Wrongful Death

August 3, 2016

Florida Wrongful Death Lawsuit Focuses on Negligent Security

A double wrongful death lawsuit in Florida has been filed by the representative of the estates of a mother-son duo who were shot and killed in a murder-suicide by another man who allegedly was trying to rob the son.

The homicides occurred in Stuart at the exclusive Yacht and Country Club, where the gunman apparently gained status as a resident, despite not owning a property there and having an extensive criminal background.

The wrongful death lawsuit alleges negligence on the part of:

The construction company;
The property owners’ association/ security company;
The actual homeowner.

As described in The Daily Business Review, this was, “the perfect storm of failures” by these three defendants. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges negligent security. That is, defendants owed a duty to protect the victims from a foreseeable harm by adhering to existing security procedures. Continue reading

July 14, 2016

Wiederhold v. Domino’s Pizza: $10M Verdict in Wrongful Death Lawsuit Holds Franchisor Liable

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A Florida jury awarded $10 million to plaintiff in a wrongful death lawsuit against the Domino’s Pizza parent company for the negligence of a franchisee employee.

The ruling is significant not just for the amount of damages awarded, but for the fact the jury decided the Michigan-based corporation could be held liable for the actions of a person it didn’t directly employ. The difference here, according to court records, was the degree of control Domino’s reportedly held over its franchises.

Usually, companies can be held vicariously liable for the actions of its employees under the doctrine of respondeat superior. But franchisors generally aren’t considered the “employers” of those who work for franchisees. However, this kind of complex corporate structure isn’t unique to the pizza delivery industry. Trucking companies, nursing homes and others routinely set up these complex business models with numerous companies, with one of the goals being to distance the main entity from any liability and ultimately reduce the damages any injury plaintiff might receive, as those smaller entities will have less of an ability to pay. Continue reading

July 9, 2016

Study: 1 in 5 Nursing Home Residents Abused by Other Residents

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

It’s long been understood by those who work closely with nursing home abuse victims that aggression and attacks by other residents is one of the possible threats. Now, a new study conducted by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine reveals 1 in every 5 nursing home residents – or 20 percent – report being abused by other residents.

The study involved culling information on more than 2,000 nursing home patients. Findings were that more than 400 of them had been involved at least once in some type of abuse involving another resident over the course of the four-week study.

Accounting for 45 percent of those cases were verbal taunts. But physical assaults too made up 26 percent of incidents. Plus, it’s worth noting that verbal taunting can often be a precursor to a physical attack, including a possible sexual assault. Continue reading

June 22, 2016

Estate of Summers v. Nisbet – Deadly Fire and Prioritizing Victim Claims

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

It was one of the most horrific – and deadly – fires in Maine’s history. In 2014, a blaze broke out in a two-story rental unit, killing six people. Soon after, it was alleged the landlord reportedly kept the property in relatively shoddy condition with negligent repairs and poor maintenance – including lack of smoke detectors.

Soon after, there was a rush to file wrongful death lawsuits (five in all) because, as is usually the case, the defendant only has a finite amount of insurance and assets that could cover such claims. But given the large number of deaths, there was a dispute over which family should be the first in line for the payout, if the landlord was indeed found liable for the deaths. (Meanwhile, the landlord faced criminal manslaughter charges.)

Recently, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court settled the issue in Estate of Summers v. Nisbet, closing a legal gap that had existed in the state up to that point. Continue reading

June 2, 2016

Report: Bus Company Flouts Its Own Driver Fatigue Safety Rules

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

With summer comes the parade of charter buses in and out of South Florida – whether for senior group outings or athletic competitions or family vacations.

These operations are overseen by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) which reports varying levels of adherence to federal safety laws between carriers. The agency even encourages passengers to, “Look Before You Book” to determine which might be potentially unsafe.

Yet a recent investigation by journalists at CNN revealed that even a company with a “satisfactory” rating may not abide by basic safety rules. Continue reading

March 9, 2016

Nursing Home Arbitration Agreements: Tossing the Keys to the Courthouse

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Attorneys are slated to argue this month that a nursing home in Massachusetts should not be able to force arbitration in a lawsuit over the death of a 100-year-old woman allegedly killed by her 97-year-old roommate.

The decedent’s son argues he did not have the legal authority to forfeit her right to remedy through the courts when he signed his name arbitration agreement stuffed into the thick stack of nursing home admissions paperwork.

He now says the roommate, a dementia sufferer who reportedly strangled his mother, had a history of problems and the facility should not have allowed her to live with another resident. Continue reading

January 14, 2016

Two FPL Friends, Colleagues Killed in High Fog Truck Crash

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

The Sun-Sentinel described the cloudy conditions that hung over the road a “pea-soup fog.” It was there that two Florida Power & Light linemen, colleagues and also best friends, were driving.

They were there to pick up some overtime, and the chance to work together made it not feel so much like work. Both men were saving up for family vacations to Europe, so they had been together a lot lately on those extra shifts.

But something happened. Investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what it was, but they do know it was about 8:15 a.m. and it was extremely foggy. The pair were on a dirt road near U.S. 27. The vehicle overturned. The truck rolled into a nearby canal. It was nearly an hour before rescue crews responded to the scene, where someone had called to report a vehicle upside down in the canal. The men were both pulled from the truck, where they were pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading

November 2, 2015

Wert v. Manorcare of Carlisle – Nursing Home Abuse and Arbitration

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

According to the Florida Health Care Association, there are more than 680 nursing homes statewide serving some 73,000 residents, and an additional 3,050 assisted living facilities serving 85,000 residents.

These figures are expected to grow exponentially in coming years as the baby boomer generation ages, and that has raised many questions about the quality of care these facilities are providing – particularly the growing number that operate on a for-profit basis. Research has shown for-profit nursing homes tend to have higher ratios of staff-to-patients, have more safety and health violations and are frequently the subject of litigation alleging nursing home abuse.

Rather than improve their business model, most of these facilities have initiated a mandatory arbitration policy, whereby residents and/or their legal representative are asked upon admission to sign an arbitration agreement. This binding contract is effectively the patient giving up his or her right to take a case to civil court should there be an allegation of abuse or neglect. Instead, the complaint is funneled to private arbitration, which has many advantages for the nursing home, but few for the patient.
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September 30, 2015

Fatal Shooting at Florida Nightclub Raises Issue of Premises Liability

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

A 19-year-old Palm Beach State College student and star basketball player was gunned down in front of an Ocala nightclub while in town to visit family and friends on the weekend. She planned to return to campus the following Sunday evening, but her parents got a call in the middle of the night, waking them to their worst nightmare.

Investigators told the Ocala Star Banner at least one gunman opened fire into the crowd outside Cloud 9 nightclub, striking Benetria Robinson, a college freshman who was also taking online classes at Florida State University.

Her mother and several other mourners went to the site the next morning, losing composure when they saw blood on the sidewalk where she fell. At least five others were shot, though the rest are all expected to survive.

The horrific scene raises questions about what the nightclub could have done to prevent such a tragedy.
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July 1, 2015

Sanon v. City of Pella – Drowning Litigation May Proceed

By Ansara Law Personal Injury Attorneys

Swimming pools in Florida, by law, must abide by certain safety standards, whether they are residential or public.

In the case of Sanon v. City of Pella, which was recently before the Iowa Supreme Court, the drownings of two non-swimmer teen boys at a public pool rented out for a private function was attributed at least partially to the fact the pool was murky and had no underwater lights – as required by law.

The question before the court was whether city employees’ decision to keep the lights off (due to rust, even though they still worked) and not provide any additional lighting to compensate met the criteria for the criminal offense of involuntary manslaughter. This critical distinction was necessary to overcome the city’s assertion of sovereign immunity that would bar any civil lawsuit against it for negligence.
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