South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

The US Supreme Court may have just opened the door to more Florida auto products liability plaintiffs. Today, the high court ordered a lower court to take a second look at its ruling barring a lawsuit blaming Ford Motor Co. for window design defects that allegedly proved fatal during a 2002 rollover crash.

James Lloyd, a passenger in the 1997 F-150 pickup, died after he was ejected from the vehicle, which went off the road and rolled over several times. Lloyd’s mother, Mary Robyn Priester, filed an auto products liability lawsuit against Ford accusing it of breach of warranty because of its use of “inappropriate glazing materials” on the truck’s windows.

The trial court granted the car manufacturer’s motion for summary judgment on the grounds that the products liability claim was pre-empted by the motor vehicle federal safety standard that gives automakers the option to decide what kind of tempered glass to use on side windows. The state’s Supreme Court upheld this decision. Now, however, the US Supreme Court, in light of its ruling last week to reinstate the seat belt defect lawsuit against Mazda, is saying that the lower court should reconsider its decision to bar the auto products liability case against Ford.

In the wrongful death case against Mazda, the Supreme Court said that the lawsuit against the car manufacturer over its lap belt design can proceed. The defective seat belt lawsuit claims that Mazda's failure to install lap-and-shoulder belts in the back seat of a 1993 minivan caused the death of Thanh Williamson during a 2002 car crash.

Citing federal safety regulations, Mazda wanted the wrongful death case dismissed on the grounds that federal vehicle safety regulations pre-empt such lawsuits. The Supreme Court said that this was not the case.

Florida Auto Products Liability
Car manufacturers can be held liable if an auto defect contributed to a victim’s death. Examples of common, serious auto defects and safety issues:

• Seat belt defects
• Sudden unintended acceleration
• Air bag issues
• Poor roof design
• Engine defects
• Tire blowouts caused by tread separation or worn tires
• Window defects
• Seatback collapse
• SUV rollover issues

Suit Against Ford to Be Reconsidered, The Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2011

High Court Revives Mom's Suit Over Ford Windows, Courthouse News, February 28, 2011

Supreme Court: California family can sue Mazda over seat belt death, DailyNews, February 23, 2011

Williamson v. Mazda Motor of America, Supreme Court.gov (PDF)

Related Web Resources:
Supreme Court of the United States

Products Liability, Nolo

More Blog Posts:
Five People Killed in West Palm Beach After Tire Blowout Causes SUV Rollover, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 20, 2008

$8.4M Palm Beach County Motorcycle Accident Verdict Awarded In Florida Wrongful Death, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 14, 2010

Continue reading " Will US Supreme Court’s Revival of Seat Belt Defect Lawsuit Against Mazda and Window Defect Case Against Ford Pave the Way for More Florida Auto Products Liability Cases? " »

Edgardo Toucet Echevarria is suing Future Foam Carpet Cushion for Florida personal injury. The 44-year-old contract worker is seeking compensatory and punitive damages after a “peeler machine” he was working with severed his penis on January 13, 2010.

Echevarria, who is employed by Spartan Staffing, contends that he wasn’t trained to run the machine, which employs a steel blade to cut blocks of carpeting foam. In his Florida injury complaint, he states that the “surgically sharp steel blade” cut through his pelvis, severing his penis and testicles, and “virtually cutting his body in half.”

Echevarria says that he was injured while removing a “foam core” from the machine at the request of supervisors and that this maneuver activated the machine. He claims that employees improperly took off the machine’s protective guard and that Future Foam knew of prior instances of workers getting hurt or dying when this type of machine lacked the required protections. He is arguing that Future Foam “had a duty” to not act in a way that would likely result in a worker’s injury or death.

Echevarria is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. Also named as a defendant in Echevarria’s Florida injury complaint is Baumer of America, which manufactured the peeler machine.

Florida Personal Injury Lawsuits Over Work Accidents
In Florida, not only can workers sue third parties that are not employers for personal injury, but also, in certain situations—per recent state court rulings and the Florida Workers’ Compensation code's intentional tort exemption—they sue an employer that “should have known that its conduct was substantially certain to result in injury or death.”

St. Cloud man loses penis in industrial accident, files lawsuit against Orlando company, Orlando Sentinel, February 16, 2011

Workplace violence: Florida law opens liability beyond workers' comp, Business Management Daily, May 10, 2007

Related Web Resources:
Florida Division of Workers' Compensation

Settling Your Personal Injury Claim, Nolo

Rev. Neil Doherty, a former Roman Catholic priest who has already been named in 25 sex abuse complaints, has been named once again in another case. This one is a Miami-Dade County clergy sex abuse lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Miami.

The complaint accuses Doherty, who is retired and behind Bars in Broward County, of abusing the plaintiff over a 3-year period beginning when he was 8 during the early 90’s. The accuser claims that Doherty, who was with Holy Redeemer Church in Liberty City at the time, would wear his priest’s collar and ride his car through the neighborhood. The plaintiff says that the priest abused him and gave him drugs more than 50 times.

The alleged victim is also claiming the Archdiocese of Miami knew that Doherty had been abusing boys since the 70’s but did not keep the priest away from young kids. Last November, Doherty was arrested on charges he violated the terms of a pretrial release related to his arrest on 2006 on Miami child sex abuse charges. The former priest, who had been under house arrest, was ordered to jail after his GPS device became disconnected for the 8th time since 2009.

One has to only read the news regularly to see that throughout the US, victims are stepping forward and seeking damages for the sex abuse they suffered at the hands of clergy folk. Many of the victims are now grown.

It may not be too late for you to seek Miami injury compensation from your abuser. Sex abuse is an insidious crime that inflicts physical, psychological, and emotional scars that can affect the victim for life. Obtaining injury recovery allows you to hold those responsible liable while also allowing you to take a stand against the person or parties that did you harm.

Retired Catholic priest named in sex-abuse suit, Miami Herald, February 16, 2011

Two More Florida Child Sex Abuse Lawsuits Filed Against Ex-Broward County Priest Awaiting Criminal Trial, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, June 26, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Archdiocese of Miami

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

More South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog Posts:
South Florida Sex Abuse Lawsuit Seeks $5 Million from Archdiocese of Miami, South Florida Injury Lawyer, October 26, 2010

Miami Archdiocese Settles Sex Abuse Lawsuit Involving Teen and Catholic Church Youth Minister, South Florida Injury Lawyer, October 23, 2008

It is no longer a secret that texting and surfing the Internet while driving can be dangerous. Yet people continue to get hurt and die because someone was looking at the phone, checking email, sending texts, or surfing the Web rather than paying attention to the road. As our Palm Beach personal injury law firm has mentioned in the past, the US Department of Transportation reported 5,474 distracted driving crashes in 2009 alone. Not only that, but 11 teens a year are killed because of texting while driving. Also, the National Safety Council reports that 28% of traffic crashes that occur involved drivers talking on the phone or texting.

At Palm Beach Atlantic University yesterday, participants were given the opportunity to experience virtually how catastrophic texting while driving can become when they tried texting while on a virtual course. The simulated program, run by PEER Awareness road manager Robert Tower, travels to different schools to help educate teenagers about the dangers of texting combined with driving. The program also includes news footage of interviews with families who lost loved ones in distracted driving accidents involving drivers who were text messaging.

Hopefully, education and awareness will discourage teens and adults from texting or doing anything that keeps them from watching the road. Recently, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed against a woman accused of updating her Facebook while driving. The pedestrian who died was a 70-year-old man. Also, another man accidentally drove his car through a bridge guardrail and into a river because he was texting.

Unlike in a number of US states, in Florida there is still no ban on texting while driving even though 17 bills have been introduced pushing for this. That said, this does not mean that texting while driving is not negligent driving when injury or death occurs as a result.

Program exposes the dangers of texting and driving, Sun-Sentinel, February 21, 2011

Ban on Texting while Driving Urged for Florida, First Coast News, February 9, 2011

Representative says texting while driving ban could fail in FL, WZVN, February 21, 2011

Suit: Woman in fatal crash was updating Facebook, Chicago Tribune, February 15, 2011

Man who was texting behind wheel drives off Danvers bridge and into river, police say, Boston.com, February 22, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Distracted Driving, National Safety Council

Distraction.gov, US Department of Transportation

Distracted Driving, Peer Awareness

Continue reading " Preventing Palm Beach Car Accidents: Dangers of Distracted Emphasized During Simulated Display " »

It’s been a little over two years since a Miami-Dade truck accident claims the lives of three young siblings. Now, Gabriel Delrisco, the drunken trucker who rear-ended the minivan they were in, has pleaded guilty to three counts of DUI manslaughter. He now faces up to 45 years in prison.

Delrisco was driving at speeds over 60 mph and with a blood alcohol content that was three times above the legal limit when he collided with the Serrano family’s vehicle that was stopped at a red light near Homestead on January 25, 2009. Killed in the Miami-Dade motor vehicle collision were Hector, 10, Esmeralda, 7, and Amber, 4.

Delrisco has apologized for his actions, and his attorney says that they don’t believe there is a “viable defense to the case.” The children’s parents, Hector and Mirian, say it is too late for an apology and that that their lives have been destroyed. Hector was in the minivan with the kids on the night of the fatal Miami-Dade auto crash.

Prior to the collision, Delrisco had received 29 traffic violation citations in 8 years, including one for drunk driving. Yet he still had a valid driver’s license when he drove his vehicle into the minivan.

Drunk Driving Crashes
Driving while impaired destroys the lives of everyone of everyone involved when there is a Miami car crash, and in many cases, the victim and his/her family may have grounds for a Florida injury lawsuit. A drunk driver is usually not coherent enough to pay attention to the road or keep proper control of a vehicle. Some drivers are so drunk that they may not even realize that they’ve struck a pedestrian or another car.

So many lives have been lost and families destroyed because of drivers who were drunk. There is still much that can be done to keep drunk drivers off the road and stop other parties from enabling them to get behind the steering wheel of a car while inebriated. Filing your Miami injury case won't bring your loved one back, but it will allow you to hold the responsible parties liable.

Homestead man pleads guilty in DUI crash that killed three children, Miami Herald, February 16, 2011

Drunk Driver Who Killed Three Kids in Crash Pleads Guilty, NBC Miami, February 16, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Florida DUI Laws

Mothers Against Drunk Driving

The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced two major recalls involving infant products. The most recent recall, which was announced today, involves 500,000 bassinets by Burlington Basket Company.

Our Miami products liability law firm is glad to hear that the product is being recalled. Already there are two reports of minor injuries, so hopefully, the announcement will keep more babies from getting hurt.

The bassinets are considered a fall hazard. The safety issue can arise if the legs cross-bracing rails are not fully locked into position. This can cause the bassinet to collapse and the baby to fall out. There have been 10 reports of the bassinet’s legs not locking into place. Consumers are urged to stop using the bassinets immediately.

Just last week, the CPSC recalled 1.7 million Summer Infant video baby monitors following two baby deaths. Both children died in strangulation accidents involving the monitors’ electrical cords. Now, the CPSC is warning that the monitors should be kept more than three feet away from a child’s sleeping area and the cord should definitely be placed out of reach.

Florida Products Liability
There are three categories of products liability:

Defective design: A defect in the way a product was designed makes it dangerous.

Defective manufacture: An error that occurred during manufacture created a flaw that could cause injury.

Failure to provide adequate instructions or warnings: The manufacturer does not provide warning about a danger that isn’t obvious or fails to give adequate instructions on proper, safe use.

Our Miami products liability lawyers know how devastating it is to have your child involved in a serious injury accident. If a defective, dangerous, or malfunctioning product was involved, you may have a Florida injury case on your hands.

Half-million bassinets recalled; could collapse, Mercury News, February 16, 2011

Summer Infant baby monitor safety recall – what parents need to know, MadeforMums, February 14, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Consumer Product Safety Commission

Infants can strangle in baby monitor cords (PDF)

More Products Liability Blog Posts:
Drop-Side Cribs Banned by CPSC, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 17, 2010

Defective Medical Device: DePuy ASR Hip Lawsuits To Be Presided Over by One Judge, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 8, 2010

19 Products Liability Lawsuits Filed in Palm Beach County Against ConAgra Foods After Plaintiffs Over Salmonella Outbreak From Tainted Peanut Butter, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, July 7, 2008

A little over 2 years after the death of Janet Ann Jones, her husband Daniel Jones is suing the University of Florida Board of Trustees and Winter Haven Hospital for medical malpractice and wrongful death. Daniel contends that his wife wasn’t given the proper medical care when she arrived at the hospital’s emergency room at 9:43pm on December 20, 2008. At the time, Janet’s blood pressure was low and she was throwing up blood.

Four hours after she was admitted, she went into cardiac arrest and was resuscitated both times. At around 4am, Janet was admitted to the ICU. Her blood pressure remained very low. At 7:45 am, she was taken off the ventilator. Janet died on December 28, 2008.

While her immediate cause of death is listed as massive gastrointestinal bleeding, Daniel’s Florida wrongful death complaint claims that medical negligence contributed to his causing wife’s passing. Alleged acts of medical negligence include the staff's failure to attend to his wife immediately upon her arrival at the hospital, not ordering a full blood count and other related studies when treating her, failure to immediately consult with a gastroenterologist about her care, and failure to immediately give her an interavenous tube for blood and saline.

South Florida Medical Malpractice
Most patients will avoid going to the emergency room unless they have an actual emergency. This is why it is important that emergency rooms are properly staffed with enough medical workers that are properly trained to handle any type of emergency situation. When failure to provide immediate and/or proper care results in Florida personal injury or wrongful death, the patient or his/her family may have grounds for a Florida medical malpractice case.

Common cause of emergency room medical errors:
• Inadequate staff
• Inadequately trained medical personnel
• Inadequate equipment
• Unsanitary conditions
• Inadequate procedures for admitting and treating patients
• Medication errors
• Patient dumping

Man Sues for Wife's Death While at Winter Haven Hospital, The Ledger, February 11, 2011

Related Web Resources:
University of Florida Board of Trustees

Winter Haven Hospital

Related Blog Posts:
Jury Issues $23M Medical Malpractice Verdict Against University of Florida Over Surgery That Left Woman with Brain Damage, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, January 6, 2011

Miami Woman Dies After Undergoing Lauderhill Plastic Surgery, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 31, 2010

Widower Files Palm Beach County Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against Comcast Over Botched 911 Call, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, October 28, 2010

A teenager who was flown to the hospital on Saturday after a Palm Beach County boating accident had to have part of her leg amputated. Gabby DeSouza, 14, was swimming in the water south of Juno Beach Pier when part of her leg got caught in a boat propeller south of Juno Beach Pier.

As the girls ran to meet the boat, its operator revved the engine to keep it from getting beached because of the waves. The boat struck three of the girls, knocking them down. The propeller struck one of the girl’s legs.

Lifeguards came to the rescue in an attempt to stop the bleeding. The boat, a 22-foot white Cobia, fled the scene. It was later found at the Crab House in Jupiter and the Sheriff’s Office has impounded it.

Prior to the Palm Beach County boating accident, lifeguards had warned the boat operator to leave the swimming area but their orders were ignored. An investigation is under way.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission:

• There were 426 boating injuries in 2009
• Primary injuries included lacerations, broken bones, contusions, head injury, back injury, neck injury, sprain/strain, internal injuries, hypothermia, teeth and jaw injuries, dislocations, burns, amputations, spinal injury, and shock.

Boating accidents can cause serious injuries to both the people riding in the boat and those in the water. There may be more than one liable party who should be held liable for your boating accident injuries, such as the boat operator, the person or company that owns the boat, or the manufacturer of a defective boat.

14-Year-Old Girl Injured By Boat Propeller Has Leg Amputated, WBPF, February 8, 2011

14-year-old girl hospitalized after leg is caught in boat propeller, Sun-Sentinel, February 6, 2011

Related Web Resources:
US Coast Guard

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Related Blog Posts:
Man Charged in Boating Accident that Injured Florida Diver, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, January 29, 2010

Fort Myers Man Dies in Boating Accident, Cause of Death Unknown, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 29, 2009

Boating Accident Injures Boca Raton Man, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, November 27, 2009

Continue reading " 14-Year-Old Injured in Palm Beach County Boating Accident Has Part of Her Leg Amputated " »

Attorneys for 5-year-old Jace Manning and the insurer for the Broward Sheriff’s Office have settled the boy’s Coral Springs, Florida brain injury lawsuit for $1.575 million. The settlement brought the civil trial proceedings to a halt.

The plaintiff’s side contended that county child welfare officials failed to protect Jace, who sustained brain damage after they let him keep living with his mom and boyfriend even though there were signs that the couple might be abusive. His grandmother had even warned authorities that Jace, then 5-months, was in danger.

As a result of his head trauma, Jace remains developmentally disabled, walks with a limp, and requires intense speech therapy. He now lives with his grandmother.

Because the Broward State Attorney's Office’s said that it couldn’t prove that anyone actually hurt the boy, no criminal charges were ever filed. However, in 2008, Jace’s Ft. Lauderdale Florida injury lawyers sued 10 defendants, including the Department of Children & Families, Department of Children & Families, hospitals, and doctors. All of the parties have now settled with Jace’s family.

There may be parties who should be held liable for not stopping or preventing a violent crime from happening. When failure to act allows injury or death, depending on the specifics of the case, the victim and his/her family may have grounds for a Broward County personal injury claim.

Filing a Coral Springs personal injury lawsuit against any kind of government entity has its own set of challenges—especially when allegations of child abuse are involved. This is why it is so important that you work with a Florida injury law firm that knows how to help you.

$1.575 million settlement reached in Broward Sheriff's Office case over abused child, Sun-Sentinel, February 3, 2011

Related Web Resources:
Broward Sheriff’s Office

Florida Department of Children and Family

Related Blog Posts:
Palm Beach County Wrongful Death Lawsuit Blames Sheriff’s Office for Teen Informant’s Murder, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 10, 2010

West Palm Beach Injury Lawsuit Filed in 13-Year-Old’s School Beating, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, December 3, 2010

Florida Claims Bill Grants 9-Year-old Girl $18.2 Million for Department of Children and Families Error that Led To Her Traumatic Brain Injury, South Florida Injury Lawyer Blog, May 27, 2008