536 results for 'cat:"Wrongful Death"'.
J. Brown, in this interlocutory appeal, finds the circuit court properly denied the nursing center's motion to compel arbitration in this wrongful death suit. The estate alleges that due to insufficient staffing the deceased party was not turned often enough to prevent the stage 2 wound to her left coccyx, a boil to her left buttock, and an unstageable wound to her right heel. The patient was also dehydrated and malnourished, which prevented healing. There is insufficient evidence that the deceased party authorized her daughter to bind her to arbitration. The daughter did not have actual authority to enter into the agreement on her mother's behalf. Affirmed.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Brown, Filed On: May 8, 2024, Case #: CV-23-182, Categories: Arbitration, Health Care, wrongful Death
J. Bryan denies the government's motion to dismiss the family member's complaint that the wife died after being exposed to asbestos fibers while doing laundry for her husband, who was an enlisted navy machinist mate and came into contact with asbestos at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The government argues that the discretionary function exception applies because it covers certain "governmental decision-making from judicial second guessing of legislative and administrative decisions," but it is uncertain if two of the navy's regulations related to asbestos were mandatory directives that required action and if the government failed to follow those directives.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Bryan, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 3:22cv5701, NOS: Asbestos Personal Injury Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Government, wrongful Death, Asbestos
J. King partially grants the city's motion to stay the family's complaint alleging that the city's employees killed the decedent by placing a spit mask on him after they choked him. The police officers plan to assert their Fifth Amendment rights for the potential federal charges against them, and their depositions are the only identified discovery that the family does not have, so a stay is appropriate. Unless the stay goes on beyond six months, the parties shall notify the court when the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington decides whether to pursue federal criminal charges against the police officers within 30 days of notification.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: King, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 3:21cv5692, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: wrongful Death, Discovery, Police Misconduct
J. Clay finds that both the University of Michigan and its doctor, who controlled the lab from which the fentanyl used by the decedent was taken, are entitled to sovereign immunity on due process and wrongful death claims filed by the estate. It seeks only monetary damages, while the university has also not waived the defense, given its only motion in response to the lawsuit was the underlying motion to dismiss. Reversed.
Court: 6th Circuit, Judge: Clay, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 23-1718, Categories: Immunity, Due Process, wrongful Death
J. Gillmor grants summary judgment to the manufacturer of a helicopter involved in a fatal helicopter crash in negligence and product liability claims. The family of a man who died in the crash cannot show that the manufacturer knowingly caused or concealed flaws that may have led to the crash. There is also no evidence that a provision of a statute, governing liability of aircraft manufacturers even after many years following delivery of the aircraft, applies. The helicopter was delivered 18 years before the crash and there is no evidence of a design defect in replacement components installed in 2018 altered the helicopter to the extent that the rolling provision applies.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv193, NOS: Airplane - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Product Liability, wrongful Death, Aviation
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J. Gillmor denies summary judgment to the government in a negligence claim for a fatal helicopter crash. Questions of material fact as to the cause of the crash, and whether the Federal Aviation Administration properly oversaw a helicopter company, remain. The government concedes that it did not perform check of the pilot of the helicopter or owner of the helicopter but there is not enough on the record to determine if the government was a substantial factor in the crash.
Court: USDC Hawaii, Judge: Gillmor, Filed On: May 6, 2024, Case #: 1:21cv193, NOS: Airplane - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Negligence, wrongful Death, Aviation
J. Causey finds that the lower court properly tossed a wrongful death complaint against the maker of a manlift device that decedent was operating when it collapsed, killing him. Several procedural problems persisted with the suit, giving the lower court full discretion to dismiss it. Several important deadlines were missed, the complaint tried to pursue claims against a party that was already dismissed from the action, and discovery was engaged without following proper protocol. Affirmed.
Court: Wyoming Supreme Court, Judge: Causey , Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: S-22-0291, Categories: wrongful Death
J. Wood partially grants the county administrator's, the county's, the ambulance service's and the 911 dispatchers' motions to dismiss a wrongful death and negligence action brought by a widow after her husband went into cardiac arrest and died from an anoxic brain injury. An ambulance did not arrive in response to the widow's 911 calls. The widow's state law claims against the county and other parties in their official capacities are barred by sovereign immunity. However, the widow's claim that the dispatchers deliberately lied in telling her an ambulance would arrive is enough to show an intent to cause harm and a violation of the husband's rights. The widow also sufficiently alleged a causal connection between the supervisors' conduct and the violation of the husband's rights.
Court: USDC Southern District of Georgia, Judge: Wood, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv27, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Negligence, Due Process, wrongful Death
J. Bahr finds that the district court improperly entered judgment after a jury awarded a total of $175 million of noneconomic damages to individuals and denied a driver's motion for new trial in a wrongful death suit following a DUI matter. A driver alleges he is entitled to a new trial because injured parties and decedents' loved ones improperly referred to alcohol at the trial, despite the court’s prior ruling that evidence relating to his intoxication was not admissible. The award was excessive and the jury improperly speculated as to the damages. Reversed.
Court: North Dakota Supreme Court, Judge: Bahr, Filed On: May 2, 2024, Case #: 2024ND80, Categories: Damages, wrongful Death
J. Gremillion finds that the trial court improperly found that the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (CPPJ) was not at fault for a tree falling on a truck and killing the passenger. Dr. Frederick Fellner, an urban forester, submitted an affidavit and deposition that raises a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the CPPJ should have identified the tree as a hazard to the motoring public and thus taken remedial action. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Gremillion, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: CA-23-579, Categories: Negligence, Experts, wrongful Death
J. Herman finds that the trial court should not have found for an apartment complex on the decedent's family's wrongful death action after the decedent was shot while visiting the apartment of a friend. In this case, there is a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the shooting of decedent was foreseeable and as to whether the apartment complex had a duty to provide security to its guests. The family made statements regarding the prior incidents of crime on the property and the lack of security measures implemented by the apartment complex. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Herman, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: 2023-CA-0588, Categories: Evidence, wrongful Death
J. Gremillion finds that the chemical company may be liable for a tree on its property falling on a truck and killing the passenger. The company asserts that the tree failed because of brown rot in its trunk that it could not have reasonably discovered. However, the family sufficiently alleges that a lightning strike caused the brown rot and that the missing crown, flat top, unbalanced canopy, precarious lien, lightning scar and gap between the roots and the ground all should have been clear signs that something was wrong.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Gremillion, Filed On: May 1, 2024, Case #: CW-23-379, Categories: Negligence, wrongful Death
J. Vilardo rules in part for county officials in claims contending an inmate died from acute respiratory failure for lack of proper supervision because evidence did not indicate that anyone other than a single nurse ordered any actions, that the nurse had a prior track record of failing to follow procedure, or that the county trained medical staff at the holding center with deliberate indifference.
Court: USDC Western District of New York, Judge: Vilardo , Filed On: April 29, 2024, Case #: 1:20cv1689, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Negligence, wrongful Death
J. Smith finds the district court improperly found the insurer owed the racing event organizer a duty to defend. The organizer sought legal defense when injured parties and estates of deceased sued after a vehicle careened into the crowd of spectators. A motor vehicle exclusion unambiguously excludes coverage for the damages at issue. The policy is not "illusory," as claimed by the organizer, as it does cover spectator slip and falls. Reversed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Smith , Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 23-50336, Categories: Insurance, Damages, wrongful Death
J. Brooks denies in part motion to dismiss a family's allegations that a five-year-old died from died from melioidosis, an infectious disease caused by a tropical bacteria called Burkholderia pseudomallei, which they allege he was exposed to by contaminated aromatherapy room spray. The product was purchased at Walmart, and later that year, Walmart recalled the product after finding the bacteria in it. The parents are already litigating a suit against Walmart, and the majority of defendants consent to transfer. Claims against some defendants are severed from claims against other defendants, and the amended complaint shall be given a new case number. This case, with the remaining defendants, shall be transferred to United States District Court for the Central District of California (Eastern Division).
Court: USDC Central District of California, Judge: Brooks, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 5:24cv870, NOS: Personal Injury - Product Liability - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, wrongful Death
Per curiam, the Texas Supreme Court grants a petition for mandamus relief filed by an oil company that sought to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a former employee who died due to a metastasized growth in his kidney. The growth was first discovered during a medical examination mandated by the company in Egypt, but the former employee only learned about its existence a year later. Reviewing the case against the statutory forum non convenien factors, it can be concluded that Egypt is the appropriate venue for the family to pursue their claims.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 22-1014, Categories: wrongful Death, Venue
J. Axon denies, in part, the government and its entities motion to dismiss tort allegations after a recreation specialist employed by the Bureau of Prisons caused the decedent’s death in a vehicle collision. The United States raises a jurisdictional question that is intertwined with a merits question of the estate’s claim; the Federal Prisons, Department of Justice, and National Institute of Corrections are dismissed from this case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court granted the estate’s motion for deferral ruling until discovery is complete and to determine if the specialist was acting in her scope of work. The stay is lifted, and the remaining parties must meet and confer the filing of a Rule 26 report. Therefore, the court finds the government’s motion for summary judgment to be moot and has granted the estate’s motion for further discovery before ruling on the United States motion to dismiss.
Court: USDC Northern District of Alabama , Judge: Axon, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 7:23cv1201, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Tort, wrongful Death, Discovery
J. Coogler denies the defendant’s motion to dismiss in this lawsuit arising from a fatal shooting outside a club known as “The Strip” in downtown Tuscaloosa, Alabama; the suing estate alleges the defendant negligently and wantonly caused the decedent’s death by bringing the gun to an argument between the decedent and defendant’s friend, who shot the man dead. The defendant argues he cannot be held legally liable for causing a shooting committed by another person, but the court finds he did in fact have a duty of care, and the allegations leave enough room for reasonable difference of opinion for a jury to see the foreseeability of the injury.
Court: USDC Northern District of Alabama , Judge: Coogler, Filed On: April 24, 2024, Case #: 7:23cv1424, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Negligence, wrongful Death, Firearms
J. Pfeiffer dismisses the trucking company's appeal from a judgment in favor of the of family in a wrongful death suit stemming from a car accident. Even though the default judgment erred in referencing both mother and father as parties to the judgment, the default judgment was enforceable as written. The company's appeal is mooted by its settlement with the mother during the pendency of this appeal.
Court: Missouri Court Of Appeals, Judge: Pfeiffer, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: WD86465, Categories: Civil Procedure, wrongful Death
J. Johnson affirms the district court's grant of the driver's wife's motion to dismiss the passenger's child's wrongful-death action stemming from a collision that killed the driver, the passenger and a third-party motorcyclist. A plaintiff may not assert a wrongful-death claim based on the alleged negligence of a deceased person by suing the person appointed as a trustee to commence a wrongful-death action for the benefit of that deceased person's spouse and next of kin rather than suing the personal representative of the deceased's estate. Affirmed.
Court: Minnesota Court Of Appeals, Judge: Johnson, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: A23-1080, Categories: Civil Procedure, wrongful Death
J. Williamowski finds the lower court properly granted the bar's motion for summary judgment because the depositions of numerous witnesses indicated the drunk driver was not at the business on the night he killed the decedent in an accident, which prevents the estate from proving any liability under Ohio's dram shop laws. Meanwhile, the lower court properly denied the estate's motion to compel forensic analysis of several cell phones because it failed to show there was any definitive proof on the cell phones, some of which had been accidentally destroyed in the two years since the accident. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Williamowski, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 2024-Ohio-1538, Categories: Negligence, wrongful Death, Discovery
J. Pechman declines to dismiss the personal representative's federal claims that the sheriff's deputy shot and killed Joshua Sarrett on Sep. 19, 2020, while Sarrett was "unarmed, intoxicated and was only suspected of being a harm to himself." The personal representative adequately alleges that the deputy's decision to seize Sarrett was unreasonable because the deputy did not investigate any crime at the time and the deputy did not ask Sarrett if he was armed.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Pechman, Filed On: April 22, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv1316, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, wrongful Death, Police Misconduct