Wrongful Death
Posted in Wrongful Death on November 10, 2015
A horrific case of a 3-year-old California boy’s death at the dentist’s office has led to a filing in the state Dental Board against the dentist. The board has filed a complaint with the California Attorney General’s office, accusing the dentist of causing the boy’s death through gross negligence, incompetence and unprofessional conduct. The Tracy Press shares the sad details of this apparent case of medical malpractice. The boy went to the dentist’s office. He had several cavities and needed a cleaning. The dentist recommended to the boy’s parents that the child be sedated, and the parents consented. According to…
Continue reading Dentist accused of causing 3-year-old patient’s death
Posted in Wrongful Death on November 4, 2015
Some activities are inherently risky, and the law says that any foreseeable injuries from such pursuits are not recoverable, because the injured person “assumed the risk” that his or her injuries would occur. But just because an activity has a higher risk of harm than normal, does not mean that injuries are not compensable. If a wrongdoer enhances or increases inherent risks unreasonably they ae liable. In one example discussed in this news report, the family of a girl who died while riding a go-kart is suing the racetrack where her accident occurred for wrongful death. The deadly crash did…
Continue reading Go-kart facility sued for wrongful death after teen girl dies
Posted in Wrongful Death on October 22, 2015
In personal injury law, one of the elements that must be proven in every case is that the defendant owed the plaintiff or victim a duty of due care to take reasonable steps to minimize the risk of harm. This relationship exists between all people. Typical examples are the duty owed by a motorist to other people on the road, a landowner to visitors or a hospital to a patient. The family of a man who died in 2014 after falling from the roof of a parking garage is suing a nearby hotel for wrongful death. alleging that hotel employees…
Continue reading Family sues hotel for wrongful death after ousting visitor
Posted in Wrongful Death on August 5, 2015
A wrongful death lawsuit against Greyhound Lines Inc. is back on, after a California court of appeals ruled that the trial judge wrongfully dismissed the case. The court ruled that there remain questions of fact for the plaintiffs and Greyhound to present to a jury. According to The Sacramento Bee, the original lawsuit accused Greyhound of substandard safety regulations on its buses. The bus in question was built to Greyhound’s specifications but did not belong to the company at the time of the 2008 accident which killed 11 passengers and injured 21 more. The bus was carrying 41 people on…
Continue reading Wrongful death lawsuit against Greyhound revived on appeal
Posted in Wrongful Death on June 9, 2015
There is a sad story posted on today’s SFGate about the death of Aura Celeste Machado, a 17-year-old jogger. She was running on a San Rafael sidewalk and her path was blocked by a large tree that had fallen across the sidewalk. She jogged into the street to get around the tree and was struck by a minivan. The minivan was going fast enough to literally knock her out of her shoes and she unfortunately succumbed to her injuries. DID THE DRIVER USE DUE CARE? The death of a child leaves an irreparable hole in the family’s hearts and is…
Continue reading Driver and City of San Rafael Both Likely Legally Responsible for Death of Teen Jogger
Posted in Wrongful Death on June 8, 2015
A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed by the Walkup firm in association with the Law Offices of Michael Laux against an police officer, police department and city authorities outside of California says that the officer should never have been hired to join the force. The suit says the officer, who shot and killed a 15-year-old African American boy in 2012, once attended a Klu Klux Klan meeting, ignored police policies and was generally inept. A story by KATV-TV recites some details about the case, documenting that the officer was a member of the Little Rock Police Department, when he…
Continue reading Family of police shooting victim sues officer, city
Posted in Wrongful Death on March 23, 2015
Nearly 105,000 Honda vehicles have been added to the already massive auto recall due to defective airbags. Manufactured by auto parts supplier Takata, the airbags have been linked to several deaths, including five people killed in Honda vehicles. Many of the top automakers in the world use Takata airbags, and have been forced to issue recalls to try to repair the defective safety devices. The airbags at issue have the tendency to inflate with too much force, causing pieces of plastic and metal to hurtle toward drivers and passengers. Around 22 million vehicles have been recalled, including 17 million in…
Continue reading Honda recall due to defective airbags
Posted in Wrongful Death on March 13, 2015
A young man who went to rehabilitation for treatment of an eating disorder and alcoholism died at the facility in 2011. More than four years later, his parents have prevailed in a wrongful death lawsuit against the California rehab center. The jury issued an award of $10.25 million. In their suit, the deceased man’s parents said that the facility, First House, was not qualified to treat their son. The son, 20, died of cardiac arrest due to an electrolyte imbalance caused by “unabated” binging and purging. His parents first took him to a facility in Arizona. They said he was…
Continue reading Rehab center ordered to pay $10.25M in wrongful death claim
Posted in Wrongful Death on November 22, 2012
The family of a California bus driver was recently awarded $7,284,000 in a wrongful death action arising out of a Highway 99 truck accident. This was one of many preventable California truck accidents caused by inattentive truck drivers being unable to respond to changing road conditions. The bus driver was operating a church bus which had a broken gas gauge. The bus ran out of gas on the highway between Merced and Fresno, and the bus driver pulled the bus over to the shoulder. He went o a gas station and obtained diesel fuel. The bus driver began priming the…
Continue reading Family awarded $7.28M in Highway 99 truck accident case
Posted in Wrongful Death on October 23, 2012
Federal regulators have cited a California dock company after workplace safety violations led to the wrongful death of an employee. An investigation regarding the working conditions at the Long Beach dock was launched after a dockworker was killed by a 40-foot-long shipping container. The massive shipping container fell from the stack of containers during loading operations on a ship. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s proposed fines total $92,000 against the company, SSA Marine. “SSA Marine failed to prevent this worker from being in harm’s way,” said Jay Vicory, OSHA’s area office director in San Diego….
Continue reading California dock company cited after workers’ death
