541 results for 'cat:"Wrongful Death"'.
J. Countiss finds that the trial court improperly entered a $222 million judgment favor of the widow of a worker killed in a steam accident at a coal-fired power plant in Kansas. The jury's damages award was excessive and the result of improper arguments the widow's attorney made encouraging the jury to punish the industrial services provider, which had serviced the plant's relief valves. Furthermore, the trial court improperly applied Texas law, instead of Kansas law, when finding that the provider was 100% responsible for the damages. Also, the case belongs in Kansas, so the jury award is vacated and the case dismissed for forum non conveniens. Vacated.
Court: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge: Countiss, Filed On: May 16, 2024, Case #: 01-22-00313-CV, Categories: Damages, wrongful Death, Venue
[Consolidated.] Per curiam, the appellate court finds that the trial court should have granted the relators' exceptions of no cause of action on the decedent's family's claim for bystander damages after the decedent drowned while being chased by the facility's employees after they observed the decedent tampering with their vehicle. In this case, the family does not show that they observed the drowning or chase. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 15, 2024, Case #: 24-C-58, Categories: Evidence, wrongful Death
J. Mariani denies two state troopers and a state police department’s motion to dismiss ADA and discrimination claims by the father of a 36-year-old with mental health issues who police fatally shot after they were called to the son’s house for a welfare check. The police failed to attempt to deescalate the situation, as they had during previous welfare checks, and the father plausibly argued the police troopers were not properly trained to respond to the call.
Court: USDC Middle District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Mariani, Filed On: May 15, 2024, Case #: 3:23cv1632, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, wrongful Death, Police Misconduct
J. Lawrence finds the trial court properly granted the apartment complex's motion for summary judgment on the estate's wrongful death claim. The victim and the individual who shot and killed her knew each other before the incident, while the estate also failed to submit any evidence of a causal relationship that would have transferred liability to the complex. Affirmed.
Court: Mississippi Court Of Appeals, Judge: Lawrence, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: 2022-CA-897, Categories: Evidence, wrongful Death
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
Per curiam, the Oklahoma Supreme Court answers the certified question, "Where the passenger was killed in an employer-owned vehicle with liability insurance and has not shown the claim would exceed coverage, but where he also cannot recover under the policy because a worker's compensation provision bars suit against the employer, does that vehicle qualify as an uninsured vehicle?" The vehicle does qualify as an uninsured vehicle.
Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 14, 2024, Case #: 120403, Categories: Insurance, wrongful Death, Workers' Compensation
J. Brown finds that the trial court properly denied a medical provider's peremptory exceptions of no right of action and prescription related to the deceased patient's father's survival and wrongful death claims stemming from medical malpractice. The father is the proper party to assert survival and wrongful death claims because the record shows that the decedent and the mother of his alleged son were not married at the time of the son's birth. Therefore, the alleged son was not entitled to the presumption that he was the decedent's biological child and was required to take affirmative steps to establish paternity within one year of the decedent's death. Further, the father's filing of the complaint with the medical review panel less than a year after the decedent’s death interrupted prescription as to the filing of those claims with the district court. The father then filed his petition for damages within 90 days of the issuance of the medical review panel opinion.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Brown, Filed On: May 13, 2024, Case #: 2024-C-0207, Categories: Civil Procedure, wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice
J. Ashmann-Gerst finds that the trial court should have granted a nursing facility's motion to compel arbitration of a wrongful death claim filed by the parents of a dependent adult who died in its care. The arbitration agreement signed by their son plainly bound his heirs to arbitrating a wrongful death claim based on an allegation of professional negligence. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Ashmann-Gerst, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: B323237, Categories: Arbitration, Health Care, wrongful Death
J. Devine finds that the court of appeals improperly ruled in a wrongful death case filed by the family of a cyclist who was killed when a Houston police patrol car struck him as the officer was responding to a call. The officer's actions were done in the course of his duties and were done in good faith. Because the family failed to present evidence to refute those conclusions, the city is entitled to sovereign immunity and dismissal of the case. Revered.
Court: Texas Supreme Court, Judge: Devine, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 22-1074, Categories: Government, Immunity, wrongful Death
J. Eaton finds the trial court properly granted summary judgment to a power company and construction company based on the 20-year statute of repose in this wrongful death and negligence lawsuit filed by the decedent’s estate. The estate alleges the construction company installed the asbestos and the decedent was exposed through her husband, who worked with the power company that caused the decedent’s mesothelioma and death from the asbestos exposure. The upheld the repose finding the last injury occurrence fell outside the period in relation to the Vermont Constitution. Affirmed.
Court: Vermont Supreme Court, Judge: Eaton, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 23-AP-217, Categories: Constitution, Negligence, 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 decedent 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 the decedent authorized her daughter to bind her to arbitration, and 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
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