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Freeway Crash Caused by Deputy Driving Under the Influence

Orange County Personal Injury Lawyer — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 23:16:00 GMT

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy has been accused of driving his motorcycle drunk and crashing into the back end of another vehicle on the 405 freeway on the evening of July 5. The deputy, age 38, of West Covina was off duty and was driving with his wife on the back of his motorcycle when the accident occurred near the Brookhurst Street exit. Prosecutors have filed felony charges against the deputy for driving under the influence causing injury and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or more causing injury.

The deputy was treated for hip injuries after the crash and his wife was hospitalized with abrasions to her arms and hand and a knee injury, but occupants of the other vehicle were not injured. His blood-alcohol level was 0.15 two hours after the crash, and if convicted, he faces a sentence ranging from probation to three years in state prison.

If you or someone you love has been injured in a motor vehicle accident or motorcycle accident, you may have the right to seek compensation. At the Law Offices of Joseph M. Tosti, an Orange County personal injury lawyer from our team can help bring justice to your personal injury case. With over 29 years of experience assisting Orange County residents, you can be confident that our firm will provide you with high quality legal representation. Contact an Orange County personal injury lawyer today!

Wrongful death lawsuit settles for 6.5 Million

Joseph Tosti — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 23:25:00 GMT

The City of Chicago approved a $6,500,000 settlement of a lawsuit which stemmed from the death of a boy (8 years old) and a head injury to an eleven year old girl. The children were crossing the street and were hit by a police vehicle. The police officer driving the car said he was in pursuit with lights on after seeing robery being committed. The attorneys for the children agrued that the office was acting in wanton disregard for the health and safety of the public.

5 African-American Men Turned Away at Denny's File Lawsuit

Joseph Tosti — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT

Five hungry men walked to Denny's on South Main in the early morning hours of May 31, 2010. They left hungry - and angry.

The men, all black and all in their 20s, were refused entry twice after they watched white patrons enter the restaurant at 1136 S. Main St., in Dayton, Ohio.

"We just looked at each other like: Did that really happen?" said David Alexander, one of the five men, who are now plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed last month in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.

The events are not in question. JMAD Hospitality, which owns the franchise, admits the men were refused entry, and says they should not have been, but says there was no racial motivation.

"It was all a big misunderstanding," said Roy A. Hulme, a Cleveland attorney who represents JMAD.

Though Alexander and his friends did not know it when they first approached the restaurant, the manager had cleared the restaurant earlier that morning after rowdy customers were causing problems. There was confusion among employees about when the restaurant reopened, and both the manager and an employee were later reprimanded, according to JMAD.

"The morning of May 31, 2010 was a disaster, filled with confusion and miscommunication," Hulme wrote in a position statement given to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. "Mr. Alexander's problems with entering the restaurant were as a direct result of this confusion and miscommunication. He and his friends were not treated any differently because of their race."

However, the company's response also said that Alexander's experience "could logically lead him to that conclusion, but that does not mean his conclusion is accurate."

Alexander's story

Alexander and his friends, Greg Donel, Kelvin Nevins, Daniel Lackey and Bruce Means had been hanging out in the city's Carillon neighborhood.

Alexander, who makes pizzas at a Domino's, said he was not drinking that night.

Hungry, they decided to do what they'd done many times before in the early morning: go to Denny's. They walked across the Stewart Street bridge, turned left on South Main, and walked up to the restaurant. It was about 4:45 a.m., according to the complaint filed in common pleas court.

As they walked up, an employee - described by Alexander as a black man - locked the doors and signaled that the restaurant was closed.

But as the five walked away, they saw a white female employee unlock the door for a white customer to enter. They went back to the door, but were told that the man was picking up a to-go order, that the restaurant was otherwise closed, but would reopen in 15 minutes.

The men walked to a nearby Speedway gas station, talked with the employees, picked up a few items, then walked back to the restaurant about 20 minutes later.

They saw a white couple enter the store, so they walked up to the door. The female employee then wrote a note and attached it to the door. The note said the restaurant was closed.

The men then called the restaurant and spoke to the manager, who told them the restaurant was open and had an employee unlock the door.

The men entered, and found the white man, who supposedly had a to-go order, seated and eating. So was the white couple, according to the complaint.

The manager apologized and offered to pick up the plaintiffs' tab, but they declined after the staff "acted in a rude manner to the young men, further discouraging them from eating there," the complaint said.

Next steps

Alexander filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which found in December that there was no probable cause to support his complaint.

Documents filed by JMAD with the OCRC show that, at about 1:30 a.m., the manager decided to close the restaurant temporarily after customers started getting rowdy. He announced that food would be served in to-go boxes, without charge, and that all customers would have to leave.

The manager then had the doors locked. Eventually, he told staff to begin allowing people in who had called for to-go orders, but no one else.

A server then forgot to re-lock the door after letting in a to-go customer. Another customer walked in and sat down.

"She decided that rather than ask this person to leave, she would let him stay, but re-locked the door," Hulme wrote.

The manager reopened the restaurant about 5:15 a.m., but apparently the server did not hear that, so she re-locked the doors as Alexander's party arrived again at the restaurant, Hulme wrote.

Both the manager and the server were written up for their actions, Hulme wrote.

"The management of JMAD is sincerely sorry for the situation," Hulme wrote.

Alexander said he initially only wanted JMAD to acknowledge what he thinks is clear: he and his friends were discriminated against because of their race. After the dismissal by the OCRC, the five turned to attorney Gary Leppla, former president of the Ohio State Bar Association, who filed the lawsuit.

Of the five, only one has ever been charged with a felony. Lackey pleaded guilty to burglary in 2006, was given treatment in lieu of conviction, which he completed in 2007. His felony was then dismissed.

"I believe they thought we were there to cause a problem because we were all young black men," Alexander said. "I'm not here to cause a problem. I'm just hungry."

By Lou Grieco, Staff Writer- Dayton Daily News

UCF to Pay $10 Million for Football Player's Death

Joseph Tosti — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:27:00 GMT

The jury hearing the case of Ereck Plancher, the Central Florida player who died during a pre-practice conditioning workout in 2008, returned a verdict of guilty on a charge of negligence against the UCF Athletic Association, determining that it failed to do everything possible to save the player's life.

The jury awarded Plancher's parents, who had turned down a settlement offer, $10 million. It also failed to find the athletic department guilty of gross negligence.

The case garnered national attention after several players went public to describe the intensity of the workout, and the fact that Plancher was clearly struggling at the end of it When he fell at the end of some sprints and some teammates had to help him up, coaches yelled at them to stop.

UCF coach George O'Leary initially understated the intensity of the workouts and the school didn't interview players about the incident until more than a month after Plancher's death.

UCF lawyers had tried to prove that Plancher's suffering from sickle cell trait had led to his sudden death. Attorneys for the players family called experts who testified that there is "no evidence-based proof" that sickle cell trait caused the death.

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Eric Crawford ---Courier-Journel

Amtrak attendant who survived crash sues truck company

Joseph Tosti — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:02:00 GMT

An attendant on the Amtrak train struck by a tractor-trailer rig in Nevada last week, in a fiery crash that killed at least six people and injured dozens more, sued the trucking company on Tuesday.

Alexandra Curtis, 38, who according to the lawsuit suffered "severe and permanent injuries" in the collision, seeks in excess of $10,000 in damages in the lawsuit, which alleges negligence on the part of John Davis Trucking Co.

Curtis charges the company, through its employee, driver Lawrence Valli, "negligently and carelessly failed to heed railroad warning signs and crashed into the westbound California Zephyr Amtrak train."

The lawsuit, the first filed in connection with the accident, also alleges the company failed to train and supervise its employees.

Representatives for the John Davis Trucking company, based in Battle Mountain, Nevada, could not immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit, filed in Washoe County District Court.

Valli was killed along with the train's conductor and at least four other people on Friday morning when the truck smashed through closed railroad arms and into the side of the California Zephyr, which had about 195 passengers and 14 crew members on board.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators and local authorities say they have not yet determined why Valli ignored or failed to see signs and flashing lights to slam into the train.

According to skid marks found at the scene, he hit the brakes on his rig, which had an estimated weight of 50,000 pounds, just 320 feet before the rail crossing.

Bill Bradley, an attorney representing Curtis, said the purpose of the lawsuit was to "make sure the rights and interests of the victims are protected the same as the rights and interests of Amtrak and the trucking company."

Asked about NTSB estimates that establishing probable cause in the fiery crash could take a year or more, Bradley said "preliminary information indicates that the truck didn't stop. This is negligence."

The suit seeks a sum to be determined in excess of $10,000 for mental and physical damages caused by the accident. The court documents do not say what injuries Curtis suffered.

By Timothy Pratt

LAS VEGAS | Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:28pm EDT

Kia Hit for $40 Million for Death Caused by Defective Seat Belt Buckle

Joseph Tosti — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:26:00 GMT

MOBILE, Ala., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 23, 2011, after five years of litigation and two appeals to the Alabama Supreme Court, a Mobile County, Alabama jury returned a $40 million wrongful death verdict against Kia Motors of America, Inc., Kia Motors Corporation, and DBI/Celltrion; in a complaint filed by Tonya Leytham.

The case involved the A97 seatbelt buckle in model years 1995 through 2000 Kia Sephia and Sportage vehicles. The seatbelt buckles had a safety defect which caused them to be susceptible to "false latching" so that the user thinks they are properly belted when in reality they are not. In an accident, the false latch condition can allow the buckle to unlatch and substantially increase the risk of serious injury or death.

In 2002, the U.S. Government inquired about the problem, and in late December 2002 Kia issued a safety defect recall, but only for model years 1995 through 1998 vehicles. The model year 1999 and 2000 cars were not recalled, even though they had the same seatbelt buckle with the same safety defect as the cars that were recalled. The 2002 recall resulted in 189,000 cars being recalled, but 251,000 cars with the same defective buckle were not recalled and the owners of those cars were not notified of the safety defect.

Later, in April 2004, the U.S. Government inquired as to the scope of the recall, and why 1999 and 2000 model year cars had not been included in the recall. The government also asked that Kia deliver more than a dozen of the seatbelt buckles for testing to be conducted by the U.S. Government. Kia did not deliver the buckles for testing, and instead advised the government in June 2004 that it would expand the recall in August 2004 to include model year 1999 and 2000 cars.

Tiffany Stabler turned sixteen on May 6, 2004. Her father purchased a used 1999 Kia Sephia, as a gift for his daughter's birthday. Before giving it to her, he had the car serviced at the local Kia dealership, had all recall work done, he changed the tires and did all maintenance needed to make the vehicle safe. He had no idea that the car had defective seatbelts in it. And, although Kia corporate officials knew there was a safety defect, they had not issued a recall of the seatbelt buckles in this model year car. Therefore, the original defective seatbelt buckles remained in the vehicle, even after it was inspected and serviced by the Kia dealership. On July 4, 2004, Tiffany was driving the Kia and wearing her seatbelt. She lost control of the car, and it crashed. During the accident her seatbelt buckle failed, Tiffany was ejected from the vehicle and died from her injuries.

"Tiffany's father would never have given his little girl that car if he thought it was unsafe. While the jury's verdict does not change the fact that Tiffany's death could have been and should have been prevented, hopefully it will result in a change in business practices so that when a product manufacturer knows that its product has a safety defect, it will make full and complete disclosure and promptly recall a ll of the defective products and not just some of them," said Skip Finkbohner, who tried the case with Toby Brown, Robert Mitchell and David Wirtes of Cunningham Bounds, LLC.

Cornell Fraternity Sued Over Student's Drinking Death

Joseph Tosti — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:21:00 GMT

The mother of a 19-year-old Cornell University sophomore who died after drinking heavily at a fraternity house in February filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the fraternity on Monday, saying her son was hazed and then left to die.

The student, George Desdunes, who was from Brooklyn, joined a chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Cornell, in Ithaca, N.Y. He was kidnapped in the early morning of Feb. 25 by fraternity pledges who bound his wrists and ankles with zip ties and duct tape, then forced him to drink until he passed out, according to the suit.

Mr. Desdunes was found unconscious on the same couch later that morning, his hands and feet still tied, according to the suit, which was filed by Mr. Desdunes's mother, Marie Lourdes Andre, in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn.

"One S.A.E. pledge tried to interfere with the crime scene by having the zip ties removed before police arrived," the suit claims.

An autopsy showed Mr. Desdunes had a blood-alcohol level of 0.409 percent, five times the legal limit for driving in New York and many other states, the suit says.

Some former pledges of the fraternity were charged with first-degree hazing and unlawfully dealing with a child in connection with the death. Cornell withdrew recognition of the fraternity; its members had to leave the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house. The chapter was suspended by the fraternity's national headquarters.

A phone call to the national office was not returned Monday evening.

In a statement, Tommy Bruce, a spokesman for Cornell, said the university "neither condones nor tolerates hazing or the type of activities that we understand contributed to George's death."

"The matter is now in litigation," he added, "and we will be following it closely as it progresses through the courts."

By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Published: June 27, 2011

Families sue Utah school over alleged sex abuse by counselor

Joseph Tosti — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 21:05:00 GMT

Three families have filed a federal lawsuit against a Panguitch-based boarding school for troubled teens, claiming the institution failed to supervise a counselor charged with sexually abusing several students.

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Eric Allen Glosson, 28, in 6th District Court with eight counts of second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse for allegedly having sexual relations with youth at Silverado Academy in Garfield County between April 20 and June 18.

He is also charged with one count of second-degree felony custodial sexual relations with a youth receiving state services and one count of third-degree felony dealing in materials harmful to a minor.

Now, families from Nevada, Georgia and Michigan say Silverado Academy should have done more to keep tabs on Glosson's interactions with students. Their complaint alleges the school failed to protect their children from Glosson, who had been previously fired over concerns he was "too close to the teenagers in the program."

In late 2010, Glosson was rehired as a coach and athletic coordinator and allowed to supervise 13- to 18-year-olds, according to the complaint. He then sexually abused numerous teens, the complaint alleges.

"Due to the absence of appropriate oversight, supervision and security policies, procedures and practices, Mr. Glosson was allowed to have repeated access to and time with individual students privately, in multiple locations and settings, including students over whom he was not a coach and had no supervisory duties," the complaint states.

"On multiple occasions, Mr. Glosson sexually abused numerous teenagers at the academy, including the minor plaintiffs in Silverado's classroom, Glosson's living quarters and the students' living quarters, among other places."

The complaint alleges that Glosson discouraged students from reporting the abuse by threatening to not recommend the students for an advanced program. He used "bribery, physical force, intimidation and deceit," to cover up his relationships with the students, the complaint states.

The plaintiffs, who are not being identified by The Salt Lake Tribuneto protect the identity of the alleged victims, are seeking at least $75,000 in damages for breach of fiduciary duty, negligent employment, and infliction of emotional distress.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon following Glosson's arrest, Silverado Academy officials said one student reported the alleged conduct early Sunday morning during a Father's Day call to his parents.

"We reported these events to the appropriate state authorities on the same day," academy officials said in a statement. "We are cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation."

Glosson had called authorities on his own in May, telling law enforcement that a youth in Arizona was contacting him over Facebook and "threatening to publicize alleged sexual abuse that Glosson had perpetrated," according to the complaint. Law enforcement came to Silverado Academy to investigate but school allowed him to continue working with youth after no immediate arrest took place, the complaint states.

Silverado Academy was founded by former U.S. Senate candidate Tim Bridgewater. The program costs between $4,000 and $7,000 each month and families must agree to send their teenagers to the school for a minimum of six months, court documents state.

The length of a teenager's stay depends on "progress." Students live in a cabin and are assigned a set of "coaches" along with a therapist. When Silverado hired Glosson, he had no formal training and no post-high school education, the complaint states.

Glosson, who is being held in the Garfield County Jail, made his initial court appearance Thursday and a July 1 preliminary hearing has been set.

The school has offered to provide counseling services to teenagers affected by Glosson's behavior, according to the complaint.

By melinda Rogers

The Salt Lake Tribune

Father sues girls over video--- Daughter was threatened and defamed online, lawsuit alleges

Joseph Tosti — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:51:00 GMT

Who sues kids for cyberbullying? A Houston lawyer does when his daughter becomes the target of a nasty video posted on Facebook, according to a lawsuit filed this week in Harris County.

Last month, three Kingwood students who attend Riverwood Middle School filmed themselves offering unkind words about a classmate, then uploaded the video to the social networking site, the civil complaint says.

The targeted child's father, Jason Medley, provided the video to school officials, then sent cease-and-desist demands to the three girls and their parents. The letters said he would sue if the youngsters didn't stop all communication with his daughter and if their families did not donate at least $5,000 each to the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, an Oregon nonprofit.

Receiving no response by his early June deadline, one of Medley's colleagues filed a defamation of character lawsuit on Tuesday against the three girls, accusing them of making defamatory and false statements that "impute sexual impropriety and misconduct" on his daughter. The complaint also alleged that the video includes threats to physically harm the girl and seeks a permanent injunction to prevent the three from further contacting her.

Medley declined to be interviewed for this report. The Chronicle is not naming any of the children involved.

Riverwood officials confirmed the incident, Humble ISD spokeswoman Karen Collier said in an email.

'A very novel approach'

The recording was not done on school property and did not involve a district website. The Chronicle was unable to obtain a copy of the video, which has been removed from Facebook.

When reached by phone, the mother of one of the girls said that the three told their principal "they were sorry and didn't mean any of it." Another girl's father declined to comment, and efforts to reach the parents of a third girl were unsuccessful.

Without commenting specifically about this case, Collier said that school officials who become aware of activity that could be cyberbullying - even occurrences off campus - would contact parents of the students involved to discuss the incident and an administrator would talk with each child.

"If a child was concerned about his or her safety - or if the parents were concerned - that child and those he/she were concerned about would be shadowed while at school for as long as necessary," Collier said, adding that parents also could contact law enforcement, who can decide whether charges are appropriate.

It is unclear whether Medley reported the video to Houston police or other authorities with jurisdiction in Kingwood.

This case appears to be the first this year among about three dozen defamation of character lawsuits filed in Harris County to include children as defendants. At least three others involve information disseminated on the Web.

Nancy Willard, founder and executive director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, thinks Medley's lawsuit is "a very novel approach" and had no idea that the Kingwood dad suggested a sizable donation to her nonprofit as an alternative resolution.

"I think this father is trying to be a parent that the other girls do not apparently have," said Willard, a former special education teacher and education technology consultant. "Think of the lesson he is teaching his own daughter: You do not have to put up with someone hurting you. You can calmly and strongly say 'stop,' and I have your back."

Fighting cyberbullying

Though cyberbullying is overblown as "epidemic," Willard said, research shows that roughly 1 in 4 young people report having hurtful information sent to them or posted about them and that half of those children said they dealt with the situation fairly easily. She has fought online harassment for more than a decade for reasons that include being bullied and called "Weirdo Willard" in junior high.

"We're never going to stop all of this, but we really have to focus on increasing the skills of teenagers in being able to respond effectively as well as increasing our skills as adults in helping them respond," said Willard, who is also an attorney. "What you do online can cause harm. The emergence of these legal consequences is a way to say 'Hey, wait a minute. There is a line here and you are crossing that line or have crossed that line big time and you need to be held accountable.' "

Police failed to Notice Woman was Still Alive--- Umi Southworth's estate files wrongful-death lawsuit against city

Joseph Tosti — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:43:00 GMT

The administrator of the estate of murder victim Umi Southworth has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, claiming Lexington police acted in "a reckless, wanton and egregious manner" by failing to realize Southworth was still alive for several hours while they conducted a homicide investigation.

After officials realized she was alive, she was taken to University of Kentucky Hospital, where she died the next day. Her husband, Don Southworth, was charged with her murder earlier this month.

Fayette County Public Administrator Dennis A. Bradley filed the lawsuit Friday evening on behalf of the estate and on behalf of Umi and Don Southworth's 13-year-old daughter, Almira Fawn Southworth.

The lawsuit is seeking an undetermined amount of money for punitive damages, lost wages and loss of the power to earn money on behalf of Umi Southworth, as well as "the loss of parental love, affection, companionship and consortium" on behalf of Almira Fawn Southworth. It also seeks damages for "mental and physical pain, suffering and anguish" on behalf of the mother and daughter.

City Spokeswoman Susan Straub said she could not comment on open lawsuits.

Justin Morgan, the attorney for the estate, said Umi Southworth was included in the pain and suffering damages because it was possible she had some degree of consciousness through the ordeal.

"We don't know whether she was conscious or not. We do know she was conscious for some time at the hospital," he said.

Police officers found Umi Southworth June 9, 2010, after investigating a report that she did not show up to work. She had been badly beaten with a piece of wood and left in the bushes behind the Meadowthorpe Avenue fourplex she shared with her husband and daughter.

She was so badly injured officers thought she was dead, leaving her lying outside while investigating. She died June 10, 2010.

"She laid out there for five hours in the rain while the police interrogated her husband," Morgan said.

Don Southworth has pleaded not guilty to the killing. He had filed a petition to become administrator of his dead wife's estate on June 1, 2011, and was indicted on one count of murder the same day.

Morgan said it "raised some eyebrows" that Southworth was arrested just hours after he filed the petition, which indicated he planned to sue for wrongful death.

"There was certainly nothing inappropriate about Don Southworth filing to be administrator of the estate," he said.

There is a one-year statute of limitations to become administrator of someone's estate, which is required before any assets can be distributed. Don Southworth filed to become the administrator of his wife's estate nine days before the first anniversary of her death.

Bradley, a Lexington attorney who handles probate court cases when heirs cannot be found or are not available, was appointed administrator of the estate in Don Southworth's stead, according to court documents.

"Because of the criminal charges, the court deemed that would not be prudent" for Don Southworth to claim wrongful death damages, Morgan said.

Umi Southworth, a native of Indonesia, did not have a last will and testament and had no family members in Kentucky except for her husband and daughter. She also had little money to her name, Morgan said.

"The decedent's estate consists primarily of an unliquidated claim for wrongful-death damages," probate court documents said.

Don Southworth is not a party. If he is convicted of the murder, he would not be able to recover any damages, Morgan said.

Any money that might be won in the lawsuit would go to Almira and toward court and attorneys' fees, he said.

The lawsuit retells the story that has made headlines for more than a year. The document said that police "exercised exclusive control of the location at 1486 Meadowthorpe Avenue for approximately five hours before officials from the office of the Fayette County Coroner were allowed access to the Decedent Umi H. Southworth."

"When officials from the office of the Fayette County Coroner were allowed to examine her body, Umi H. Southworth was alive," the document said, adding that none of the officers on the scene checked Southworth for vital signs.

Police have admitted mistakes in their response, calling it a failure of policy and personnel. No disciplinary action was taken, but officers were retrained under a new policy requiring, among other things, that paramedics be called to the scene of every apparent homicide to check for signs of life.

"As a direct and proximate result of the employees of (Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government), the estate of Umi H. Southworth is entitled to pursue a claim for her wrongful death," the lawsuit said

Parents of drowned boys sue Gwinnett County

Joseph Tosti — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:41:00 GMT

The parents of two Dacula boys who drowned last year are seeking $10 million each in lawsuits that claim Gwinnett County firefighters were negligent in the boys' deaths.

Jacob Bullock, 14, and Marvens Mathurin, 13, died Jan. 9, 2010, after falling through the ice on a frozen neighborhood pond. In separate complaints filed Thursday in Gwinnett County State Court, the boys' families claim two county firefighters "intentionally chose not to attempt a rescue" of the boys for at least 40 minutes after arriving at the scene.

Gwinnett County spokeswoman Heather Sawyer said the county does not comment on pending litigation.

According to the lawsuits and news accounts, the boys were walking with a friend on a pond in the Daniel Park subdivision. They had seen several girls playing on the ice and assumed it was safe.

The ice gave way and Mathurin fell into the frigid water. The other boys fell in while trying to rescue him.

The third boy eventually pulled himself out, but Bullock and Mathurin remained in the water.

According to the lawsuits, Gwinnett firefighters arrived while the two boys were still in the water and the third boy was on the ice. But they did not attempt to rescue them despite having life jackets and a wet suit. Instead, they waited at least 40 minutes until a boat arrived, the lawsuits claim. But the two boys had drowned.

A Fire Department spokesman said at the time of the boys' deaths that responders are trained not to go into the water to rescue people until their equipment has arrived.

The lawsuits claim the firefighters' failure to attempt a rescue and failure to bring a boat to the scene earlier led to the boys' deaths. The lawsuits also accuse the Daniel Park Community Association of failing to maintain the pond in a safe and secure manner and failing to warn residents of the dangerous conditions.

Representatives of the community association could not be reached for comment Friday.

By David Wickert

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Families awarded $100K each in hazing case

Joseph Tosti — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:06:00 GMT

A jury awarded two families $100,000 at the conclusion of a federal trial here Thursday after finding that the Wayne County school system failed to protect their children from being sexually harassed in a middle school locker room.

Two mothers sued the school district on behalf of their sons, who in 2008 were seventh-grade members of the Waynesboro Middle School boys basketball team.

The suit claimed they were subjected to hazing at the hands of older members of the team while unsupervised in the locker room.

One of the boys said he was held down by three eighth-graders while a fourth sodomized him with a felt-tip marker. The other said he was tricked into doing a blindfolded sit-up while one of the eighth-graders stood above his face with his pants down.

The Tennessean does not identify victims of sexual assault.

Eddie Schmidt, a Nashville attorney representing the plaintiffs, said the decision should serve as a wake-up call to schools.

"I think the practical impact is that schools and school officials are going to have to take bullying seriously and take proactive steps to prevent bullying, identify behavior that is bullying, watch the hot spots where bullying occurs, and when it does occur, take quick, effective remedial actions," he said.

A 'bad prank'

The verdict concludes an edgy three-day trial that featured emotional testimony from the mothers and tense verbal sparring between the families' attorneys and Wayne County school officials who insist their response to the incidents was appropriate.

Four eighth-grade starters on the team were sent to an alternative school for 11 days, removed from the basketball team and placed on probation by the school after the marker incident came to light.

However, the Wayne County Board of Education later reinstated the boys to the basketball team. And when the blindfolded sit-up and other incidents were discovered and reported to administrators, the students were not punished any further.

Ryan Keeton, then the principal of the middle school, said he didn't think the blindfolded sit-up was a sexual assault, but a "bad prank" and a "practical joke that failed." He felt the initial suspension and other measures adequately addressed the problem.

The mothers felt the response was too light, and Thursday's verdict was vindication for them after years of frustration.

Juvenile court convictions against the four eighth-graders involved in the marker incident were tossed out after they appealed their sentences.

The middle school basketball coach at the time, David Sisk, was charged with failure to report a sexual assault against a child, but the charge was dismissed.

Investigations by the state departments of education and children's services turned up no punishable violations.

Sisk, who admitted to describing the blindfolded sit-up prank to members of the team but insists he also told them never to do it, was issued a written reprimand for failing to alert Keeton when he first heard rumors of the marker incident. He was allowed to continue coaching the team.

'No child deserves this'

The mothers ultimately moved their sons to other schools, claiming they feared for their safety.

"I want this school to be held accountable," one of the mothers said on the witness stand. "I don't want this ever to happen to another child.

"No child deserves this."

While the mothers felt wronged, John Schwalb, a Franklin attorney representing the school district, said it was their refusal to accept the school district's punishment that led to the protracted legal proceedings.

"I guess I fail to see how 11 days of being placed in an alternative school ... taking your basketball privileges away for a while, being turned over to DCS, being turned over to the police and ultimately being placed on probation for a year by the Board of Education isn't serious," he said in his closing argument.

Multiple incidents around the country in recent years that resulted in serious injury or death have made bullying a national concern. While there was no death or serious injury in Wayne County, Schmidt said the consequences were still severe.

"You see what the consequence of bullying is: Two boys were sexually assaulted," Schmidt said.

"The message has been sent by this jury that this is a very serious behavioral issue that needs to be addressed by all schools and school administrators."

Maury Nation, an associate professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt University who has studied bullying for 15 years, said that the pattern of behavior alleged in the lawsuit is serious enough to create increased risk of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression in the victims later in life.

Nation said that his reading of the lawsuit suggests Wayne County failed to learn from the mistakes of other school districts and take a more proactive stance against bullying.

"One of the great challenges of bullying intervention at this point is getting adults to take it seriously," Nation said.

"You're much more likely to get bullying behavior reported in schools that have adults who write off or don't actually discourage behavior. Students are very adept at picking up on the attitudes of adults in the building."

A quick decision

The families had sought a total of $3 million when the lawsuit was filed in 2009, but several claims, including alleged civil rights violations and claims against individual school officials, were thrown out by U.S. District Court Judge Aleta A. Trauger.

That left the families with a high bar to clear. Their remaining claim was that the school system's inability to prevent multiple incidents of sexual harassment, and its response to them, violated Title IX, the federal law that protects students from being discriminated against based on their sex.

The families had to convince the jury that the harassment their sons were subjected to was severe, pervasive and objectionably offensive and that it deprived them of access to educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.

Additionally, they had to show that the school system had actual knowledge of the harassment and acted with deliberate indifference to it.

The jury of five women and two men rendered their decision in about an hour, and awarded the families the full $100,000 each that they requested.

"The jury spoke quickly and gave exactly what they asked for," said Ann Johnson, a Houston attorney who also represented the plaintiffs. "They sent a clear message."

Schwalb said after the trial that it is too early to say whether the school system will appeal, but he thought they would.

Noting the amount of time an appeal would take, Trauger suggested the parties try to come to a resolution between themselves that would put an end to the lengthy and emotional proceedings.

Written by

Brandon Gee | The Tennessean

Suit over Utah crash will be first in U.S. to put Toyota on trial

Joseph Tosti — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:03:00 GMT

A lawsuit filed after a Utah car crash killed two people will be the first in the country to put Toyota Motor Corp. on trial over allegations that it made defective cars that are responsible for the deaths, a federal judge decided Friday.

The civil lawsuit filed by the families of Paul Van Alfen and Charlene Lloyd will lay the groundwork for hundreds of other suits against Toyota, said attorney Mark Robinson Jr. It is set to go to trial in 2013 in California.

"I just think it's a very representative case with serious results," Robinson said from his office in Newport Beach, Calif. "It's a fair case on both sides."

The crash happened in November 2010, when Vanalfen, 66, exited Interstate 80 in Wendover. He tried to stop, but the 2008 Camry he was driving kept going through an intersection and crashed head-on into a rock wall, police said.

The brakes were in working order and the car left skid marks at the scene, indicating Van Alfen was using them, and witnesses saw the brake lights were on, a UHP investigator told The Tribune shortly after the crash.

Van Alfen died at the scene. Lloyd, his son's 38-year-old fiancée, suffered critical injuries and died the following morning. Van Alfen's wife and son were treated at University Hospital and released.

Van Alfen had completed a recall and repair for a sticking accelerator, but another recall for a brake override had not yet reached dealers in Utah before the fatal crash, Robinson said. Though an initial investigation by the Utah Highway Patrol pointed to the car speeding up uncontrollably, the final report was inconclusive, troopers said when it was completed early this year. The UHP, however, refused to release the full report.

Nevertheless, "I actually think [the report] has got some strong evidence on unintended acceleration," Robinson said. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Toyota, the world's largest automaker, recalled millions of U.S. vehicles starting in 2009, after claims of defects and incidents involving sudden, unintended acceleration. The recalls set off hundreds of economic-loss suits and claims of injuries and deaths.

With so many pending lawsuits in different jurisdictions, a federal panel of judges met to consolidate the cases under one judge, Robinson said. They picked U.S. District Judge James Selna, of the federal Central District in Santa Ana, Calif.

Friday, Selna chose the Van Alfen lawsuit as the bellwether case to set the tone for the others to come. He picked it from six submitted by lawyers for the company and plaintiffs.

"The conduct of a trial in the first quarter of 2013 will markedly advance these proceedings," said Selna in an order setting the Van Alfen case as the bellwether. "Selection of a personal injury-wrongful death case" is most likely to "meet that goal," he said.

Attorneys for Toyota said they agreed with that decision.

"The Van Alfen case is a good candidate for a first trial," said Joel Smith, Toyota's lawyer, at a hearing Friday. "We're fine with that."

By lindsay whitehurst

The Salt Lake Tribune

Man kicked off plane in Detroit for dropping F-bomb may sue Delta carrier

Joseph Tosti — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:02:00 GMT

A 37-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., man said he’s considering legal action after being tossed off his flight in Detroit on Sunday for saying the F-word.

Robert Sayegh was on a Delta Airlines carrier flight home from his cousin’s wedding in Kansas City when he said a flight attendant overheard him complaining about a 45-minute delay to a fellow passenger.

"It's ridiculous and embarrassing," the television producer and children's book author said this morning from his home in Brooklyn. "I was just kind of talking to the guy sitting next to me. I said 'What is taking so long?' I said “What the 'F' is going on?' " Sayegh said. "I could see if I directed it at (the flight attendant), but I didn’t even speak to him."

Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 5136, which had been taxiing on the runway, turned around and Detroit Metro Airport Police boarded the plane to escort Sayegh off.

"I couldn’t even believe when they pulled up and the cops got on," Sayegh said, adding that he had slept from Kansas City to Detroit and had planned to do the same on his connecting flight to Newark, N.J.

Sayegh said he's sensitive to airline guidelines regarding threats, after losing a relative in the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

"My cousin died in 9/11," he said. "If anyone stood up on a plane, I would crush them."

But Sayegh, who said he was hungover but not drunk, vehemently denies his comment was directed at anyone or even said loud enough for others to hear him.

"I don’t want to come off like I curse all the time," he said, adding that it's part of the Brooklyn vernacular. "We use curse words just like adjectives. But the thing is, I never said it out loud towards him. He just happened to be right behind me."

Sayegh said he arrived home in Brooklyn at about 7 p.m. Sunday, four hours later than planned, after Atlantic put him on a later flight. He said he's going to discuss the situation with his brother, an attorney, and may file a lawsuit.

"I wouldn’t even start this type of thing unless I felt it deserved it," Sayegh said, admitting he contacted local media in Detroit while he was waiting for his next flight. "This is really, really ridiculous. This guy should not have a job in terms of dealing with people. It’s ridiculous."

Atlantic Southeast Airlines spokeswoman Kate Modolo said today that the airline is conducting an internal investigation about the incident aboard Flight 5136.

“We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused,” she said, adding that the airline put Sayegh on a later flight to Newark.

BY TAMMY STABLES-BATTAGLIA

DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

Jury awards $30 million to Chico woman for boat accident

Joseph Tosti — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:59:00 GMT

A Butte County jury awarded $30 million Tuesday to a Chico woman whose head was gashed by a boat propeller in a horrific wakeboarding accident five years ago on Lake Oroville.

The Superior Court panel laid 80 percent of the blame for the injuries suffered by 27-year-old Niki Bell on MasterCraft Boat Co., the manufacturer, based in Vonore, Tenn.

Plaintiffs' lawyers charged the MasterCraft X45 has a design flaw that caused the front end of the boat to submerge partially during a low-speed turn and dump Bell and another woman into the water.

"They made the bow huge – it was a Frankenstein's monster," said Bell's Sacramento attorney, Roger A. Dreyer. "They took two existing boats and combined them, but never engineered it. They made it very large so a lot of people could be in it. If it dips, the water pours in, and that's what happened."

MasterCraft's lawyer, Thomas Dale Nielsen, also of Sacramento, said the accident was the first for the boat, which is sold nationwide.

Nielsen said MasterCraft "will consider its appellate options" in assessing the verdict.

"Obviously, we are very disappointed in the outcome," Nielsen said. "We believe the evidence established that the MasterCraft X45 did not cause this accident and that while MasterCraft has great compassion for both Ms. Bell and (co-plaintiff) Ms. (Bethany) Wallenburg due to their serious injuries, we continue to believe that the accident was caused by an impaired, reckless driver."

Also represented by Dreyer's firm, Wallenburg received a $500,000 award in Tuesday's verdict.

Along with the 80 percent of responsibility the jury assigned to MasterCraft, it also found boat operator Jerry Montz, now 33, liable for 20 percent of the damages suffered by Bell and Wallenburg.

According to evidence at the trial, Montz had been drinking at the time of the accident and registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.04 percent. He was arrested after the July 9, 2006, accident and later pleaded no contest to negligent operation of a watercraft, according to his lawyer.

Montz's Roseville attorney, Jerry Duncan, said the jury's finding essentially exonerated his client, an upper Sacramento Valley rice farmer.

"He feels vindicated," Duncan said. "He's carried a burden since the accident happened because he never understood why it happened. Being able to sit through the trial enabled him and the girls' parents to understand what happened. It's just a great relief to have the case behind him."

Duncan said his client's insurance company has already paid $1 million in the case. Dreyer said Bell and Wallenburg are not planning to collect any more money from Montz.

Under strict liability law, "we are planning to get 100 percent of the verdict from the manufacturer," Dreyer said.

The two women were both washed into the lake as the boat made a 3-to-5-mph turn to retrieve a wakeboarder it was towing who had fallen, according to evidence at the trial.

As the boat continued its turn, the propeller slashed Wallenburg across the back, and it struck Bell in the head – fracturing her skull, slicing through her frontal lobe and ripping out her left eye.

Plaintiffs' lawyers argued that it was a design flaw that caused the boat to dip into the water – an excessively big bow that allowed too many people to get in the front, as well as seepage through a forward anchor slot. The defense said Montz allowed too many people on board – 19 – in a craft rated for 18. Moreover, Nielsen said, Montz allowed 12 passengers to sit in the bow.

Cindy Bell, the plaintiff's mother, said her daughter is living independently in Chico and is able to work part time.

But Niki Bell is going to need major assistance for her daily living chores for the rest of her life, her mother said. Bell's parents can provide help only as long as they're alive, according to her mother.

"You just want to make sure she's taken care of when we're dead and gone," Cindy Bell said. "We're not as worried now how she's going to handle everything when we die."

Their lead attorney, Dreyer, said the case is "a great example of the civil justice system at work, where a young woman through her parents can hold a major manufacturer responsible for a defective design and that she can, through the power of the jury process in a rural community, have the product scrutinized and evaluated."

"This is the power of democracy at work in communicating to the manufacturer that they have to take basic steps to do the right thing," Dreyer said

By Andy Furillo of the SacBee