pittsburgh hospital has asked Common Please Court to give it access to reports from authorities regarding the woman's death. A writ of summons would allow the family to gather information to prepare a wrongful death lawsuit. The family is currently seeking subpoena power for investigative reports on the death prepared by the Allegheny County medical examiner, the district attorney's office, Pittsburgh police and the Department of Health. The woman, who suffered from dementia and heart problems and had a history of wandering, left her room through a fire exit. Her body was found the next morning by a maintenance worker with injures that suggested a fall. She was wearing only a hospital gown.

Colorado to Pay Millions in Fatal Big Dig Collapse
Prosecutors will drop a manslaughter charge against the only company charged in the fatal Big Dig tunnel collapse after the epoxy maker agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit. Under a deferred prosecution agreement, the company pledged to take steps to prevent the wrong type of epoxy from being used by customers. Since the accident, the company has recalled its "fast-set" epoxy used in the collapsed tunnel and has notified its customers that the epoxy failed certain tests and is not recommended for sustained loads. The company was among more than a dozen companies and government entities sued by the state after a woman was killed when 26 tons of ceiling panels collapsed on the car she was riding in with her husband.   

City Brings Widow's Wrongful Death Suit to Appellate Court
The city of Easton will appeal a federal judge's decision not to dismiss a civil rights lawsuit against the city for the accidental shooting death of her husband. The city argues that the case is a workers' compensation case, not a civil rights or even wrongful death suit. The widow's husband, a police officer, was accidentally shot and killed by another officer inside a small gun-cleaning room inside police headquarters. The widow, who is seeking $20 million, argues that her husband's death could have been prevented by simple safety training. 

Teen's Miscarriage Suit Moving Against Juvenile Detention Center
A lawsuit by a Pennsylvania woman who miscarried in a juvenile detention center is headed to federal mediation. She is suing Erie County because of the miscarriage she suffered at the center. She claims the center's staff did too little when she complained of back pain and other problems while she was 17 weeks pregnant. While a federal judge rejected her claims of cruel and unusual punishment, he claimed that the center did otherwise violate her rights.  

Supreme Court Revives Former Guantanamo Detainees' Case
The U.S. Supreme Court breathed new life into a lawsuit filed by former detainees at Guantanamo Bay over alleged torture and abuse of their religious rights. The justices threw out an appeals court ruling that dismissed claims by four British men that, during their time at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, they were beaten, shackled in painful stress positions, threatened by dogs and subjected to extreme medical care. They also allege they were harassed while practicing their religion, including forced shaving of their beards, banning or interrupting their prayers, denying them copies of the Koran and prayer mats and throwing a copy of the Koran in a toilet. They contend in their lawsuit that the treatment violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which provides that the "government shall not substantially burden a person's exercise of religion." The appeals court unanimously ruled against the former detainees, claiming that because they were aliens and not on U.S. soil, they do not fall within the definition of "person." The Supreme Court instructed the appeals court to reconsider the lawsuit in light their ruling that detainees have some rights under the U.S. Constitution. 

Top Court Lets Smokers Sue for Fraud
Tobacco companies that marketed "light" cigarettes may be sued for fraud, the Supreme Court ruled in a decision that will bolster dozens of lawsuits claiming billions of dollars in damages. The case was brought by three smokers from Maine as a proposed class action. They sued Altria and Philip Morris, alleging fraud under Maine's Unfair Trade Practices Act, claiming they had been injured by what they called the false statements of the companies. They sought compensation for economic rather than medical harm. They claimed that they had overpaid for cigarettes based on deceptive advertisements suggesting that "light" cigarettes were safer than regular ones. The question before the court was not whether use of the term "light" amounted to fraud, but rather whether plaintiffs should be allowed to sue at all given the federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, which requires tobacco companies to place rotating warnings on their packaging and advertising. The justices ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, claiming that "when people buy 'light yogurt,' they expect they're getting less fat."

Supreme Court to Consider $500 Million Asbestos Settlement
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider reinstating a roughly $500 million settlement of asbestos-related lawsuits against the Travelers Companies Inc. The settlement would also block any new lawsuits against Travelers arising out of the insurance company's long relationship with Johns Manville Corp., once the world's largest producer of asbestos. Travelers has been named in dozens of lawsuits claiming that it tried to hide the dangerous health effects of asbestos. A Circuit Court of Appeals in New York overturned a lower court's approval of the settlement, saying a bankruptcy judge lacks the authority to act so broadly. 

Health Department Claims No Evidence of Cancer Cluster
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has closed its investigation into a cluster of childhood cancers near Tobyhanna after finding the number of cancers to be statistically in line with state averages. The department opened the investigation in the spring after a cluster of childhood cancers in the Pocono Mountain area were reported. At least six cases of cancer were diagnosed in less than two years among teenagers who live or once lived for a substantial period within a 7-mile radius. Four of the children have bone cancer, one has brain cancer and another has leukemia. One of the children has died, which the cancers in two others are in remission. 

Top Bush Officials Unlikely to Face Personal Liability for 9/11 Detentions
The Supreme Court has already shown its skepticism of the Bush administration's war-on-terror policies through a series of rulings vindicating the rights of Guantanamo detainees and "enemy combatants." However, the Supreme Court seems unlikely to act on that skepticism and expose top government officials to personal liability for their role in ordering and administering a roundup of Arab-American and Muslims in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. A Pakistani citizen, one of the 184 "high interest" suspects taken in, claims the policy was discriminatory and led to his mistreatment at a federal corrections center. The man is now seeking to hold former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former FBI Director Robert Mueller personally liable for violating his rights. The Supreme Court is still debating whether or not the two officials can be held liable, but recent arguments seemed to lean towards the government. 

Child Welfare Agency Drops Appeal for Death of Child
Luzerne County's child welfare agency has dropped an appeal of the state's decision to fault the agency for the death of a 3-month old. The state faulted the Luzerne County Children and Youth Services for not removing the baby from his home after discovering that the mother violated an agency agreement on who could and who could not care for the child. Instead of filing for shelter care, the agency allowed the child to remain at home. Soon after, the child died in the home at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend. 

Former Inmate Suing Greene County Prison
A former inmate filed suit against Greene County and its prison officials, claiming that they "maliciously and sadistically" harassed him, threatening to extend his two-day-per-week sentence. He claims that after entering the prison to serve a sentence for driving under the influence in 48-hour increments, the guards routinely threatened to keep him over the court-ordered time 48-hours and did so on three occasions. The suit alleges that prison officials also forced him to stay in a cell with a toilet that did not flush and forced him to touch his own feces before releasing him. 

China Finalizing Plan to Compensate Milk Victims
Some Chinese dairy companies will likely have to pay for a compensation plan being prepared by the government for families of hundreds of thousands of children sickened by tainted milk powder. The Health Ministry said there is a high likelihood that compensation will come from the companies, because the government is now paying for the screening of sickened children and other related treatments. In the wake of the crisis, which has killed six babies and sickened 294,000, the government has promised free medical treatment to sick children.

New Measures Can Prevent Many Child Deaths
The United Nations urged governments around the world to require bicycle helmets, swimming pool fencing and other measures to stop preventable accidents that kill hundreds of thousands of children each year. Nearly 830,000 children die each year of injuries from accidents. One thousand deaths a day could be relatively easily prevented through safety rules including obligatory lifejackets, smoke alarms, window guards and child-resistant packaging of medicines. The report also found that accidents are the biggest cause of death in children over 9.  

State Laws Fail to Curb Teens' Indoor Tanning
State laws meant to keep teens out of indoor tanning booths haven't made a dent, a new study has found, disappointing doctors hoping to reduce deadly skin cancers. The study is the first to look at the laws' impact. Some medical experts were disturbed by the findings, saying more needs to be done about the health threat from indoor tanning parlors. An estimated 30 million Americans are customers of the nation's 25,000 indoor tanning businesses. Tanning parlors are popular with girls and young women, with as many as one in three girls using indoor tanning. Meanwhile, U.S. cases of melanoma have been increasing.

China Court Refuses to Accept Tainted Milk Lawsuit
A Chinese court has refused to accept a lawsuit filed against a Chinese dairy by dozens of families who said their children were sickened or killed by tainted milk. The 63 defendants in the first-known group lawsuit stemming from the scandal, including the parents of two children who died, were seeking nearly 14 million yuan or $2 million dollars in compensation. Three of six defense lawyers presented the suit to the court but were told it could not be accepted because government departments were still investigating.

Federal Judge Denies Request to Throw Out Civil Rights Lawsuit
A federal judge has denied the city of Easton's request to dismiss a police officer's widow's civil rights lawsuit that alleges a lack of training and discipline led to her husband's accidental death. The suit, which seeks more than $20 million in damages, was filed against the city and four other officers who were present at her husband's shooting. The widow's husband was killed in the department's gun cleaning room when an officer's gun accidentally went off. She is arguing that his death is the city's fault for not recognizing that someone would eventually be hurt due to a failure to discipline officers and enforce firearms safety. 

Stadium Beer Vendor Liability Suit Settled for $25 Million
The beer refreshment vendor at Giants Stadium agreed to pay $25 million to settle the case of a girl paralyzed in a crash with a drunken football fan under an 18-month-old secret agreement that an appeals court unsealed at the request of a public advocacy group. The court ruled that the settlement paid by Aramark to the girl couldn't remain confidential because the girl's privacy was trumped by the presumption of open court records and the public interest in her tragic case. The girl, now a quadriplegic who needs a breathing tube, was injured in a crash caused by a drunken fan a few hours after a game. The fan testified later that vendors had served him while intoxicated and the case cast nationwide attention on the problem of binge drinking at American sports events.  

Woman Sues Sports Bar for Toilet Seat Break
A New Jersey woman is a suing a Pennsylvania sports bar and restaurant, claiming she got stuck inside a toilet bowl for 20 minutes when the seat broke. Her suit says that she was in the bathroom when the handicapped toilet seat she was sitting on cracked and dumped her into the bowl. She is also suing the makers of the toilet seat, claiming that the hip surgery she received prior to the incident was aggravated when the seat broke, leading her to be re-injured.

High Court Hears $79.5 Million Philip Morris Punitives Case for Third Time
A cigarette maker and a smoker's widow squared off for the third time at the Supreme Court over a $79.5 million punitive damages award. Twice before, the Supreme Court has struck down the judgment against Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA and ordered the Oregon court to take another look at the case. Each time, the Oregon high court has upheld the award to the widow. In its latest appeal, Philip Morris contended that the Oregon judges were essentially thumbing their noses at the Supreme Court. The case has bounced around appellate courts since 1999, when the widow convinced a jury that Philip Morris should be held accountable for misleading people into thinking cigarettes were not dangerous or addictive. Her husband started smoking in the 1950s and died in 1997, six months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. She was awarded $800,000 in actual damages. The punitive damages, which are intended to punish a defendant for its behavior and deter a repeat, are about 97 times higher.

PA Officials Baffled by Tainted Water Source
Pennsylvania environmental officials can't find the source that's contaminating well water used by a community of about 40 homes in southwestern Pennsylvania. Residents in the community have been under a water advisory since Thanksgiving and officials say fecal coliform is contaminating the water. For now, residents can only use the water to flush their toilets. They cannot bathe in it, drink it, or cook with it. The community may be forced to dig another well to solve the problem, which made two residents sick enough to require hospitalization.  

Little Girl's Claims at Issue in High Court Case
A Massachusetts girl's awful experience on a school bus is at the heart of a case argued in the Supreme Court over limits on lawsuits about sex discrimination in education. The 5-year-old kindergarten student told her parents that a third-grade boy repeatedly made her lift her dress, pull down her underwear and spread her legs. Local police and the school system investigated, but found insufficient evidence and refused to remove the boy from the school bus or put a monitor on the bus. Upset with the school's response, her parents filed a lawsuit under Title IX, which bars sex discrimination at schools that receive federal money, and a provision of a Civil War era, anti-discrimination law that was designed to enforce the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. At issue for the court is whether Title IX, enacted in 1972, rules out suits under the older provision. 

Judge Urges Dismissal of Acquitted Man's Lawsuit
A federal judge recommended the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a man who was acquitted of double homicide and who accused a former Washington County district attorney and others of malicious prosecution. The man claimed that the prosecution manufactured evidence, manipulated witnesses and conspired to wrongfully prosecute him for the murders of two men inside a bar. A jury later acquitted him, but he is now suing. The judge wrote in a report that the man is precluded from suing because of prosecutorial immunity. 

W.R. Grace to Pay Up to $140 Million in Asbestos Case
W.R. Grace & Co. has agreed to pay up to $140 million to settle a class action lawsuit stemming from its use of an attic-insulating product that contained asbestos. The specialty chemicals maker company will pay $30 million cash into a trust fund, an additional $30 million cash after three years, and make up to 10 additional annual payments of $8 million if certain conditions are met. The payouts stem from the company's sale of Zonolite attic insulation, a loose-fill vermiculite product that can contain naturally occurring asbestos. Zonolite was installed in millions of homes throughout the U.S. and Canada. The hundreds of thousands of lawsuits filed against the product pushed W.R. Grace into bankruptcy protection in 2001. 

California Jury Clears Chevron in Nigeria Case
After years of motion practice and a five week trial, a federal jury in San Francisco took roughly two days to exonerate Chevron Corp. for a decade-old bloody debacle in Nigeria. Villagers-turned-plaintiffs came away completely empty-handed as the jury denied all of their claims, including those for torture and wrongful death. In 1998, villagers from the Ilaje tribe sailed out to the Parabe oil platform off the coast of Nigeria to carry out what they claim was a peaceful protest. However, Chevron argued that the villages planned to take hostages. Thus the company believes it was justified in calling the Nigerian military, which landed on the platform and started shooting. Several villagers were killed or wounded. Plaintiffs tried to convince jurors that the military acted as an agent of Chevron, and that the company should be liable for its actions.  

Bus Driver Suspended in Special Needs Probe
A bus driver for adults with special needs is off the job while state police in southwestern Pennsylvania investigate claims that he indecently assaulted his passengers. The passengers had told police they were assaulted at various times on the bus in the past year, sometimes in the presence of other passengers. The bus driver was responsible for driving the mentally handicapped adults to therapy, schools and other activities.  

Acquitted Man Sues City and Police Officers
A man acquitted of fatally shooting a Sudanese immigrant outside a nightclub has sued the city and a number of Pittsburgh police officers whose investigation led to charges being filed. The man claims that police violated his constitutional rights by charging him with the death of the immigrant. A judge acquitted the man after only one witness claimed he was the shooter and several others testified that the shooter was another man. The defendants in the man's suit include officers, detectives and a commander.  

Suit Against State Trooper May Move to Federal Court

The state Attorney General filed a motion asking a federal judge to move a lawsuit against a state police officer from Allegheny County Common Pleas Court to federal court. The lawsuit claims that a state trooper roughed up a man outside a bar and fractured his ankle. The same trooper was also recently found liable for the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy. 

Family of Murdered Lawyer Files $20 Million Wrongful Death Suit
The family of a Washington, D.C. lawyer filed a $20 million wrongful death suit against three men who were indicted last week for allegedly obstructing the investigation into his death. The complaint accuses the three men of conspiring to thwart the investigation and of "intentional, reckless and/or negligent acts" that caused the lawyer's death. The lawyer was stabbed to death in the home of one of the men while the other were there as well. The three men were recently indicted for obstructing the homicide investigation by "altering and orchestrating the crime scene, planting evidence, delaying the reporting of the murder of the authorities and lying to the police about the true circumstances of the murder." While the men allege a home invader stabbed the lawyer, the lawyer's body showed evidence of drugging and sexual assault. 

Woman Sues Officers Alleging Violated Rights
A woman has sued two police officers, claiming they violated her civil rights by trespassing into her home without a warrant and taking her away in handcuffs for unpaid parking tickets. She filed a lawsuit alleging that the officers violated the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights of her and her three minor children and committed trespass, false imprisonment or arrest and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The woman claims that when her daughter denied the officers' entrance to her home, they pushed her daughter into a wall and yelled at her. The officers then proceeded to search the home and break the bedroom door to gain access. Once the woman was found in her bedroom, the officers handcuffed her and took her to the police station, leaving her minor children unsupervised.  

Police to Charge Bus Driver for Endangering Student
Police in Beaver County plan to charge a school bus driver with endangering a 10-year-old boy by braking suddenly so the boy would fall down. The bus driver allegedly braked hard because the boy would not remain in his seat. Police say the bus driver told the boy, "If you do it again, I'll knock you down." Police claim that when the boy moved around again, the bus driver hit the brakes and knocked him down. A surveillance video shows the boy fell to the floor out of camera view, while another student flipped over a seat.  

Crowded California Prisons Neglect Ill Inmates
Inmates with open, bleeding wounds routinely use communal showers and suicidal prisoners are sometimes kept for hours inside small cages, witnesses testified in a lawsuit over state prison overcrowding in California. Four guards testified before a three-judge panel and supported earlier evidence suggesting that substandard medical and mental health care is a result of packed prisons. California's 33 adult prisons are designed to hold about 100,000 inmates, but currently have more than 156,000. Federal judges considering the class action lawsuits already have ruled that medical and mental health care is so poor in California prisons that it violates constitutional standards, sometimes contributing to inmates' deaths. 

Lockerbie Families Say Compensation Complete

Nearly two decades after the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, the families of the 180 Americans aboard the plane said they have finally received full compensation from Libya for the loss of their loved ones. Until full compensation, Libyan officials claimed the country had long fulfilled justice to the families. However, with full payment, Libya has admitted full responsibility for the terrorist action. Under the agreement worked out between U.S. and Libyan officials, Libya agreed to hand over $1.5 billion to finish compensation payments to families of Americans killed on Pan Am 103, those killed and wounded in a 1986 attack on a Berlin disco and resolve other claims for property and personal damages. 

Area Victims of Rare Cancer Can Join Study
People in Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne Counties diagnosed with the blood cancer polycythemia vera soon will be able to participate in an international research program. While polycythemia vera is rare, striking two of 100,000 people, a federal study found 33 people currently have the disease between McAdoo and Tamaqua. Four of those cases are along a stretch of road nearby a site that underwent cleanup through the federal Superfund program in the 1980s because of environmental contamination. The Geisinger Hazleton Cancer Center is currently completing an application so the patients will be included in the work of the Myeloproliferative Disorder Research Consortium, which will allow patients to contribute tissue samples that will help researchers study the blood cancer. 

Date Rape Cases Still Hard to Win
When it comes to rape prosecutions as a whole, so much has changed for the better. Thirty years' worth of advocacy, better investigation techniques and tighter laws have led more women than ever to come forward and report the crime to police. But in cases of nonstranger rape, which represent three-quarters of all rape cases in the United States, all that progress often comes screeching to a halt in a courtroom. Nearly 68 percent of stranger rape cases end in conviction, while only 29 percent of nonstranger rapes reach conviction.

Eatery in E. coli Outbreak to Reopen
State health officials and a northeastern Oklahoma restaurant at the center of the deadly E. coli outbreak have signed an agreement to reopen the eatery, even though officials have never pinpointed the source of the contamination. The outbreak became the largest in the nation's history for the rare E. coli strain, killing one man and sickening more than 300 adults and children. Those sickened range in age from a few months to 88 years, and several young children required dialysis after being sickened. 

Lining Up to Sue Prisons
Assaults by guards, illegal strip searches, denial of medical aid and indifference to suicidal tendencies are among the complaints made in lawsuits against Lancaster County Prison and prison personnel that are currently working their way through the legal system. At least eight suits are underway. These pending suits are in addition to three settled suits in which the county made monetary payments to inmates within the past 15 months. Prison critics say these suits and other complaints indicate a longstanding pattern of abuse. 

Poor Safety Training Blamed for Biologist's Death
A wildlife biologist who was never trained about disease risks he could encounter while on the job died from the plague after handling a deceased lion without protective gear. The National Park Service said that the biologist didn't wear gloves or a protective respirator while handling and performing a necropsy on a mountain lion that had died of the plague. His supervisors failed to monitor his activities or review job hazards; he was never trained on the potential of catching diseases; and the Park Service didn't formally assess the danger he and other workers could encounter on the job.

New York Forum Denied Suit Over Terror Attack in Egypt
Israeli and Russian victims of a 2004 terror attack on an Egyptian Hilton cannot sue the hotel in the United States, in part because a judge believed they were seeking a higher recovery from a New York jury sitting blocks from the World Trade Center site. A judge found that the plaintiffs, none of whom were Americans, may have been engaging in forum shopping and dismissed the case under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. Dozens were killed and wounded when a terrorist drove a vehicle packed with explosives into the lobby of a Hilton hotel. The plaintiffs, 157 people who were guests of the hotel or descendants of guests, sued New York, claiming the hotel's security was below standard in light of warnings from Israeli intelligence about the likelihood of attacks, particularly around the Jewish holidays.  

Cancer Suit Reinstated Against Navy Asbestos Supplier
A company that supplied asbestos-containing products to the U.S. Navy must face a lawsuit over the death of a naval shipyard worker's wife who was exposed to asbestos on his clothes. The Court of Appeals reversed summary judgment granted to the company. The plaintiff, the son of the woman, sued the company, alleging that his mother died from lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibers on his father's work clothes. Previously, a judge granted the man's motion for summary judgment, claiming that the company failed to make a case that his father was exposed to asbestos while working at the shipyard. However, an appeals court found that there was evidence of asbestos which established a case that the exposure took place.  

Washington Prisons and Inmate Settle Disfigured Groin Case
A man whose groin was disfigured by a flesh-eating bacteria infection in prison has accepted a $300,000 settlement from the Washington Department of Corrections. The 61-year-old man became ill in 2004 while serving time for threatening a neighbor. His illness was initially diagnosed as a reaction to cold medicine. By the time he was taken to a hospital, he had an internal abscess that required doctors to remove several pounds of flesh from his pelvic region. 

Physical Attacks and Medical Neglect Suits Settled
Within the past 15 months, Lancaster County has paid to settle lawsuits brought by three former inmates of Lancaster County Prison. Prison critics say these suits, other suits currently making their way through the court system and other inmate complaints indicate a longstanding pattern of abuse. A man who was beaten by prison inmates and goaded by guards received $500,000. Another inmate attacked by guards themselves received $7,500. Finally, an inmate who was denied medical aid received $20,000. 

County Shells Out $1 Million to Settle Fatal Fall Suit
An Illinois county has paid $1 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging a county-owned nursing home failed to prevent an Alzheimer's patient's fatal fall even after she had fallen several other times. The settlement is the largest ever in the county in a nursing home negligence case. The patient's daughter filed the suit in 2005. Her mother had Alzheimer's, an unsteady gait and poor balance. The nursing home failed to update the patient's care plan to address her risk for falls or to follow several interventions the plan required. Between March and October, the woman fell six times at the facility. After a particularly terrible fall, alarms were installed on the patient's bed and wheelchair; however, during her final, fatal fall, none of the alarm systems were in place or functioning properly. 

Miners' Widows Settle West Virginia Fire Lawsuit
The widows of two men killed in a 2006 coal mine fire in West Virginia settled a wrongful death lawsuit against Massey Energy Co. The widows of the miners sued the company, its CEO and two subsidiaries. The two men died after getting lost in thick smoke from a conveyor belt fire. The lawsuit claimed the defendants knew or should have known that a series of problems at the mine, including a missing air control wall, could kill miners by allowing smoke to fill escape routes. It also claimed that the CEO was personally liable because he had strict control over activities at the mine.

First of Many Lawsuits Filed Over Minnesota Bridge Collapse
The first of what is expected to be many lawsuits stemming from the collapse of a Minnesota freeway bridge was filed recently. The suits were filed on behalf of three people who were injured and the family of one person who was killed when the bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River in 2007. The collapse killed 13 people and injured 150. The plaintiffs allege that the company in charge of conducting "fatigue analysis" of the bridge failed to take action despite documented bulging and buckling of the bridge. Another defendant in the case, PCI Corporation, is alleged to have placed an excessive load on the bridge after removing critical bridge deck elements. 

Woman's Lawsuit Against Mall Goes to Trial
A woman who filed a civil lawsuit against a company that manages a Pittsburgh mall will finally see her case go to trial. The victim claims that the mall management company provided "wholly inadequate" security at the mall, leaving her vulnerable to a man who kidnapped her and later raped her three times. The woman and her husband are seeking monetary damages from the company. The woman was accosted in the parking lot of the mall while with her 16-month-old daughter after they had finished grocery shopping. The suspect then held a knife to the baby's throat and forced the woman to drive him to Ohio, where the rapes occurred.  

Klan Ordered to Pay $2.5 Million in Damages
A white supremacist Ku Klux Klan group was ordered to pay $2.5 million in damages in a judgment that civil rights attorneys hope will bankrupt the chapter. The second-largest KKK chapter was sued by a Latino teen who was severely beaten in 2006 by two Klan members. The Klansmen were convicted and served two years in prison. A jury then ordered the Imperial Klans of America's grand wizard and two former lieutenants to pay the teen $1.5 million for lost wages and medical expenses and $1 million in punitive damages. Attorneys argued that the grand wizard and the two lieutenants incited violence against minorities with racist speeches, leading to the attack on the teen.  

Detainee's Suicide Leaves Sibling Asking Questions
The sister of a man who committed suicide at the Wilkes-Barre police station is demanding answers and changes in how prisoners are monitored in city police custody. The family was told that the man hung himself in his cell with a pair of socks. He is the second person to commit suicide in a holding cell at police headquarters in less than two months. Earlier this year, a homeless man strangled himself with his own clothing. After the earlier suicide, Wilkes-Barre police claimed that proper prisoner monitoring procedures were followed, but would not disclose the department's policies.  

State Trooper Found Liable for Killing Boy Sued Again
A state trooper found liable for killing a 12-year-old boy in 2002 and sued again for citing a motorist he said gave him the middle finger has been sued once more, this time by a man who claims the trooper hurled him to the ground and broke his ankle outside a bar. In the lawsuit, the man claims that the trooper violated his civil rights. He also has sued the state police, claiming the agency allowed the trooper to remain a trooper despite his "history of acting erratically, violently and with excessive force, and in abusing his authority as a Pennsylvania state police officer." 

U.S. High Court Gets 9/11 Appeal
Thousands of victims of the 9/11 attacks appealed to the Supreme Court, asking it to overturn a lower court's decision barring lawsuits against Saudi Arabia for supporting acts of terrorism. The petition contended that U.S. intelligence agencies had unearthed ample evidence of the Saudi Arabian government's providing tens of millions of dollars to Islamist charities that in turn funded Osama bin Laden and his al-Queda organization. The appeal was filed by a Philadelphia law firm representing dozens of U.S. insurers that paid $5 billion in property damage and other claims stemming from the attacks on the World Trade Center. It seeks to overturn a finding by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second District in Manhattan that U.S. law bars lawsuits against Saudi Arabia for allegedly financing terrorism because the U.S. State Department had not designated Saudi Arabia as a supporter of terrorism. 

Ex-Inmate's Suit Over Shooting Dismissed
A federal court has dismissed a $3.5 million lawsuit filed by an inmate accidentally shot by authorities breaking up a hostage situation at the Cambria County Prison in 2006. The ex-inmate was struck in the neck and left shoulder. He claimed that he now suffers permanent damage and post-traumatic stress disorder. The suit was dismissed, citing the fact that the ex-inmate's civil rights had not been violated in the incident.

 

Prison Doctor's License Revocation Upheld After Death of Woman
A state appellate court has upheld the revocation of the medical license of a prison physician whose lack of care was blamed for the death of a Luzerne County woman. The state Commonwealth Court said it concurred with the State Board of Medicine that the physician was grossly negligent in the treatment of the woman, who suffered a fatal asthma attack while housed in the correction institution. Prior to her imprisonment, the woman took oral steroids to combat her severe asthma; however, the physician discontinued her treatment, claiming that she was "faking" her symptoms. When the woman began experiencing severe asthma symptoms, the same physician gave her only a perfunctory examination and failed to consult her medical records. She finally suffered a severe asthma attack, during which the physician refused to see her. She finally collapsed later that day and died. 

Family Receives $800,000 for Suicide
The federal government is paying $800,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of an Air Force veteran who committed suicide after twice pleading for help from the emergency room at an Army medical center. In December 2006, he went to the medical center and told personnel that he wanted to commit suicide, needed to be hospitalized and needed his medication changed; however, medical crews refused to hospitalize him. He returned 10 days later with the same complaints. After being refused again, the man committed suicide by jumping off the 10th floor of the medical center.  

DuPont Finds High Levels of C8 in Chinese Workers
DuPont Co. has found high levels of the toxic chemical C8 in the blood of workers at a new Teflon plant in China, despite company promises to greatly reduce exposures and emissions. Less than a year after the plant began operations, workers already have an average concentration of C8 in their blood similar to or greater than that found in previous studies of U.S. plant workers. Workers tested had an average blood concentration of about 2,250 parts per billion of ammonium perfluorooctanoate, or PFOA. That compares to an average of just less than 50 parts per billion in May 2007, before the plant was operational.  

Seattle Settles Suit with MS Patient
Seattle and a home health care agency wrote a check for $600,000 to a woman with multiple sclerosis after she nearly died in their care. The money is to settle a lawsuit alleging the woman was neglected in her wheelchair, left for so long that she developed life-threatening bedsores. The woman was a patient in a city-run program that pays contracted caregivers to take care of her at home. In 2005, while Seattle was paying more than $3,000 a month for an agency to care for her, the caregiver at the time says she wasn't moving her client much at all because her agency had not trained her to treat pressure sores. 

Foster Home Sued Over 9-Year-Old's Starvation
The family of a 9-year-old boy with cerebral palsy is suing the operators of a Detroit foster home where they say their son starved to death. The mother claims she placed her son in foster care when she lost her job and couldn't afford to care for him. The boy died at the home with a height of 5 feet and a weight that had dropped from 80 to 40 pounds. 

Texas A&M Reaches $2.1 Million Settlement in Bonfire Suits
A Texas state district judge signed off on a $2.1 million settlement that Texas A&M University reached with the families of four students killed and three students injured in the 1999 bonfire accident. The agreement settles all of the claims the plaintiffs brought against the university and its employees. The plaintiffs still have claims against a construction company and an individual who provided equipment for building the bonfire.  

Peaceful Protest or Unlawful Invasion in Chevron Case
To oil giant Chevron Corp., making "supplemental" payments to the Nigerian military was a standard and necessary practice to protect its personnel. But to Nigerian villagers, those transactions effectively placed the soldiers "in the employ" of Chevron, making the company liable for the military's actions. Those were two of the wildly divergent scenarios emerging in the opening statements in a wrongful death and torture case watched around the world. The victims argue that Chevron bosses overreacted to a peaceful multiday protest on an oil barge and called in the military, which shot and killed multiple people. 

Court Rules Couple Must Tap Water
A state appeals court has upheld an earlier decision requiring a couple to tap into the municipal water system. The couple had appealed the decision, claiming that the wife may be allergic to the chlorine in the water. The Commonwealth Court said the question presented by the couple is unique because of the health question, calling it a case of first-impression, but in the end, it ruled that state law makes the waterline tap mandatory. The court decided that it would be unfair to give the couple a pass while forcing all other residents to use the tap. The court also acknowledged that there was no medical testimony to support the wife's claims of allergies to chlorine and that home systems are available for installation to eliminate chlorine from water. 

Day Care Provider Might Get Leniency
The former operator of a home day care center where a 17-month-old boy was fatally injured a year ago could escape a trial and possible jail time if she agrees to never engage in child care again. The infant died at the woman's day care center in September 2007 after his neck became lodged between the slats of an old crib. His parents have since become crusaders for inspections and mandatory liability insurance for daycare centers.  

Old Blood Linked to More Infections
A new study suggests that blood kept in storage for 29 days or more may double your risk for a hospital-acquired infection. The timeline of 29 days is nearly two weeks less than the current federal standard. The study tracked 422 patients receiving blood transfusions who were admitted to an intensive-care unit between July 2003 and September 2006. The rates of various infections, including pneumonia, sepsis and upper respiratory infections, appeared to be linked with the age of the blood. When more than one unit of blood was transfused, the age of the oldest unit showed the strongest relationship. 

8-Year-Old Boy Shot to Death in Gun Show Accident
An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun at a gun fair. The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it. The boy was with a certified instructor while he was shooting the gun on a range; however, the force of the weapon made it travel up and back toward the boy's head. Although the death appears accidental, local police and the district attorney's office are investigating. 

Rail Agency Sues Contractor Over L.A. Collision
The Southern California Regional Rail Authority has filed a federal lawsuit asking a judge to determine whether its contractor can be held responsible for the deadly collision of one of its Metrolink commuter trains and a freight train. The rail agency, already facing two lawsuits related to the disaster, sued Connex Railroad after they could not agree on whether their contract protects the other from liability. "An actual controversy has arisen and now exists between SCRRA and Connex," according to the lawsuit, which asks the court to interpret the contract and determine which party could be held liable.  

Settlement in Suit Over Delaware County Jail Death
The family of a woman who died after five weeks at the Delaware County jail has reached a settlement with the operators of the jail after nearly two weeks of trial. The woman died in 2006 of complications from a thyroid condition for which she did not receive medication while incarcerated. Both the woman's family and its lawyers have refused to disclose terms of the settlement.

Chicago Torture Victims Face Uphill Legal Battle
Dozens of alleged torture victims hope to win compensation for the abuse they received at the hands of Chicago police. The torture victims allege that the police would use electric shock to get confessions. Some of the victims have already completed prison terms for crimes they claim they confessed to only after police beat or electrocuted them. More than 20 still remain in prison. Interest in the torture claims has heightened in light of the recent arrest of a former police commander who lied about the alleged abuse.  

Court Tosses Claim by Basketball Player Punched During Game
A Manhattan judge has tossed out a negligence lawsuit against the Lawyers Athletic League by a former college basketball player who was injured while playing on a team. The player alleged that he was taunted by members of an opposing team and ultimately punched in the face. His suit alleged that the athletic league and its sponsors negligently supervised, operated and controlled the game, its league and its teams. However, the judge found that the electronic waiver the player signed before playing clearly stated that he would accept responsibility for his own actions and those of others.  

Man Freed on DNA Evidence Sues Cops and Prosecutors
The first person to be released from prison in Colorado because of DNA evidence is suing police and prosecutors who worked to put him behind bars. The wrongly accused man claims that the police and prosecutors withheld hundreds of documents and expert opinions that pointed toward his innocence in a murder case. The man spent 10 years behind bars before DNA was used to exonerate him. Two former prosecutors have already been censured for failing to turn over information to the man's defense. 

$54 Million Missing Pants Lawsuit Back in Court
A customer who sued a D.C. dry cleaner for $54 million because of a missing pair of pants is heading back to court. The D.C. Court of Appeals will review the case, which was first brought more than three years ago by a judge. The judge initially sued the mom-and-pop cleaners for $67 million.

Chevron Sued for Sanctioning Human Rights Abuses
An epic legal battle going to trial in federal court will ask jurors to decide whether oil giant Chevron Corp. sanctioned human rights abuses that killed and wounded protestors at its Nigerian facilities or was simply protecting its employees from belligerent kidnappers. The decade-long legal fight could set a precedent and establish whether companies can be held liable for injuries to foreign nationals at the hands of a foreign government. The suit alleges that Chevron, in conjunction with the Nigerian military, engaged in torture, assaults and the killing of two protestors over Chevron's environmental record and failure to hire locals in the delta region near its oil drilling operations. 

Judge Dismisses Transgendered Model's Sex Assault Claim Against Financier
A Manhattan judge has thrown out a sexual assault suit filed by a transgendered model against a financier on statute-of-limitations grounds. The model had argued that the statute should be dismissed due to her "insanity," to which the judge found her sane due to her ability to function within society. He argued that since the assault, she had executed numerous contracts, verified several complaints and executed affidavits in this and other actions that demonstrate that she is able to protect her legal rights and does not lack an ability to function in society. The model had argued that the financier, who has also been convicted of soliciting sex from underage girls, sexually assaulted her when she was 16. 

Law on Asbestos May be Retroactive
The Ohio Supreme Court recently ruled on a 2004 law that will result in the dismissal of more than 40,000 asbestos lawsuits in the state. The court ruled that a 2004 law requiring asbestos claimants to have specific medical evidence from a physician before pursuing a claim was retroactive. The ruling also has ramifications in Florida, Georgia, Kansas and other states that have sought to use such laws to reduce litigation related to the cancer-causing substance.

Jury to Hear About Judge's Life Before and After Settlement
Jurors will hear about a former Pennsylvania Superior Court judge's activities and finances before and after the 2001 slow-speed collision that he claims left him severely injured. The judge is currently being prosecuted for what some allege was his submission of false information to insurance companies regarding the extent of his injuries following the crash. The prosecution plans on telling the jury that before the crash, the judge was living in his chambers and unable to pay his $100 rent. They will also hear that after the settlement, the judge went on a spending spree, buying a motorcycle, a plane, a house and cosmetic surgery. The fraud allegations were leveled when it became known that the judge went in-line skating while his insurance claims, based on debilitating neck and back injuries, were pending.

Trial Opens in Lawsuit Over Delaware County Inmate's Death
A lawyer for the family of a mentally ill woman who died two years ago after having been held for five weeks in the Delaware County prison asked a jury to give her the justice she never received from prison officials and doctors. The woman died four days after she lapsed into a coma at the prison. Her family filed suit against the prison, alleging that her death resulted from the prison's failure to give her medication for her condition and to follow its own rules. The family is suing for unspecified damages.  

Federal Judge Blasts Use of Statistics on Race to Set Damages in Ferry Crash
A Brooklyn federal judge has slammed the use of statistics showing racial differences in life expectancy to determine damages for a catastrophically injured black man. The man was rendered a quadriplegic in the 2003 crash of the Staten Island Ferry and awarded damages of $18.3 million. However, the city sought to limit the man's damages on a number of grounds, arguing that his past criminal records as much as his race indicated a shorter life expectancy. The judge said that consideration of statistical differences in life expectancy among races in determining damages would be discriminatory and unconstitutional. 

New Federal Rule Pre-Empts State Tort Claims Related to Seat Belt Injuries
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration once again has launched a "pre-emptive" strike against state personal injury suits by inserting a pre-emption provision in a new rule governing seat belt safety, according to consumer and trail lawyer groups. The final rule is known as the "designated seating position" rule. It revises the definition of "designated seating position" to determine the number of seat belts that are required in a particular vehicle, and it eliminates the exclusion of auxiliary seats from the definition so that all seating locations intended to be used while a vehicle is in motion would provide the appropriate levels of crash protection.

Blonde-Turned-Brunette Gets Brush Off After Suing Over Mismarked Hair Dye
A Connecticut judge has given the brush-off to a blonde woman's lawsuit claiming L'Oreal Inc. ruined her social life when she accidentally dyed her hair brunette with one of its products. She claims she can never return to her natural blonde hue, a shock that left her so traumatized she needed anti-depressants, suffered headaches and anxiety, missed the attention that blondes receive and had to stay home and wear hats most of the time. However, a Superior Court judge dismissed her lawsuit, saying she never proved her allegation that L'Oreal put brown hair dye in a box labeled blonde.  

Man Acquitted of Sex Abuse Files Suit Seeking $525,000
A Pennsylvania man who was acquitted by a jury of sexual abuse charges has filed a federal lawsuit claiming he was falsely accused and that his constitutional rights were violated by Greene County officials. He is seeking more than $525,000 in damages for emotional distress, loss of income, invasion of privacy and civil rights violations. His lawyer claims that officials should have known he was innocent because his accusers had made false accusations of sexual abuse against seven different individuals involving 11 different incidents, all of which were found to be untrue. 

Senator Specter Wants Answers to Cancer Cluster Threat
Senator Arlen Specter met with citizens, doctors and public officials in the Carbon-Luzerne-Schuylkill County area to discuss what is causing an unusually high incidence of a rare cancer called polycythemia vera or PV. Specter called the meeting as a follow-up to a report by the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which concluded a two-year study that confirmed a statistically significant number of PV cancer diagnoses in the area. To date, 33 cases of the rare cancer have been clinically confirmed.

Suit Filed Over School Board's Indifference to Student's Rape
A senior member of a high school's ROTC program raped a sophomore classmate and harassed her even after he was arrested, while school officials turned a blind eye to the misconduct, the girl's mother alleges in a federal lawsuit. The complaint alleges that the school board interfered with her daughter's right to full access to an education. After joining the ROTC program, her daughter was raped by the boy, who was a "commandant." She alleges that the school board allowed him to keep his position in ROTC, remain in regular classes with the girl, took no disciplinary action against him and allowed him to have access to the school, which allowed him to harass his victim further.  

Suit in Detainee's Death
An appeals court has upheld a decision allowing the family of a man who died of cancer while being detained in California by immigration officials to sue the government over accusations that he was denied medical care. Relatives of the man say that for 11 months government officials refused to authorize a meaningful exam of a painful lesion that turned out to be penile cancer.

Ex-Inmate Claims Sexual Assault by County Prison Officials
A woman who claims she was repeatedly sexually assaulted and sexually harassed by corrections officers while an inmate at Monroe County Prison in 2007 is suing several guards, the former warden and several county officials in federal court. The suit says that three of her jailers "made sexual remarks toward the alleged victim, continuously flirted with her and had unwanted sexual intercourse with her." The victim is seeking unspecified damages.  

State Police Investigating Corporal's Use of Taser
A state police corporal has been placed on administrative duty after an alleged incident with a Taser gun. While on duty, the corporal allegedly stopped at a private party and fired his Taser at people when partygoers asked him to.

Lawsuit Names Clarion Borough and PennDOT in Wrongful Death
Clarion Borough, the state Department of Transportation and a Clarion woman have been sued in connection with the death of an 80-year-old Clarion woman. The woman was struck by a vehicle while walking across an intersection. The wrongful death suit blames the Clarion woman driving the car, but also alleges that both the county borough and PennDOT were aware of how dangerous the intersection was and did nothing to correct the problem. 

Eat Movie Popcorn at Your Own Risk
A Manhattan judge ruled that an insurance broker who broke a tooth on an unpopped kernel while watching a movie could not recoup dental costs of more than $1,000 from the theater. The insurance broker ate most of the popcorn before biting into an unpopped kernel, which fractured his tooth. He unsuccessfully sued the theater for the $1,250 corrective surgery he subsequently needed. 

Family Sues Disneyland for Dog Attack on Toddler
A family is suing Disneyland, claiming their toddler was mauled by a dog at the park's petting zoo. The suit says that a dog attacked the 2-year-old girl, biting her several times on the face and leaving her permanently scarred. The 6-year-old dog, which had a history of aggression, was adopted from a shelter by a Disneyland employee and brought to the theme park two weeks before the attack.  

Outdoor Pools Can Boost Child's Asthma Risk
Swimming in outdoor chlorinated pools appears to increase the odds a child will develop asthma, Belgian researchers found. Other studies have linked chlorine and asthma, but the new findings cast doubt on the idea outdoor pools are safer than indoor ones where chlorine vapors remain trapped inside an enclosed space.

Two Girls Get $20,000 in Suit Against Officer
Two of the eight girls who were plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit alleging sexual misconduct by a police officer will receive $20,000 each. The officer is to stand trial October 24 on charges of sexual misconduct involving 15 girls while he was a police officer between July 2002 and March 2003. He was subsequently fired by the borough in November.  

Official Urges Taser Training
The executive director of Pittsburgh's Citizen Police Review Board is calling for statewide training, standards and annual certification of all officers in the use of Tasers. Pittsburgh's district attorney formed a group to study the use of Tasers in Allegheny County following the death of a man an hour after police used Tasers on him.

Judge Tosses Gambling Attorney's $20 Million Lawsuit Against Casinos
A federal judge has dismissed a $20 million racketeering lawsuit against seven casinos by a New York City attorney who said they had a duty to stop her from gambling. In the ruling, the judge wrote that the lawyer failed to support her claim that gambling is a hazardous endeavor worthy of special protections. The lawyer had argued that the casinos saw she clearly had a gambling addiction yet did nothing to stop it. She claimed she gambled nonstop for days at a time in the casinos, and lost close to $1 million in less than two years.  

Mentally Ill Inmate's Family Can Sue Over Death
A wrongful-death lawsuit can proceed against doctors and a private person where a schizophrenic woman collapsed and later died after weeks in the infirmary. Meanwhile, the company that runs the nearly 1,900-bed Delaware County Prison is ending its management of the site, citing frequent litigation and higher-than-expected costs. At least six of the prison's inmates have died of unnatural causes or questionable circumstances since 2001. 

Freightliner Appeals $4.5 Million Fire Hose Death Verdict
Freightliner Specialty Vehicles Inc. wants a state appeals court to reconsider its decision to uphold a $4.5 million verdict in a case involving a western Pennsylvania girl killed by a six-pound nozzle on a hose from a passing fire truck. Earlier this month, a divided Superior Court panel upheld the verdict against Freightliner and the Corapolis Volunteer Fire Department near Pittsburgh. The 10-year-old girl was killed, and her 12-year-old friend injured when the nozzle whipped into them as a hose uncoiled from a passing fire truck. The damages also cover suffering by three family members who witnessed the incident.

Bucks Jail Faces Lawsuit Over MRSA Outbreak
A mother is suing Bucks County for allegedly ignoring a jailhouse outbreak of MRSA that contributed to her son's death. Her son was an inmate at the county jail when he developed the infection and was taken to a local hospital where he died. His mother claims in her lawsuit that the county is responsible for his death because jail officials failed to recognize and treat his MRSA infection. She alleges that her son repeatedly asked for help for his deteriorating medical condition in the month before his death, but was refused "despite that fact that he was displaying classic signs and symptoms of MRSA pneumonia."

Taser Video Posted on YouTube
When a judge dissented to a federal appeals decision in favor of a sheriff's deputy accused of civil rights violations for using a Taser on a handcuffed man, she urged that a video of the events in question by published with the opinion. Though the other judges on the panel didn't agree, the lawyer for the man who was Tasered has since posted the video on YouTube. The video shows how a sheriff's deputy used a Taser three times on the man while he was handcuffed, sobbing and sitting cross-legged on the ground. 

Mother Files Suit Over Son's Death in Jail
A Beaver County woman has filed a federal lawsuit against Lawrence County and PrimeCare Medical Inc., claiming that those entities are responsible for her son's 2006 death in that county's jail. She claims her son died after he fell over a railing and hit his skull on a concrete floor because he was dizzy from detoxifying medication administered to him by PrimeCare.   

New York City Qualms Turned Aside in 9/11 Cases
A judge turned aside objections from New York City over how to proceed with the 10,800 claims of respiratory and other illnesses allegedly caused by toxic dust at Ground Zero. Endorsing the view of two special masters appointed to help organize the cases brought by rescue workers, contractors and others who cleared debris after the 9/11 terror attacks, the judge told the city's representative that ranking claims by the alleged severity of illness without a medical diagnosis was the most logical way to proceed. The city wanted diagnoses to be determined before ranking claims.

$54 Million Pants Case Set for Appeal
The $54 million lawsuit against a family-owned dry cleaners that allegedly lost a pair of pants is going up on appeal next month. Though the judge who filed the suit lost his case last year, he immediately filed for an appeal. The case has drawn national attention and is widely lampooned as an example of legal excess because of the method of calculating the judge's losses. Citing Washington, D.C. consumer protection law, the judge argued that the dry cleaners, a family of three, each owes $18,000 for each day the pants were missing over a nearly four-year period.  

Deputy's Three Taser Jolts to Handcuffed Motorist Ruled Not Excessive
A divided federal appellate panel has ruled that a Florida deputy did not use excessive force when he shocked a motorist three times with a Taser after the man refused to sign a traffic citation and then sat on the ground crying rather than enter the patrol care. One judge, however, strongly dissented, writing, "The Fourth Amendment forbids an officer from discharging repeated bursts of electricity into an already handcuffed misdemeanant, who is sitting beside a rural road and unwilling to move, simply to goad him into standing up."

Woman Faces Manslaughter Charge in Death of Infant
A woman who runs a licensed day care out of her house has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of a 1-year-old boy who died while under her supervision. Despite the contrary story the woman gave investigators, another child in the day care told investigators that after the owner placed the infant in a play pen, a 9-year-old child placed a board and additional objects on the infant. When the infant attempted to push the board off, it fell directly on him and asphyxiated him. The children were in an unsupervised basement at the time of the incident.

U.S. Court Reviews Ruling in Teen's Terrorism Death
Twelve years after terrorists' gunfire killed a 17-year-old American boy in the West Bank near Jerusalem, U.S. courts are still trying to settle whether anyone must pay millions of dollars in damages. A lower court has ordered several U.S.-based Islamic groups to pay $156 million to the boy's family, who claimed money that several U.S.-based Islamic groups gave to Palestinian charities ultimately helped fund terrorism. However, last year, an appeals panel threw that court's order out.  

46 Million in U.S. Have Drugs in Drinking Water
Testing of America's drinking water supplies have shown that more American's are affected by trace pharmaceuticals in the water than previously thought. At least 46 million Americans are exposed to drug-contaminated drinking water supplies. Among the drugs found in drinking water were cholesterol medication, nicotine derivatives, anti-convulsant carbamezepine, tranquilizers and hormones.  

Family Awarded $5.5 Million in Shooting Near Hospital
A jury has awarded $5.5 million to the family of a parking lot attendant killed outside Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia. The family of an 18-year-old hospital parking lot attendant sued the hospital in connection with his shooting death. Hahnemann was found liable for the death of the man because a security company had advised the hospital to install bulletproof glass in the parking booth or make the parking garage automated. The hospital ignored the advice, which led to the hospital being found negligent in the parking lot attendant's death. 

More Asthma Among Those Near 9/11 Site
Adults who were near the World Trade Center around the time it was attacked in 2001 have been twice as likely to develop asthma as the general population, a new analysis of public health registry data has found. The study suggests that 3 percent of adult residents and workers in the area on the morning of the attack and soon afterward have developed asthma, twice the rate of newly diagnosed asthma in the general population for the same period.  

Tennessee Court Rules Against Alcoa in Asbestos Suit
The Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled that Alcoa Inc. can be sued in the asbestos-related death of a former worker's daughter. The Pittsburgh-based company had argued that it should not be held responsible for daughter's cancer. The daughter had originally filed suit against the company in 2003, claiming that the asbestos dust her father brought home on his clothes had caused her cancer. The father continued the lawsuit after his daughter died.

State Nears End of Cancer Study
A Pennsylvania Bureau of Epidemiology investigation of cancer cases among Susquehanna University alumni, protracted by the challenges of obtaining illness data from other states, has entered its final stages. The investigation was triggered in March of 2007 when a newspaper article detailed cases of cancer among residents and university alumni, many of whom had lived in an off-campus area near a contaminated mill site.  

Man Files Lawsuit Claiming Wrongful Tasering
A Pennsylvania man filed a lawsuit against the township, police department and two officers, claiming that he was stunned by a Taser last year for no reason. The man was 73-years-old at the time. He claims he was leaving a store when he was approached by two police officers who asked to speak with him. He declined to talk to with them, and instead walked to his car and got in. After warning the man, the officer stunned him with a Taser twice. He was then thrown to the ground and stunned twice more.

Activists Seek Moratorium on Use of Tasers by Police
About a dozen human rights activists and people who had been stunned by Tasers gathered to call for a moratorium on the use of the weapon by police. The Taser garnered increased attention after the death of one man and the permanent injury to another, both of whom were stunned by Tasers during altercations with police.  

Trooper Erred, State Police Say
A midstate widow said the Pennsylvania State Police have admitted a trooper erred in not summoning medical help after finding her husband barely conscious in the couple's home. She filed a complaint with the department after her husband died of bacterial meningitis. The trooper who came to her home should have summoned medical aid, but instead left her husband alone with their three children. The widow was in Italy, and her husband became sick while caring for her sons. One walked away to a supermarket, and a trooper returned him home. Despite the children's claims that there was something wrong with their father, the trooper simply left.  

Settlement in Deadly New York City Staten Island Ferry Crash
Lawyers say the widow of a man killed in the 2003 Staten Island ferry crash has settled a wrongful death claim against New York City for $8.7 million. The widow's husband was killed in 2003 when the ferry crashed into a dock at full speed. The boat's pilot was on painkillers and suffering from extreme fatigue. He pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter and lying to investigators and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.  

Pennsylvania Bans Restraint Techniques in Youth Treatment Centers
The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare has decided to prohibit youth treatment centers from using a restraint technique that has been blamed for the deaths of dozens of children. The "prone restraint" in which the child is held face down and immobilized, has been blamed for the deaths of more than 70 children across the country since 1993. The state is now offering free training on other methods that will be allowed.  

The Texting Perils of Keypad Zombies
The American College of Emergency Physician recently expressed concern over the disturbing rise in injuries and even deaths related to texting at inappropriate times. Oblivious on-the-move thumb jockeys have fallen off treadmills and horses, crashed bicycles and motorcycles, stumbled down steps, wandered into traffic and bumped into lampposts, telephone poles, trash cans, and other pedestrians.

Family Took Too Long to Sue Over Death
The Montana Supreme Court says the father of a 16-year-old who died at a hospital waited too long to sue the attending trauma physician. The teenager broke his femur in all-terrain vehicle crash in 2000. He died the next day from fulminant fat embolism syndrome, which occurred when a fatty substance from the bone marrow broke loose and lodged in his lung. Although state law provides a three-year window to file lawsuits, the father waited four years before suing the attending trauma physician. 

Feds to Release Findings on Cancer Cluster
The mystery of why a rare blood cancer struck people at the intersection of Schuylkill, Luzerne and Carbon Counties might persist even after a federal agency releases its final findings. During its study, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry verified that more people than expected in the tri-county area developed polycythemia vera, a cancer in which too many red blood cells are produced. With their blood thickened, patients are more susceptible to strokes, heart attacks and life-threatening clots.

Rights Advocates Warn of Taser Dangers
A grand jury in a small Louisiana town took the rare step of indicting a police officer for repeatedly shocking a handcuffed suspect with a Taser, which lead to his death. Deaths such as this have caused civil rights groups to call for greater discretion in the use of the electronic shock device, touted as a safe alternative to deadly force. Amnesty International claims that more than 320 people have died since 2001 after being shocked with a Taser.  

Settlement Reached in Oklahoma Scalding Lawsuit
A lawsuit that accused a state agency of negligence in the way it monitored the care of a 2-year-old Tulsa boy who was later scalded to death has been settled. A judge approved a $160,000 settlement in the lawsuit against the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. The lawsuit was filed by the boy's grandfather, who claims that DHS was negligent for failing to remove the boy from his father's care despite previous reports of suspected abuse.  

Final Moments of Taser Victim's Life in Dispute
There are many varying interpretations of the final moments of a man's life and the confrontation with police that led to his death. Interviews with seven witnesses, two patholigists and six friends and relatives who saw him that evening disagree as to whether being Tasered by police was warranted and whether it led to his death. 

City Ordered to Pay Attorney Fees for Injured Officer
Wilkes-Barre City must pay more than $20,000 for an injured officer's attorney fees after Commonwealth Court affirmed the city improperly denied him workers' compensation benefits, the city police union claims. The union also says the city needlessly racked up thousands of dollars in its own legal fees in pushing a care it should have known it would lose. Following an on-duty vehicle accident in 2004, the officer was paid 100 percent of his salary through the Heart and Lung Act. Because of this, the city did not respond to his workers' compensation benefits claim for two years, which he was only filing so that he could have full documentation of injuries to his back and neck. 

Family of Gay Teen Slain in California Blames School
The family of a gay teenager who was fatally shot in class blames the school district for allowing their son to wear makeup and feminine clothing to school, factors the family claims led to the death. The parents and brother of the murdered 15-year-old filed a personal injury claim against the school district seeking unspecified damages for not enforcing the dress code.

Cozen O'Connor Dealt Blow in 9/11 Lawsuit
An ambitious lawsuit by the firm Cozen O'Connor blaming the government of Saudi Arabia for the September 11, 2001 attacks was dealt a sharp setback when a federal appeals court ruled that the desert kingdom could not be sued for acts of terrorism. The ruling followed years of hard-fought litigation in which lawyers for Cozen and other firms representing which lawyers for Cozen and other firms representing September 11 victims traveled the globe tracking down witnesses with information about how Saudi money found its way to al Qaeda. However, the court ruled that U.S. law bars lawsuits unless the State Department has found that a government provided material support for terrorist groups, which the State Department has no evidence of. 

Texas Jury Rejects Lawsuit Against Televangelist's Wife
A jury has rejected a flight attendant's claim that the wife of televangelist Joel Osteen assaulted her before takeoff aboard a flight. The flight attendant's lawsuit alleged that Victoria Osteen threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast because she was angry that a stain on her seat was not quickly cleaned up, while Osteen denied the assault happened.

Iowa Appeals Court Upholds Verdict Against Bitten Mail Carrier
The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld a jury's verdict against a mail carrier who was injured while running from a dog. While the mail carrier claimed in his lawsuit that the dog's owner was negligent in the "handling of a dangerous animal" which led to his injuries, the jury found that the dog tried to bite the mail carrier, but didn't cause his injuries.

Ill and in Pain, Detainee Dies in US Hands
A Chinese immigrant who went to immigration headquarters seeking a green card as instead placed into immigration detention and shuttled through jails and detention centers in three states. Though he complained of back pain in April and couldn't stand or walk by July, he was untreated by immigration and customs officials. When he died, an autopsy revealed that his spine was fractured and his body was riddled with cancer. 

US Court Won't Resurrect Lawsuit in CIA Leak Case
A federal appeals court will not resurrect a lawsuit that former CIA operative Valerie Plame brought against members of the Bush administration. Plame accused Vice President Dick Cheney and several former high-ranking administration officials of revealing her identity to reporters in 2003. The appeals court ruled that there was no constitutional basis for the court to step in and it declined to create one.  

Lower Court to Rule on Exxon Spill Interest Amount
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to decide whether Exxon Mobil Corp. must pay interest to victims of the worst U.S. oil spill that would roughly double the $507 million judgment the high court approved in June. The issue is whether interest has been accruing since 1994, when a federal jury first awarded punitive damages for the 1989 oil spill in Alaska. Fisherman and other victims of the spill said if interest is not owed from that date, the value of the award when adjusted for inflation would be cut in half.   

Man Enters Plea for Assaulting Girl at Day Care Center
A 69-year-old man pleaded guilty to charges of assaulting a 4-year-old girl at his wife's day care center nine years ago. The girl, now a teen, testified that she was awakened by the man, who exposed himself and sexually assaulted her while she was napping upstairs in the man's living room on two different occasions. The girl attended the day care center until she was 8 or 9.

Shooting of Pit Bulls Fuels Debate Over City Police Methods
After Wilkes-Barre police shot two more pit bulls in the city, it reignited a debate about whether officers should use other measures before their weapons. The most recent incident occurred when officers claim they were forced to shoot two pit bulls to death after the dogs mauled another dog and posed a danger to neighbors and officers.

Clergy Sex Abuse Cases: Leading the Way
Whatever compensation might be appropriately due to victims of sexual abuse by clergy members, there is a broad societal benefits to the lawsuits. Victims' lawsuits often are the best and perhaps only way to uncover sexual predators and the church leaders and other authorities who covered up for them. 

Wife of Slain Georgia Judge Settles Claims for $5.2 Million
The widow of the judge slain during a 2005 Fulton County Courthouse shooting in Atlanta has agreed to accept more than $5.2 million to settle claims that, among other things, the county sheriff and several deputies were negligent in providing security. The widow had filed one of several suits by family members of the victims of the courthouse violence that left four dead. 

10 Infant Deaths in Arizona Tied to Cold Meds
At least 10 infant deaths in Arizona in 2006 were linked to over-the-counter cough and cold remedies, underscoring the danger of giving the medications to children younger than 2. Investigators found that of 21 infants who died unexpectedly and had autopsy data available, 10 had evidence that they had been given cough or cold medication shortly before they died. 

Man Dies After Police Tasering
A man who police claim was out of control was stunned with a Taser and later died while in custody. Neighbors who witnessed the arrest questioned the amount of force that officers used to subdue the man. One neighbor claimed that before he was Tasered, an officer punched the man in the head while he lay on the ground.  

Bill Allows Libya to Settle Lockerbie Lawsuits
President Bush signed into law legislation allowing Libya to settle millions of dollars in lawsuits brought by families of Americans killed when an airplane exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland in a Libya-sponsored bombing. Under the legislation, Libya will deposit more than $800 million in a special fund to compensate victims' families. In turn, Lybia will receive immunity from terror-related lawsuits once the claims have been paid. 

Appeals Court to Hear Cases Over Katrina Deaths
A failed bid to hold the federal government liable for the deaths of three elderly people in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath is scheduled to be heard by a federal appeals court. The wrongful death lawsuit was brought by the surviving families of two victims who were left to die at New Orleans's convention center while they waited to be evacuated. 

Former Inmate Sues County in Federal Court Over Eye Injury
A former Greene County jail inmate, who was hurt in a jailyard volleyball game, has sued the county. The prisoner claims he lost the use of his right eye when jail officials refused to provide prompt medical treatment. The prisoner waited four days before being seen by an eye clinic, which determined that he had a damaged cornea. His sight could have been saved if he had seen a doctor earlier.  

Jury Awards Man Beaten by Police $1,001
A man beaten in police custody after he dragged an officer across a parking lot with his car has been awarded $1,001 by a Philadelphia jury. Each officer was forced to pay him $500 in punitive damages and he received $1 in compensatory damages. 

Punitive Damages Not Recoverable in Doctor's Suit Over Dismissal
A doctor won $1.5 million in punitive damages and another $1 million in compensatory damages and interest after he alleged that a hospital in Camden violated his contract when it dismissed him. Though punitive damages usually can't be awarded in contract cases, the doctor agued that the important issue of cardiac patient care was implicated by the dismissal. However, his punitive damages were overturned when a three-judge appeals court found that there was no evidence that harm to patients occurred. 

Prima Facie Claim Not Needed for Punitive Damages Discovery
A federal judge has ruled that plaintiffs need not prove entitlement to punitive damages in order to begin discovery of a defendant's financial condition. As a result, the judge rejected the defense's request for a protective order to bar the plaintiffs from conducting any discovery on the defendant's financial condition until a jury concluded that punitive damages were warranted. 

Court Upholds $13 Million in Damages Against Chrysler
The Tennessee Supreme Court upheld a $13 million wrongful death verdict against DaimlerChrysler Corp. The lawsuit was filed by a couple whose 8-month-old was riding in the backseat of a 1998 Dodge Caravan when the vehicle was rear-ended, causing the front passenger seat to collapse, forcing the passenger's head into the child and fracturing his skull. The court reaffirmed a jury ruling that found that the automaker acted recklessly because it knew the minivan seats were defective.

Girls Death Prompts Fine
A company that hired a pregnant teenager who died of heat stroke after laboring in a California vineyard received the highest fine ever issued to a farming operation. The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health fined the company $262,700 for violating eight workplace safety rules. Authorities believe the girl died because her supervisors denied her access to shade and water as she worked for more than nine hours in triple-digit heat.

US Ready to Resume Clean Up of Properties Contaminated with Lead
The long-stalled clean up of lead-contaminated properties in two Pennsylvania townships are expected to begin soon. The Environmental Protection Agency will focus immediate efforts on removing tainted soil from yards at about 50 homes where children live. Lead in the soil was discovered in the 1990s and was caused by years of unchecked smokestack emissions from a battery plant.

Trooper Seeks Dismissal of Lawsuit in Dentist's Death
A suspended state trooper awaiting trial in Pennsylvania has denied committing the brutal murder of a dentist in a $1 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by the victim's relatives. The trooper is charged with killing the dentist during a struggle in the dentist's home. At the time of the murder, the trooper was living with the dentist's estranged wife. 

Family Turns Toddler's Death Into a Cause
A couple whose toddler died at day care after his neck became lodged between the slats of a crib have dedicated themselves to making sure that no parents make the same mistake they did. The day care they had enrolled their toddler in was not registered with the state or inspected by the state. They hope their story will remind other parents of how easy it is for a day care operator to get a license.

Parents Sue FirstEnergy Over Girl's Illness
A Pennsylvania family is suing FirstEnergy Corp., saying its coal-fired power plant spewed pollution that caused their little girl to lose her hair and have other health problems. The plant has long been targeted by state and federal regulators who claim the facility continues to violate Pennsylvania pollution standards. The lawsuit centers on an incident when soot from the plant coated vehicles and more than 300 homes, including the home of the girl's grandparents.

Family of Dead Boy Sues State Senator
With only four days left under the statute of limitations, the father of a dead 14-year-old boy filed a civil lawsuit against state Senator Bob Regola. The next-door neighbor of the senator is bringing the lawsuit on behalf of his late son, who killed himself with Regola's pistol. The family alleges that Regola was negligent with his gun, which allowed the boy to use it to commit suicide.

Widow's Appeal Against Turnpike Commissioner Denied
The state Supreme Court has denied an appeal filed by the widow of a man killed four years ago when his Jeep was hit by a stolen SUV. The widow had originally sued the owner of the stolen SUV, claiming that he was negligent when he left his keys in his car the night it was stolen.

Appeals Court Upholds $15 Million Award to LAPD Officers
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