Posts

When a person suffers from an injury, or dies, due to an infection contracted at a hospital, liability will not always be as cut and dry as one might expect. In fact, in many cases, infections are found to be no one’s fault, and a victim may be left without any legal recourse. However, oftentimes, infections occur due to a failure to follow proper medical procedures to prevent infections. Infection cases follow the same basic principles as medical malpractice cases....

Having surgery is a major life event. Whether it is elective or life-dependant, minor or major, wanted or not, every surgery carries risk. Risk of failure, lengthy recovery, and even risk of death. Assuming you have done your due diligence choosing a surgeon, here are three legal questions to ask before going under the knife. You may have been too nervous the first few times you spoke to your doctor about your upcoming surgery....

There are some lawsuits that businesses just cannot avoid. Unfortunately, the most unavoidable lawsuits are the frivolous ones. Fortunately, the law and the courts provide a means to detect and dismiss frivolous claims early on, before a defendant is forced to spend significant money on defending a meritless claim. What Is a Frivolous Lawsuit? A frivolous lawsuit is one where the filer has no legal or factual basis for their claim, but the claim is filed and pursued regardless....

Should there be breastfeeding laws? And, should breastfeeding in public be a protected right? Maybe it should, given the stigma and the difficulties some women face in breastfeeding their children. In one case, a Detroit mother, Afrykayn Moon, was nursing her 2-week old infant on a public bus. She was asked to leave the bus after the bus driver told her to either cover up or get off. In Michigan, breastfeeding laws protect women from indecent exposure charges....

A California state board is currently reviewing the “containment model” and other ways to better manage sex offenders as a new bill (Chelsea’s Law) recently cleared its first legislative hurdle. On the other hand, California lawmakers have not specifically looked at the containment model but are still pushing for stricter overall sex offender laws, the San Diego Union Tribune reports. As previously discussed, Chelsea’s Law proposes stricter penalties on sex offenders including, in some cases life in prison, or time on parole with electronic monitoring....

Most people are aware that car accidents commonly result in personal injury lawsuits. However, most probably don’t know that they can be held liable in a car accident lawsuit involving their vehicle, even if they weren’t driving or even riding in the car at the time of the accident. How can a car owner be sued for an accident he or she wasn’t physically involved in? Here are a few ways it can happen:...

Sheriff’s deputies and police officers have long been a presence in schools, in case things get out of hand. Recently, school administrators and resource officers have taken things a bit further, conducting so-called “scared straight” programs under which misbehaving students are exposed to jails or prisons as an effort to convince them to change their ways. Beyond being ineffective and often backfiring, such tactics can be illegal or unconstitutional. Such was the case when a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy arrested seven middle school girls for being uncooperative during a bullying investigation to “prove a point” and “make (them) mature a lot faster....

Super Bowl XLV didn’t go down without a hitch. In addition to thousands of fans being left without a seat, perched on top of Cowboys Stadium, ice began to slide onto visiting fans below. As it turns out, one of the Cowboys Stadium falling ice victims was actually warned by the police. When the news first broke on the Friday before the game that ice and snow were falling from the stadium’s domed roof, lawyers around the country began salivating at the mouth....

The third Monday of February has been declared by the federal government to be President’s Day. This means that government workers generally get that day off. But what about people in the private industry? While a day off is nice – whether you’re an employee or the owner – it may not be the best choice for your business. After all, when there are other people who have the day off, it may be a prime day for your business....

Choosing your will executor is a daunting, and somewhat morbid, task. You’re essentially picking the person who will distribute your estate after you die. That’s why there are many considerations that come into play. But aside from choosing who your executor will be, there are other issues you may need to address as well – such as, whether or not your executor needs to be bonded. Why would your executor need to post a bond?...

Delfina Moto and her boyfriend, Paul Iheanachor, filed a medical malpractice, assault and battery lawsuit against the San Diego’s Tri-City Medical Center for $5 million, claiming they failed to administer anesthesia prior to performing an emergency c-section to deliver their baby girl. Though it has been eight months since the birth, Moto is still in pain from the procedure; the pain medications she has been prescribed only make her drowsy. The situation has put a strain on the couple, given Moto’s post-traumatic stress disorder, and has even impacted the mother-baby bond, the parents claim....

Hardee’s customers exposed to Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) at two South Carolina locations are suing the burger chain, the Food Poison Journal reports. The class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of thousands of people treated for Hepatitis after eating at Hardee’s restaurants with an infected worker. Earlier this month, on September 17, the state’s health department learned that a person infected with HAV was working at two of the chain’s locations and issued a public health warning....

Yesterday voters decided the fate of a law that would have allowed gay marriage in the state of Maine. In a close vote, the voters decided to overturn that law with 53% of the vote. The law was passed by the state legislature and signed by Maine Governor John Baldacci in May 2009. Civil Rights History This was a pivotal moment for the gay rights movement. Advocates of gay marriage were hoping that this would be the first time that an electorate would uphold a law that supported same-sex marriage....

In a battle between two important American principles – religious freedom and separation of church and state – our prime directive prevailed. A Kentucky judge concluded this week that a religious theme park cannot be denied government tax incentives if it restricts hiring to fundamentalist Christians because the Noah’s Ark park serves a plainly secular purpose – profit. Answers In Genesis, “a non-denominational group, which believes in creationism and runs the Creation Museum,” sued Kentucky when it withdrew tax incentives for fear the park would hire only fundamentalist Christians, according to Reuters....

Debt collectors have been known to use all manner of tricks to get a hold of the debtors they are after and make them pay up. Now, they have a new tool in their box. Like the police and nearly everyone else in the world, debt collectors have discovered Facebook. If you owe money, be careful who you friend. A report by National Public Radio on July 12 chronicled the story of one man on the run from the collection agencies....

More than 3,500 registered New York sex offenders were kicked off of MySpace and Facebook and other social networking sites. The purge was part of the first database sweep since New York’s Electronic Securing and Targeting of Online Predators Act “e-STOP” took effect last year. e-STOP is the is the first program of its kind. According to New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office, letters were sent to the social networking companies to purge sex offenders from their sites....

A pregnant woman was fired from her bartending gig after her former boss allegedly reprimanded her for not dressing more like a “California hooker.” According to City News Service, Los Angeles resident Amanda Lambert filed suit against The King’s Head Pub II, accusing her employer of pregnancy discrimination, wrongful termination, and intentional inflection of emotional distress after her “conservative” look got her fired. What kind of case does the former employee have against the pub?...

Airbnb is all the rage for homeowners. If you have some extra space in your house, maybe you’re ready to take advantage of the room rental service. Having a room to spare, however, does not make you a hotelier, and you will have to investigate local rental and hospitality industry rules to avoid legal woes. As room-rental apps rise in popularity, municipalities are increasingly cracking down on individuals turning their homes into businesses....

So much for the second and even third wave of feminism. It’s back to sister vs. sister in the great state of North Carolina where scorned wife Cynthia Shackelford has won $9 million from her alienation of affection suit against her husband’s mistress. Take notes, Ms. Edwards. According to the report by CBS News, Cynthia Shackelford, 60, of Raleigh, sued Anne Lundquist, 49, of Aurora, N.Y. for breaking up her marriage....

It’s not just movie studios facing unpaid intern lawsuits. Now Gawker Media and NBC Universal are being sued by ex-interns as well. The new lawsuits are sequels, of sorts, to the Fox Searchlight Pictures case, in which a judge ruled the company violated federal and state minimum wage laws by not paying interns who worked on the movie “Black Swan.” The string of cases cropping up signals a warning to business owners who rely heavily on unpaid internships....