Work Injury

Published on: December 11, 2014

Plaintiff seeks wrongful death claim pursuant to the Jones Act Against City of New York – Duffy v. City of New York, 184 N.Y.S.2d 1006 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., 1958)

by Stephen Bilkis

In this wrongful death claim, the issue is whether the decedent’s own negligence contributed to his death. The plaintiff is the widow of the decedent. The decent worked for Bronx Towing Co. as a deckhand. Bronx Towing had a contract with the City of New York pursuant to which Bronx Towing towed scows for the Department of Sanitation. The accident that resulted in the death of the plaintiff’s husband occurred when defendant Bronx Towing towed two scows from Flushing to a dock at East 91st Street. Upon arrival at the 91st Street dock, there was no city employee there to tie the scows to the dock, so Duffy did so. However, soon after the tugboat captain noticed that one of the scows that was supposed to be tied was drifting. Duffy attempted to jump about 4 feet to the second scow. When he landed on the scow, he slipped on debris that was on the deck and fell in the water. Duffy was crushed in between the two scows. He later died.

Plaintiff filed a claim against the City of New York and Bronx Towing. According to the contract between the City of New York and Bronx Towing, the City was required to supply scowmen to accompany each scow from place to place and who would be responsible for tying the scows. Plaintiff argued that had scowmen been present, then a scowman would have tied the scow, and the accident that resulted in her husband’s death would not have occurred. Specifically, the plaintiff claims that Bronx Towing was negligent for failing to provide the decedent with a safe place to work and for taking the scows in tows without scowmen. She claims that the City of New York was negligent for permitting the scows to leave without scowmen and for loading garbage in such a way that the deck became slippery.

Even though the defendants attempted to point the finger at each other, the court concluded that clearly fault lies with both parties. Bronx Towing failed to provide Duffy with a safe workplace, and the City of New York was supposed to supply scowmen. Failure to do so put Duffy in danger as he had to do work that the scowmen were supposed to do.

Published on: May 2, 2012

Problems with Service of Process in Personal Injury Matter, NY Appellate Court Dismisses Action

by Stephen Bilkis

The defendant third-party plaintiff-respondent in the case is the Waltco Truck Equipment Company. The plaintiff is Mark Mandel. The Coca-Cola Company is a third-party defendant, while the Industrial Truck Body is a third-party defendant-respondent.

Court Memo

A New York Injury Lawyer said an appeal was filed by the plaintiff to recover damages for personal injuries. On September 3rd, 1996, the Kings County Supreme court granted the motion by Waltco Truck Equipment Company, and Industrial Truck Body, the defendant and a third party defendant, to dismiss the initial complaint based on the non-compliance of the plaintiff with CPLR 306-b. The summons, complaint and affidavit of service included in the cross motion was denied.

Published on: April 11, 2012

Plaintiff Seeks Declaratory Judgement in NY Appellate Court, Court Finds for the Plaintiff

by Stephen Bilkis

The plaintiff in the case is Tower Insurance Company of New York. The defendants in the case are Jose Reyes and Camille Khan.

Case History

A New York Injury Lawyer said the case is a declaratory judgment action. The plaintiff, Tower Insurance Company of New York, is seeking a judgment to declare that it does not have a duty to indemnify or defend the defendant in a personal injury action that is titled Reyes versus Khan.

Published on: February 13, 2012

Woman Settles Suit Against it’s Board and President

by Stephen Bilkis

A woman who settled her harassment suit against a local town president will receive $75,000 in the settlement. According to online federal court records, the settlement was negotiated on Dec. 16, 2010.

According to a New York Injury Lawyer, the lawsuit alleged that the former president inappropriately touched and made sexual comments to her. The woman was an assistant for the town’s administrator. Further, her lawsuit alleged that the Board and the president retaliated against her. She was fired from her job in December 2008. The lawsuit was filed July 6, 2010.

In the lawsuit, the woman stated that on several occasions the man called her after her work hours at home. He wanted to discuss personal matters going on in his life. He also made it aware that he expected her to travel with him during personal errands.

Published on: January 5, 2012

Harassment Lawsuit Adjusted to Include Additional Actions

by Stephen Bilkis

A federal Supreme Court in Utah modified charges against a Weber County judge to include retaliation against the woman filing a harassment suit, a source was told.

The woman filed the harassment suit February 2010 in the U.S. District Court for Utah in Salt Lake City. She named the county and the judge in the revised lawsuit. According to the document, the judge is accused of conducting unwanted sexual advances to his chief court administrator. The harassment occurred for about two years, a court reporter read from the lawsuit.

Her lawyer and the woman released a key piece of evidence in their case to the media after several failed attempts to hold the judge responsible. When the state’s Judicial Conduct Commission did not do anything about the harassment, the lawyer and his client released the 11-page love poem, which the judge wrote for the woman. The poem was single-spaced and mildly erotic. These cases are of great interest to courts in New York City and Nassau.

Published on: January 1, 2012

New Wisconsin Law Limits Punitive Damages

by Stephen Bilkis

A source says that a new law is probably going to be signed by the governor of Wisconsin. This law, which does not go in to effect until ten days after the governor officially signs it, greatly limits the amount of punitive damages a person can claim against another in a lawsuit for things like work injury.. Since the governor says he will be signing this bill in to law, many lawyers are hurrying up to file paperwork for their clients who might be able to collect bigger sums.

According to the person inside, the cases filed before the law goes in to effect will not have limited punitive damages on them. They will be able to sue for any amount they see fit right now. There is no formula on coming up with a dollar amount for damages, other than what expenses are, doctor fees, or what the lawyer thinks a person is entitled to. There are no limits as to what damages they can seek for the actions committed against them or a loved one. Just because they seek a specific amount does not always mean the judge will award that amount.

Many Wisconsin residents are upset over the bill, which limits how much they can collect in wrongful death suits, medical malpractice cases and other cases where injuries have resulted in no fault of their own. The source explains that once the bill goes in to law, there will be limits on punitive damages according to what the injury is. Parties in Queens and Staten Island are watching this situation.

Published on: December 31, 2011

Accusations of discrimination prompt lawsuit against SoHo Apple store

by Stephen Bilkis

A lawsuit filed against a SoHo Apple store by a former employee alleges discrimination based upon a mental health disorder, tells a source. The woman filing the lawsuit claims that she took a leave of absence due to mental instability, and once cleared by a psychiatrist to return to work, did so with the understanding that her previous condition would not hinder her return to work.

According to a friend, however, after her four month leave of absence, upon her return to work it was obvious to the woman that the other employees and in particular the Human Resources director of the company did know of her prior condition. The woman claims that she was treated poorly, her job was cut, she was replaced by another worker and then put in what they called a “holding pattern” until they could find a place for her. She was moved to the basement office where she had nothing constructive to do. The woman moved to Chicago after Apple had told her that she could work in their Chicago office, but that job fell through as well.

The person stated that the woman is suing for back pay, lost wages and at least $300,000 in punitive damages. There is no word yet as to how Apple will handle this situation. In another case of discrimination filed against Apple, a 60 year old man has charged that he was treated unfairly because of his age. Discrimination is one of the leading causes of lawsuits filed against employers. In The Bronx and Long Island these laws are similar to the one in this case.

Published on: December 16, 2011

Dallas County Seeks Liability Legislature

by Stephen Bilkis

The Dallas County commissioners, who have seen mounting lawsuits over constable actions, are attempting to get legislation passed that would protect the county when elected officials step outside their boundaries and create personal injury situations.

The county attempted to get a similar bill passed in 1999, but heavy opposition from various businesses and associations doomed the bill early on. Since 1999, the county has been hit with numerous lawsuits, mainly having to do with the actions of elected officials, stated a source.

The county budget office has reported that they do not track how much the county has spent defending itself against such lawsuits. Commissioners have already limited the liability by eliminating constable traffic units and constable canine units.

Published on: October 27, 2011

Navy moves commanding officers to administrative duties because of sexual assault allegations

by Stephen Bilkis

A commanding officer in the Navy was removed from active duty and assigned to clerical duties recently because of pending charges for assault, sexual harassment and conduct unbecoming of an officer, say New York Injury Lawyers.

Both executive officer and command master chief of the ship have been demoted as well to administrative duty for allegedly witnessing the commanding officer’s inappropriate behavior and not taking action according to court reports. All three have lost partial pay and received letters of reprimand, explained a Navy spokesperson.

Reported inappropriate actions included drunk and disorderly conduct. Even simple acts like poking and tickling were reported, and allegedly took place on and off duty during a six-month period. Two crewmembers came forward with the information and wrong doings, according to reporters.

Published on: October 25, 2011

An attorney in a sexual harassment case has been suspended for one year

by Stephen Bilkis

An attorney has just been suspended for one year from practicing law after being accused in multiple situations of sexual harassment said a New York Injury Lawyer.

After a thorough review of the accused attorney’s case, the Supreme Court suspended him for longer than the original year sentence, and even questioned whether he should be permitted to practice law ever again. According to some of the files, the man was accused of harassing five different administrative assistants. Some of the accusations involved sexual and shocking notes on the women’s desks, whereas some of the woman said they were fondled or touched in a sexual way without consent or sent racy photos via text. The man had been serving as a defense attorney and a pro-tem judge in his local county.

He insisted his behavior was ok because he was good friends with these women and they knew he was joking around. He added that he suffered from low testosterone and that the medication he needed to take, Androgel, caused aggressive behavior and depression.