New York Personal Injury Blog | Lever & Stolzenberg, LLP Legal Blog

Boat Accident Kills One In New York Harbor – Drinking Involved

A man is under arrest after a boat accident in New York Harbor killed one man and seriously injured two others. While some believe that the man was boating under the influence of alcohol, others believe his boat rammed into a smaller boat due to the wake from a large sightseeing boat.

If You Think A Herniated Disc Is Not Painful -- Just Ask Bono

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Another Staten Island Ferry Accident

Staten Island Ferry Accident City of New York Injured Careless Again

Recession Means Cases Flooding Courts

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Don't Facebook The Judges Who Are Deciding Your Client's Case

Facebook personal injury client case appearence of impropriety

When Are We Going To Fix the Children's Juvenile System?

A report by a state panel found physical abuse and untreated addiction and mental illness common in prisons for young offenders

8 percent of those who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for compensation to pay for medical care and missed days at work stemming from those injuries

People getting by on low wages also tend to lose out on overtime they've earned, and they're more likely to get paid less than the minimum wage. Those are the findings in "Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers," a new study by the Ford, Joyce, Haynes and Russell Sage Foundations.

The New York Times runs the numbers:

In surveying 4,387 workers in various low-wage industries, including apparel manufacturing, child care and discount retailing, the researchers found that the typical worker had lost $51 the previous week through wage violations, out of average weekly earnings of $339. That translates into a 15 percent loss in pay.
The Times calls the study "the most comprehensive examination of wage-law violations in a decade." Of the workers interviewed, 68 percent had been through at least one violation of their pay rights in the past work week. Female illegal immigrants were most likely to report they'd earned less than the minimum wage -- in industries ranging from garment work to childcare.

The researchers said one of the most surprising findings was how successful low-wage employers were in pressuring workers not to file for workers’ compensation. Only 8 percent of those who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for compensation to pay for medical care and missed days at work stemming from those injuries.

Its amazing how this can still happen in this day and age.  The workers compensation system was set-up to help these people.  But, obviously, the system is broken. 

We need to get the Labor Dept on Board to make sure they do a better job of protecting our workers -- after all, as John D. Rockefeller said, U.S. workers are the drivers of our economy, if they are not happy, we will be going nowhere fast. 

Children in New York's State Juvenile Prison Centers Deserve Better

Children at four juvenile detention centers in New York were so severely abused by workers that it constituted a violation of their constitutional rights, according to a report by the United States Department of Justice made public on Monday.

This is absolutely ludicrous.  These children deserve better.

By way of background, in New York, if a child under the age of eighteen commits a crime, or has become so unruly that his parents or guardians cannot control him, the local Department of Social Services (each County in New York has their own i.e. Westchester DSS)   takes custody over him or her. 

This is done pursuant to a Person In Need of Supervision or PINS petition.  A family Court judge signs off on the application and then the local DSS transfers the child to a residential facility that specializes in juvenile detention.  The thinking is that the facility is specially equipped to handle these wayward kids.  Unfortunately, that theory breaks down once the kid enters the institution.

First, these facilities operate on shoestring budgets.  The buildings are always run down and decrepit.  And, they have no money to hire any professionals to care for the kids.  Instead, they hire aids to watch over the kids.  These aids barely make minimum wage.  They are often not college educated and they are afforded limited training.  Further, they are forced to watch over kids that couldn’t even be supervised by their own parents.  Taken together, this makes for an explosive situation.

The kids are generally housed in "cottages" where about 7 or 8 of them live together.  These cottages are sometimes "self-contained" in that the kids stay there all the time.  They even take their classes there.  The Cottage is usually run by a social worker or head psychologist, who may have a masters degree or possibly a college education.  He then has several aids who help supervise the kids.  The aids work in shifts, some work during the day, some work during the evening, and some work over the night. 

When things get bad, the aids are allowed to perform a "restraint" on the kids.  This means that the child is subdued if he poses a risk of harm to himself or others.  This is supposed to be well-documented.  The problem is that sometimes these aids use the restraint technique as a form of corporal punishment instead of when the child poses a danger. 

Further complicating the matter is the fact that when a child is inappropriately restrained, the child may have no avenues to seek help.  After all, he is a child with a criminal background, or at least a the subject of a PINS petition.  Thus, who will ever believe him?  And it is so easy for an Aide to say that the kid was acting out.  The kids often come from broken families and of limited resources, which is a further roadblock from obtaining justice. 

The local DSS is supposed to be following up with their own kids but, of course, they are over worked and ill prepared to handle that type of thing.  

In short, the system sucks and our kids deserve better.

Post Script:

From what I see on the web and recent articles, the main culprits are the following:

1.  Lansing Residential Center, Lansing, N.Y.;
2.  Louis Gossett Jr. Residential Center, Lansing, N.Y.,
3.  Tyon Residential Centers (boys and girls), Johnstown, N.Y.

I know that there are other facilities that have juvenile facilities:
1.  Berkshire Farms Center Services for Youth;
2. NASSAU CTY. SECURE JUVENILE DETENTION CENTER;
3. WOODFIELD SECURE COTTAGE
Click here for a full list

In light of the recent news reports highlighting the abuses that are rampant at these juvenile centers, we anticipate an onslaught of personal injury lawsuits, which will be based upon the following claims:

1.  negligence,

2. medical malpractice (failing to give children proper mental health care),

3. assualt/battery

4.  negligent/intentional infliction of emotional distress

4. constitutional torts (42 USCA 1983) (these are claims that are used against govt agencies or agencies sponsored by the state like a juvenile detention center -- they allow a litigant to sue in federal court, permit punitive damages claims and they allow the plaintiff to sue for attorneys fees, which would mean that the plaintiff does not have to pay his personal injury attorney a contingency fee -- these claims, if successful, can really impact the operation of these facilities and thus are a great tool in terms of making these places better and safer for the kids.  

Where Have the Trial Lawyers Gone?

What Have Personal Injury Trial Lawyers Done?
By: Terrence James Cortelli, Personal Injury Trial Attorney

Big business and the media have conspired to attempt to destroy the image of the American trial lawyer. They have “sold” to the public the image of the trial lawyer as a greedy hustler whose primary goal is to fill his own pocket with money. The “marketing” of this message has been very effective. There is power in the billions of dollars that have been spent in the last decade to defame trial lawyers, their clients, and their cases. The “McDonald’s hot coffee case” is a prime example of the power of money over the truth.

It is no wonder that big business hate lawyers who represent individuals. Trial lawyers have forced manufacturers to put safety before profits.

What have personal injury trial lawyers done?

1. Made almost non-existent death and scarring from flammable children’s pajamas

2.  Reduced dramatically the death of infants from choking on small toys

3.  Made it much more likely that you will survive an automobile crash (Read SUV roll overs, seat belt laws, all of which were precipitated by personal injury lawyers and their courage in taking on big business) 

4.  Forced helmet manufacturers to build better football and motorcycle headgear

5.  Saved the lives of women who were at risk from defective tampons and contraceptive devices

6.  Caused the installation of backup beepers on trucks

7.  Have eliminated “killer” swimming pool drains whose suction was so powerful that it drowned children

8.  Forced the tobacco industry to surrender

9. And for New Yorkers, put the onus on employers and big time property developers for ensuring that construction workers are provided with a safe work environment.

 

After Rescue, New Weakness Seen at A.I.G.

If AIG is truly in trouble, this will be very problematic for persons with personal injury cases.  As has been well documented, AIG insures a large number of the insurance policies in place in New York.  Thus, if one gest into an accident and brings a lawsuit, the chances are that the person being sued, if he or she has insurnace, will most likely be insured by AIG.  Now, however, if AIG is indeed in trouble, it might mean that AIG will have to go into bankruptcy.  When this happens, all of the lawsuits brought against parties insured by AIG will be stayed -- or stopped -- until the bankruptcy proceedings are resolved.  This can take years.  Thus, these underlying lawsuits may be paused for years, keeping parties from ever timely settling or resolving their cases.  More troubling, however, is the more omnimous option of waiting years for the bankruptcy proceeding to resolve and then finding out that AIG has no money left to settle the case.  This would be a truly nightmare situation.  Indeed, considering how large AIG is, this could have a major impact on most cases in New York.