AppId is over the quota
The widow of a lifetime smoker won a $41 million jury verdict against tobacco company Lorillard for the death of her husband.
Dorothy and Coleman Alexander met in high school and were married for 38 years until her husband died in 1995, at age 59, of lung cancer. He had smoked Newport cigarettes for decades.
She sued Lorillard claiming that cigarettes are a defective and unreasonably dangerous product and that the company left important information about the health dangers of cigarettes off the packaging.
Attorney Alex AlvarezLast week, the jury agreed that most of the reason for Coleman’s death was Lorillard’s negligence. It awarded Dorothy a total of $20 million in damages to compensate for her loss, but it also found that Coleman was 20 percent at fault for his own death, reducing the damages to $16 million.
On March 6, the jury returned and considered whether to punish the company with additional damages and awarded Dorothy another $25 million.
“One of the most difficult things to do is to lose your husband, the love of your life, and then she went on and fought one of the largest businesses in America, and fought for justice,” said Alexander’s lawyer, Alex Alvarez, after the jury announced the punitive damages verdict.
The tobacco company had argued to the jury that it shouldn’t be punished for selling a legal product.
“Lorillard complies with all of the laws and all of the regulations that govern the manufacture, marketing and sale of cigarettes,” Lorillard’s attorney Ed Cheffy said to the jury.
The company said it plans to appeal the verdict.
Learn about product liability law or contact a lawyer to help you with your legal questions.
Doctor loses appeal of $20.5 million verdict for baby’s birth
Attorneys Jeffrey and Lynn Sare KornblauAn obstetrician lost his appeal of a $20.5 million jury award against him for medical mistakes during the birth of a baby who didn’t get enough oxygen and now lives with cerebral palsy and blindness.
Dr. Richard Behlke asked Pennsylvania’s highest court to overturn the jury’s award and give him a new trial.
The story dates back to 2001, when Laura White, pregnant with her son, thought there was something wrong with him. According to her lawsuit, she called her regular doctor, who was unavailable. Instead, Dr. Behlke, who was not her primary obstetrician, told her to go to Community Medical Center. She was then hooked up to a fetal monitor that showed the baby was in distress. The medical center’s nurses called Dr. Behlke, but he did not arrive until two hours later, even though the baby was “getting very little oxygen,” according to the suit.
After a trial in 2008 against Dr. Behlke and Community Medical Center, a jury awarded the parents $20.5 million and assigned 60 percent of the blame to Dr. Behlke and 40 percent to Community Medical Center. The medical center agreed to pay $6 million under an agreement it reached with the Whites after trial and was not part of the appeal.
White’s lawyers Jeffrey Kornblau and Lynn Sare Kornblau had said after the trial that almost all the money would go for the baby’s 24-hour care for the rest of his life.
Learn about medical malpractice or contact an attorney to answer questions about your legal issue.
Family of man killed by trucker high on meth wins $5.2 million
Michael LeizermanThe family of a man plowed down by a trucker coming off a crystal meth high and falling asleep at the wheel won a $5.2 million jury award.
Daniel Clarey was driving a tractor trailer for Washington Transportation, hauling bottled water for Nestle Co., when he struck and killed Kelly Linhart who was standing on the side of the road checking his brakes.
Instead of suing Clarey who is serving a sentence after pleading guilty to negligent homicide and DUI, Linhart’s family sought damages from the broker, Heyl Logistics, that hired Washington Transportation.
The Linharts’ attorney, Michael Leizerman, argued that the Heyl should have done a better job of screening the company it hired to truck the goods.
The trial revealed that Heyl Logistics hired Forrest Rangeloff, who claimed to operate Washington Transportation, a company owned by his twin brother Eric Rangeloff. In fact, Washington Transportation was not covered by insurance and didn’t have operating authority. The brothers both had their authority revoked for different violations including failing to drug test their drivers.
“This wasn’t just about money, it was about sending a message,” the family’s attorney said. “There is little government oversight of transportation brokers. Brokers are essentially middlemen that hire truck companies for shippers. But there is no regulatory watchdog to oversee brokers’ hiring practices. Right now, it’s up to the courts to keep our roads safer by providing some deterrent to careless brokers.”
Learn about personal injury or contact an attorney for help in reviewing your legal issues.
Bank of America customer mistaken for robber wins $3.3 million verdictA bank customer who wanted only to cash his hard-earned check at Bank of America but instead got mistaken for a robber and beaten up by police, won a $3.3 million jury verdict.
Rodolfo Valladares walked into a Bank of America branch near North Miami Beach, Fla. and asked to cash a $100 check. A nervous bank teller thought he looked like a robber and sounded a silent alarm. Police moved in, handcuffed him and kicked him in the head.
Valladares, a former mortgage loan officer who still suffers from headaches, blurred vision and post-traumatic stress disorder from the incident, sued the bank for negligence in triggering the alarm and not canceling it after they realized they had the wrong man.
At the time, bank tellers had been warned about an Hispanic man wearing a Miami Heat hat who had been robbing banks in the area. The bank issued a surveillance photo of the suspect, but the teller didn’t compare Valladares to the photo.
But according to the lawsuit, the teller had no reason to suspect Valladares, who handed over his check with his driver’s license and “displayed no weapon, made no threat and demanded no money.” He even invited the teller to a July 4th barbecue during the transaction.
As his attorneys argued, Valladares did not look like the robbery suspect in the photo, who was in his 60s and weighed about 145 pounds. Vallardares was in his 40s and weighed over 200 pounds.
“He wasn’t even wearing the same Miami Heat hat [as the suspect],” said his attorney, Mark G. DiCowden. “If Bank of America had required its tellers to keep pictures of robbers at the teller stations, this whole incident would have never happened.”
Learn about personal injury or contact an attorney for help in reviewing your legal issues related.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario