Personal Injury

July 3, 2017

Massachusetts Appeals Court Upholds Ruling For Defendants Following Apartment Slip & Fall

A plaintiff was injured after she tripped on a bent stake jutting onto the walkway outside her condominium unit. She thereafter filed suit, alleging that the owner of the complex, Huntington Wood Condominium Trust, and the contractor responsible for snow removal, The Green Company Landscape & Irrigation, Inc., negligently maintained a hazardous condition that caused her injury. The superior court disagreed, finding that she failed to establish that the defendants had actual or constructive notice of a supposedly dangerous condition. The judge therefore granted the defendants’ motions for summary judgment. The plaintiff appealed, and the Massachusetts Court of Appeals affirmed.
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She alleged that in mid-March 2010, she injured herself when she tripped on a stake that poked out onto the walkway next to her condo unit. She passed that stake approximately three times that day before falling. She noticed that it was bent but did not realize it was jutting out onto the walkway. In the evening, she walked to her car. When she returned from her car, she tripped over the stake.

June 14, 2017

State Supreme Court Permits Roofing Injury Lawsuit to Move Forward

by Neumann Law Group

A plaintiff appealed from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to his grandfather, the defendant in a negligence action. The plaintiff argued that the trial court erred by concluding that the defendant owed him no duty and that the court abused its discretion by denying his motion to amend his complaint to add a new liability theory. The Vermont Supreme Court reversed and remanded.

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The defendant, Hector, was an experienced construction worker. In 2011, he asked his son, Ricky, about replacing the roof of Hector’s office. Ricky approached his son, Joseph, about working on the project. Joseph had also worked in construction and was an experienced roofer. According to Joseph’s deposition testimony, Ricky supplied the tools, equipment, and materials for the roof job.

May 17, 2017

Pennsylvania Woman Settles Federal Lawsuit Following Elevator Fall

by Neumann Law Group

A Philadelphia woman who filed a federal lawsuit following an elevator accident recently settled with the defendants. Last month, a U.S. District Court Judge announced the action was dismissed with prejudice, pursuant to an agreement.

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The plaintiff sued the elevator company, the property manager of the building, and the building’s owner. The amount of the settlement was undisclosed.

May 10, 2017

Parents Sue For Wrongful Death Following Son’s Fatal Public Transit Attack

by Neumann Law Group

Last month, the parents of a man who was fatally attacked on MetroLink in 2016 filed suit for wrongful death in St. Louis Circuit Court. The plaintiffs argue that MetroLink failed to provide adequate security to prevent the attack against their son. His father said he is suing to get someone to pay attention and address the violent crime epidemic on MetroLink.

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The son died at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in April 2016, roughly two weeks after he was found with a severe head injury at the MetroLink station at 410 South Euclid Avenue–Central West End. His death was ruled a homicide, although nobody has been charged. It remains unclear who killed the victim.

May 3, 2017

Massachusetts Appeals Court Upholds Ruling for State Following Mental Hospital Rape

by Neumann Law Group

A plaintiff identified only as “Jane J.” filed suit against the state of Massachusetts under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act (MTCA). She alleged that while she was involuntarily committed to a state psychiatric hospital, a male patient raped her while she was in the recreation room. The issue before the Massachusetts Court of Appeals was whether the hospital’s failure to segregate its patients’ use of the recreation room by gender established legal causation for the rape. The appeals court concluded that it did not and accordingly affirmed the order of summary judgment for the state.

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In March 2009, Jane J. was committed to the state hospital for a competency evaluation after being charged with assault and battery, pursuant to Massachusetts General Law Section 15. In her lawsuit, Jane J. alleged that roughly a month into her commitment, a fellow patient raped her in the common room.

April 21, 2017

Holyoke Fire Victims Sue Property Owner and Management Company

by Neumann Law Group

A Holyoke family who narrowly escaped death during a January 1 fire filed suit for negligence on February 16 in Hampden Superior Court. Three victims were killed and 50 people were left homeless after the wild fire ravaged the four-story apartment building.

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Investigators decided the fire began when a wall outlet inside an apartment unit malfunctioned. The building was not equipped with sprinklers. (However, Massachusetts law did not require it to have a sprinkler system.) The investigators also concluded that the alarm system lost the connection to its monitoring company about a day prior to the fire. Thus, when the fire broke out, the alarms activated, but no signal was sent to the monitoring company. Accordingly, there was up to a 20-minute delay before the fire department was alerted t0 the fire.

April 7, 2017

Massachusetts Appeals Court Holds Personal Injury Claim Barred by Release

by Neumann Law Group

A plaintiff was injured while playing in an ultimate frisbee league game at an athletic facility owned by the defendant. His wife and he filed a complaint against the defendant, with the plaintiff claiming negligence, his wife claiming loss of consortium, and both plaintiffs claiming negligent infliction of emotional distress. The defendant answered and made a counterclaim for indemnification against the plaintiff.

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The judge allowed the defendant’s motion for summary judgment on both of the plaintiff’s claims, ruling that he waived the claims by signing a release of liability when he registered to play in the ultimate frisbee league. The wife’s claims proceeded to a three-day jury trial. At the close of evidence, the same judge entered a directed verdict for the defendant on its indemnity counterclaim against the plaintiff, and the jury then returned a verdict for the defendant on the wife’s claims. Both plaintiffs appealed. The husband challenged the judge’s allowance of the defendant’s motions for summary judgment and a directed verdict and the judge’s award of attorney’s fees and costs. The wife challenged the judge’s allowance of two motions in limine made by the defendant. Discerning no error in any of these rulings, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals affirmed.

February 7, 2017

Massachusetts Appeals Court Upholds Summary Judgment For Defendants in Mall Slip and Fall

by Neumann Law Group

Two plaintiffs filed suit, alleging that one of them fell at the Northshore Mall as a result of slipping on water. The plaintiffs alleged that this water was on the mall floor, due to the negligence of the defendant, which was responsible for watering the plants located in the mall. A Superior Court judge granted summary judgment to all of the defendants. The plaintiffs appealed.

Applying the traditional approach to slip and fall cases, the lower court held that the plaintiffs failed to present any evidence that would allow a reasonable jury to conclude that the defendants knew or should have known that the substance on which the plaintiff allegedly slipped was on the mall floor. The appeals court agreed.

February 1, 2017

Massachusetts Appeals Court Upholds Ruling for Defendants Following Worcester Car Accident

by Neumann Law Group

The Massachusetts Court of Appeals recently affirmed a jury’s ruling against a plaintiff following a Worcester car accident. Just after midnight in April 2013, a defendant was driving westbound on Route 20. He was in the left-hand westbound lane, going slower than the speed limit. As far as he could see, he was the only car on the road. He had a green light as he proceeded through the intersection of Route 20 and Greenwood Street.

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Meanwhile, the plaintiff, another defendant, and another woman had been visiting a friend. The plaintiff drank some tequila during the visit. A few minutes past midnight, the girls got into the other defendant’s Honda Civic to go to McDonald’s. The other defendant was driving, and the plaintiff was seated in the passenger seat behind her. They headed toward Route 20. The westbound driver on Route 20 hit the Civic when it crossed in front of him. The Civic spun around, and the plaintiff was ejected, suffering serious and permanent injuries as a result.

January 3, 2017

Massachusetts Wedding Guests Sue Groom for Drone Injury

by Neumann Law Group

Massachusetts groom Barry Billcliff is being sued by two wedding guests who allege they were hit by a drone at the reception of his wedding. Billcliff and his bride, Nichole, were married over the summer at New Hampshire’s Searles Castle. A drone was used during the reception to take aerial photos. Massachusetts residents Kneena Ellis and Kelly Eaton claim they were dancing when the drone came out of nowhere and slammed into their faces. wedding

The drone collision allegedly fractured Eaton’s nose and orbital bone and gave her a concussion. Ellis claims that she suffered a wound that required over 20 stitches. According to the plaintiffs, the groom was operating the drone at the time. Billcliff countered that while he owns the drone, he was not flying it at the time of the accident. In fact, he maintains he was standing in the middle of the dance floor when the drone crash occurred.