Trader Joe’s Tuna Can Injury Leads to Lawsuit

October 22nd, 2012. By AbiK

Here’s one that gives new meaning to ‘tuna helper’. Or not, as the case—er, lawsuit—might be.

Tatiana Strage—who is 82 years old—was shopping in a Trader Joe’s on the upper west side in NYC back in February of this year when she reached up for some canned goods and wound up getting hit with a stack of tuna cans that were allegedly above eye level; one hit her right in the eye and nose. As the CBS News/NY reports, Strage was bleeding and dizzy after the incident.

She was given some wipes and a bandage to put on—but  that was apparently it.

Well, no word on whether it was chunk white or chunk light—or in oil or water—but now Trader Joe’s may be in a bit of hot water as Strage’s son just happens to be an attorney, Michael Strage.

And now there’s a personal injury lawsuit filed claiming Trader Joe’s workers showed “indifference” and did not do much to help Strage’s elderly mother when she was injured. According to CBS, Strage alleges that two workers stood by and did nothing while his mother was bleeding from the gash on her face and after she had also told the workers she felt dizzy; the workers only later responded by giving her some “wipes and a Band-Aid”.

The Trader Joe’s tuna can lawsuit is seeking $350,000 in damages.

After Alcohol Wipe Screw-Ups, Triad Decides to Play with Makeup

October 18th, 2012. By AbiK

Ok, could be makeup. Could be some anti-aging wonder. Could be your run-of-the-mill hand soap. Who knows? The initial reports regarding Triad Group’s foray into cosmetics have been a bit lacking in detail as to what exactly will be coming of the manufacturing lines at Triad’s Hartland, WI production plant.

Triad, if you recall, was at the heart of the alcohol prep pad, alcohol swab and alcohol swabstick, aka alcohol wipe recall of last year—the one connected to the death of 2-year old Harrison Kothari in Texas who contracted acute bacterial meningitis caused by Bacillus cereus bacteria. The Kotharis have settled with Triad—as have a dozen others who filed contamination lawsuits (details of the settlements have not been disclosed).

Fast-forward a year. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Triad, which filed for bankruptcy protection on the heels of its $5 million insurance policy being drained on the lawsuits just mentioned, has indicated it would like to re-establish itself as a cosmetics company.

Every cat has nine lives, right?

The Journal Sentinel quoted Triad’s COO, Eric Haertle, as saying at the company’s first meeting with creditors in bankruptcy court, “We are in the infancy stage of these opportunities. We have talked to industry vendors. I am encouraged and optimistic about the support we are receiving if we can put a plan together and resume operations.”

What’s interesting here is not so much that Triad even wants to emerge like a phoenix from the ashes—hey, it’s a business wanting to cut its losses and get on with things—no, the interesting thing is their costume change; they’ll now wear the i.d. of “cosmetics company” rather than that of “medical device” company—and that has benefit for a company whose odds of reincarnation under their former classification are next to nothing.

See, in order for Triad to go back to being a medical device company and manufacturing as it had before, it faces some intense scrutiny by the FDA. According to the Journal Sentinel, both the FDA and Triad would need to agree to the FDA’s consent decree which would impose a $15,000 per day fine—per violation—should Triad fail to comply with FDA policies. Additionally, the decree would subject Triad to FDA inspections without prior notice–and those inspections could cover everything from equipment to raw materials to finished products to packaging. The decree also calls for the company to post a $4 million bond.

No small undertaking to set up shop again.

But, there’s an escape hatch: re-establishing itself as a cosmetics company means less rigorous regulation and oversight by the FDA. And given that the consent decree to operate as a medical device company again could cost Triad millions—with no guarantee they’ll even pass with flying colors—well, the land of lipstick bullets, lotions and potions suddenly has tremendous appeal.

On second thought, maybe there is a clue as to what cosmetics will be coming off Triad’s production line—those Triad alcohol swabsticks look a lot like those cotton swabs used to smudge eyeliner (for that smoky eye look) or to clean up little makeup mistakes…hmm…just wondering…

Asbestos News Roundup: 10.18.12 – Pipefitter Asbestos Risk, New Lawsuits

October 18th, 2012. By LucyC

A roundup of recent asbestos-related news and information that you should be aware of. An ongoing list of reported asbestos hot spots in the US from the Asbestos News Roundup archive appears on our asbestos map.

Pipefitter Asbestos Risk

Many of the materials used in construction, including welding, pipefitting, and millwright work, contained, or in some cases still contain asbestos. By the mid-20th century asbestos was being used in fire retardant coatings, concrete, bricks, pipes and fireplace cement, heat, fire, and acid resistant gaskets, pipe insulation, ceiling insulation, fireproof drywall, flooring, roofing, lawn furniture, and drywall joint compound.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that the knowledge of the dangers of asbestos exposure and related asbestos disease became more widely known amongst the general public. Consequently, millions of men and women likely worked on or around asbestos without any protection for decades.

It would not be uncommon for people to work with asbestos-containing products, either installing or removing them, which would send asbestos fibers into the air. The fibers are inhaled, and settle on people’s clothing—and that’s how asbestos disease begins. People who become ill from asbestos are usually exposed to it on a regular basis, hence the hundreds of asbestos lawsuits we are seeing now.

Asbestos Lawsuits

Charleston, WV: Paul Everett Beckman Sr. and his wife Pearl Lina Beckman, are suing 81 companies they allege are responsible for his mesothelioma diagnosis. Beckman was diagnosed with mesothelioma on August 9, 2012.

In their lawsuit, the Beckmans allege the defendants exposed Mr. Beckman to asbestos during his career as a mechanic and laborer since the 1940s and through his wife, who worked at Owens Illinois Glass Factory, and his father and brother, who were utility workers with Consol Energy.

The Beckmans are suing the defendants based on theories of negligence, contaminated buildings, breach of expressed/implied warranty, strict liability, intentional tort, conspiracy, misrepresentation and post-sale duty to warn.

Certain defendants are also being sued as premise owners and as Beckman’s employers for deliberate intent/intentional tort, according to the lawsuit.

The 81 companies named as defendants in the suit are: 3M Company; A.W. Chesterton Company; Airtek, Inc.; Aurora Pump Company; Autozone Stores, Inc.; Beazer East, Inc.; Borg-Warner Corporation; Caterpillar Inc.; Certainteed Corporation; Clark Equipment Company; Cleaver-Brooks Company, Inc.; Consol Energy, Inc.; Copes-Vulcan, Inc.; Crane Co.; Dravo Corporation; Eaton Electrical, Inc.; F.B. Wright Co. of Pittsburgh; Fairmont Supply Corporation; Flowserve FSD Corporation; Flowserve US, Inc.; FMC Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Gardner Denver, Inc.; General Electric Company; Genuine Parts Company; George V. Hamilton, Inc.; Georgia Pacific Corporation; Georgino Industrial Supply (Pittsburgh), Inc.; Goulds Pumps; Grinnell, LLC; Harvey Hubbell, Inc.; Hercules, Inc.; Honeywell International; Howden North America, Inc.; I.U. North America, Inc.; IMO Industries, Inc.; Devalco Corporation; Industrial Holdings Corporation; Ingersoll-Rand; ITT Corporation; J. H. Fletcher & Co.; Joy Technologies, Inc.; Kelsey-Hayes Company; Lewis-Goetz And Company, Inc.; Maremont Corporation; McJunkin Red Man Corporation; McNeil Corporation; Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Mine Safety Appliances Company; Morgantown-National Supply, Inc.; Nacco Materials Handling Group, Inc.; Nagle Pumps, Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings, Inc.; Ohio Valley Insulating Company, Inc.; Owens-Illinois, Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment, Inc.; Petroleum Pipe and Supply Company, Inc.; Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC; Phillips Corporation; Pneumo Abex Corporation; Premiere Refractories, Inc.; Rapid-American Corporation; Riley Power, Inc.; Ritter Technology LLC; Rockwell Automation, Inc.; Schneider Electric USA, Inc.; State Electric Supply Company; Sterling Fluid Systems (USA), LLC; Sunray Electric Supply Company; Tasco Insulations, Inc.; The Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Co.; Union Carbide Chemical & Plastics Company; Uniroyal, Inc.; United Conveyor Corporation; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Groups International; Viacom, Inc.; Vimasco Corporation; West Virginia Electric Supply Company; Yale Materials Handling Corporation; Yarway Corporation; and Zurn Industries, LLC. (wvrecord.com)

Charleston, WV: Roscoe H. Peters and his wife and Mary J. Peters have filed an asbestos lawsuit naming 86 companies as defendants, alleging they were responsible for exposing Mr. Peters to hazardous levels of cancer-causing asbestos.

The Peters allege that the companies were responsible either as premise owners or employers for Roscoe Peters developing asbestos-related disease: he worked as a laborer/electrician with Weirton Steel from 1950 to 1983. The Peters claim 80-year old Roscoe Peters was diagnosed with mesothelioma due to his exposure to asbestos, a silicate that once was widely used in insulation, while with Weirton Steel.

The lawsuit alleges negligence in not protecting Peters from contaminated buildings and not warning him of the dangers.

The 86 defendant companies named in a civil lawsuit alleging negligence in allowing a former worker to be exposed to asbestos at Weirton Steel are: 3M Co.; A.W. Chesterton Co.; Air & Liquid Systems Corp.; Ajax Magnethermic Corp.; Allied Corp.; Allied Mineral Products Inc.; Aurora Pump Co.; Beazer East Inc.; Caterpillar Inc.; CBS Corp.; Certainteed Corp.; Cleaver-Brooks Co. Inc.; Columbus McKinnon Corp.; Copes-Vulcan Inc.; Crane Co.; Dezurik Inc.; Dravo Corp.; Eaton Corp.; F.B. Wright Co. of Pittsburgh; Fairmont Supply Co.; Flowserve U.S. Inc., successor in interest to Durametallic Corp.; Flowserve U.S. Inc. formerly known as Durco International Inc.; FMC Corp.; Foseco Inc.; Foster Wheeler Energy Corp.; General Electric Co.; Georgia-Pacific LLC; George V. Hamilton Inc.; Goulds Pumps Inc.; Grinnell LLC; Hedman Resources Limited; Hercules Inc.; Honeywell International Inc.; Howden North America Inc.; IU North America Inc.; IMO Industries Inc.; Industrial Holdings Corp.; Ingersoll-Rand Co.; Insul Co. Inc.; ITT Corp.; J.H. France Refractories; Joy Technologies Inc.; Lockheed Martin Corp.; Mallinckrodt U.S. LLC; Manitowoc Cranes; McCann Shields Paint Co.; McJunkin Corp.; Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.; Milwaukee Valve Co.; Morgan Engineering Systems Inc.; Nagle Pumps Inc.; Nitro Industrial Coverings Inc.; Oakfabco Inc.; Oglebay Norton Co.; Ohio Valley Insulating Co. Inc.; Owens-Illinois Inc.; P&H Mining Equipment Inc.; Pettibone Traverse Lift LLC; Pneumo Abex Corp.; Power Piping Co.; Premier Refractories Inc.; Rapid American Corp.; Reading Crane and Engineering Co.; Riley Stoker Corp.; Rockwell Automations Inc.; Rust Constructors Inc.; Rust Engineering & Construction Inc.; Rust International Inc.; Schneider Electric USA Inc.; Sterling Fluid Systems USA LLC; Tasco Insulations Inc.; The Alliance Machine Co.; The Gage Co.; The Sager Corp.; The William Powell Co.; Thiem Corp.; Treco Construction Services Inc.; UB West Virginia Inc.; Union Carbide Corp.; Uniroyal Inc.; United Engineers & Constructors and Washington Group International; Viking Pump Inc.; Vimasco Corp.; Warren Pumps Inc.; Yale Material Handling Co.; and Zurn Industries LLC. (ellwoodcityledger.com)

Asbestos Hot Spots

 Eagle County, CO: Camp Hale in Eagle County, a popular and historic place for camping and hunting, has been shut down due to asbestos contamination.

Located along Highway 24, between Minturn and Leadville, Camp Hale served as a military facility prior to World War II and housed up to 17,000 soldiers during WWII. It was subsequently handed over to the US Forest Service in the 1960s. While many of the buildings in the area were destroyed in the 1960s, cleaning up the remaining munitions and asbestos on site has been an ongoing challenge. However, friable asbestos has been found on the surface of the site, recently, which prompted the site’s closure. (CBS4)

Extortion Lawsuits? Yuba City Coughs Up $15k To Make George Louie Go Away

October 17th, 2012. By AbiK

George Louie. If you live on the east coast or do not follow news regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) you probably haven’t heard of Mr. Louie. But PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) and hundreds of businesses and attorneys sure have. In fact, if you run a case locator search over at PACER right now—even narrow your search to just civil cases—you’ll find 1,060 records for George Louie.

See, he’s one prolific lawsuit filer. He files them pro se (that is, for himself—without an attorney). And, to many, he’s like that mouse that gets in your house and after you set traps, caulk openings, and even shove steel wool into any and every infinitesimal hole—guess what? Sure as shootin’ the darn thing manages to rip open the box of Bisquick® in the pantry. Yep, he’s that kind of annoying.

Given I write for  a legal new site, LawyersandSettlements.com, I’m all for justice—and ADA compliance. But I’m not for abusing the system or drumming up lawsuits against small businesses that can potentially drive them into bankruptcy when perhaps there are non-litigious workarounds to improve the situation. I daresay that the small businesses who’ve been targeted by Mr. Louie would do what they could (key words there: ‘what they could’) to provide their wares or services to him or help get him access to their establishments. Most small businesses aren’t in the business of trying to alienate customers. But why work with your foe when you can sue them!

So, note to Louie: if the very change you’re trying to affect can’t take effect because the business you’ve targeted can’t afford to make the change, thereby driving it into bankruptcy at worst or non-compliance penalties at best, what have you accomplished? You’re certainly not winning allies, and you—or the community—risks losing a part of what was helping to contribute to a more vital neighborhood.

But then what’s a community to do when under siege from a court-clogging wannabe hero (or grudge-holder, as Louie reportedly told the  Marysville Appeal-Democrat, “I hold grudges”)  who’s costing more time, money and effort than the community can bear?

Enter Yuba City, CA.

Yuba City just took a bold—some would say insane—step to put the brakes on George Louie.

They paid him off. Or, I should say, they settled with him, by agreeing to pay him $15,000 in order for him to stop bringing frivolous lawsuits against them and area businesses. According to the MercuryNews (10/15/12), Yuba City’s economic development manager, Darin Gale states Louie has “agreed not to file ADA lawsuits in our city, period. There’s no timetable. It’s forever.”

Now, what this means for future and copycat lawsuit opportunists is yet to be seen.  But what does this settlement accomplish?

Well, the obvious is that it gets George Louie off Yuba City small businesses’ backs. As CBS News-Sacramento reported (10/13/12), local business owner Jayne Sawyer—who owns  JJ’s Tools and Merchandise—said in regard to the possibility of being targeted by a Louie lawsuit, “We’d probably have to close it down. We do not have the capital; we’re barely breaking even.” Then she says, “It’s just sad because it’s not what the law [ADA] intended to do.”

But it surely doesn’t leave a good taste in everyone’s mouth regarding efforts to put the spotlight on ADA non-compliance. As Yuba City property manager Bill Meagher, who had two tenants sued by Louie, was quoted as saying, “These are extortion lawsuits.” Well, a $15k pay-off could be seen as such.

5 Reasons Why Alleged Law Student Bird Beheaders Messed Up Big-Time

October 15th, 2012. By AbiK

Want to be a lawyer when you grow up? Here’s a tip: don’t do anything stupid that will give you a criminal record. The equation is simple enough. Stupidity + criminal charges = the lawyer version of “The Scarlet Letter”.  Allegedly beheading a helmeted guineafowl that’s kept in a tourist-laden Wildlife Habitat at a hotel in Vegas would be an example of the “stupidity + criminal charges” equation in action. And, that’s just what two law students from UC Berkeley School of Law have been accused of doing.

According to an ABC News report, Eric Cuellar and Justin Teixeira, both 24 years old, were jailed on suspicion of conspiracy and willful malicious killing of wildlife as a result of their being caught on surveillance video chasing a helmeted guineafowl into some trees then emerging from those trees with the bird–but not the bird’s head–and reveling in their antics.

It’s an embarrassment to the profession all around. But here’s the top 5 reasons why the Berkeley Bird Beheaders messed up big-time with this one–assuming the allegations prove out…

1. It was STUPID. They elected to be complete morons in front of who knows how many surveillance cameras. Begs the question—what were they thinking? They’re law students. They apparently want to finish law school, pass the bar and get a job. There is absolutely nothing here that exudes tactical brilliance. (Refer to “The Scarlet Letter” equation above).

2. It lacks complete regard for #KnowTheCode. Vegas has tried hard—real hard—to upgrade its image over the years. They finally latch onto a campaign—”What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” along with the #knowthecode hashtag—that’s humorous and can appeal to a wide audience—and these two idiots not only bring Vegas behavior back down a notch–but they get caught AND their actions get more publicity than if they’d had a top NYC PR firm working on it. They deserve to be reported—and anyone who feels like doing so can report #knowthecode behavior violations at the Visit Las Vegas website here.

3. It can result in a criminal record. For both of them. Enough said.

4. It’s an example of the worst kind of animal cruelty. If the allegations turn out to be true—which, yes, they appear to be given what’s on the Flamingo-cam—then the disregard these two have shown for life is appalling. Considering those rumors about PETA throwing paint at fur-wearing pedestrians, it’s worth pondering what PETA would do with these clowns (though they’ve already done the worst to themselves).

5. It’s just not cool. A rock star—take your pick—Marilyn Manson, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper—who has rumors flying around about eating live animals onstage or throwing animals out into the audience can be cool (at least to a certain element of the population). But only because they’re RUMORS and they never actually happened (hey, even Snopes says so). Cross the line into reality, and it’s no longer cool. It’s pathetic. Ditto Cuellar and Teixeira—rock stars they’re not.

As a follow-up, the San Francisco Gate is reporting that the dean of UC Berkeley’s law school has stated he was “extremely troubled” by the arrest of the two law students. He also said he was concerned about “the students’ actions off campus, but it’s up to the Nevada legal system to examine the facts and rule in this case. It’s premature to speculate about any possible consequences. The justice system must run its course.”

Yeah, run its course it shall. The boys behind the bird beheading are due back in court on February 11th. In the interim, SF Gate reports they’ve made bail. Stay tuned.