New York Wrongful Death Lawyer Blog

In January, 2007 Marvin E. Schur, age 93, froze to death when the Bay City Electric Light & Power and Bay City, MI itself, limited his electric usage for non-payment.

An autopsy confirmed the cause of death.

Neither the power company nor the city paid sufficient attention to their customer/citizen when the power to his home was limited.

In August, 2011, the US District Court approved the $500,000 settlement. Members of the Schur family were granted $6,000 each. The family lawyers got $187,747.57 for their fees, and the Bay Regional Medical Center, received the balance: $323,182.29, pursuant to Mr. Schur's Last Will. How nice.

This case is factually similar to one I wrote about in June, 2010: Velma Arlene Fordham, age 58, who froze to death because her apartment's gas service had been cut off during a major lake-effect snowstorm in Buffalo, NY.

A 51 year-old man was crushed to death when he climbed in the back hopper of a Heil Formula 7000 garbage truck and attempted to clear debris which was jammed, preventing a "compactor blade" from moving.

He perished when the hydraulic system engaged, and a safety mechanism which would have saved him failed.

The City of Norfolk originally said that the man had "violated a city policy" by climbing in the back of the truck.

Later, state investigators confirmed that it was "city policy" for sanitation workers to do so; otherwise, any jamming issue would necessitate leaving the trash route and returning to the maintenance shed for loosening or repair.

The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry investigated this occurrence and found 8 "serious (life threatening) violations" related to this accident. For example: the safety system on the truck was supposed to be checked daily. That did not happen.

A well-spoken Norfolk councilman stated "Some heads should roll on this..."

[As reported by Harry Minium in The Virginian-Post, October 12, 2011]