New York Wrongful Death Lawyer Blog

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]

In late October, 2011, it was reported that the widow of a National Enquirer photo editor settled her $50 million lawsuit against the US government for the anthrax poisoning death of her husband.

By her suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, in 2003, she alleged that the government had failed to secure the anthrax bacillus at a military laboratory. In 2001, Dr. Bruce Ivins, a U.S. Army scientist, mailed anthrax laced letters to media and governmental offices in Florida, New York and Washington, D.C. area. Ivins committed suicide in 2008 as investigators prepared to charge him with multiple crimes, including murder. Investigators matched anthrax spores to determine the origin of the tainted letters.

Anthrax poisoning can occur in humans through the intestines, lungs, or skin. Cutaneous poisoning, often through a cut in the skin, is rarely fatal if treated. Pulmonary infection causes severe flu like respiratory distress. Intestinal poisoning causes vomiting, diarrhea, and acute inflamation. Once ingested into the body, it occupies the lymphatic system, multiplies, and kills the host within a few days or weeks.

Five people died as a result of the anthrax spread by Dr. Ivins.

Damages for anthrax poisoning death would include not only pecuniary damages, but also pain, suffering and the decedent's awareness of his fate.

It is interesting that the settlement amount is not being published. I presume that it is far less than $50 million, but would be in an amount sufficient to compensate the family of the decedent for his horrifying death.

When the family of Samuel Ives, 11, set up their campsite in a remote area of the Uinta National Forest, they did not know that earlier that same day, June 17, 2007, at the same campsite, a man was awakened by, and was forced to repel, an attacking bear. He fired a pistol and threw stones to scare it away.

The man reported the incident to the Utah County Dispatch, the U.S. Forest Service, the highway patrol, and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

The same day, UDWR began a search for the bear, which under its' classification system, had to be destroyed because it constituted a threat to the public because of its aggressive and fearless behavior towards humans.

By 5 p.m. or so, the bear had not been found, and the Division of Wildlife Resources personnel postponed the search until the next morning.

Later, the Ives family arrived, set up camp, and went to bed around 9 p.m.

During the night, the bear attacked, pulling Samuel from a tent. His body was found 400 yards away.

The boys' family sued for wrongful death, alleging that the parties involved were negligent in not closing the camp site and failing to warn of a dangerous bear in the area. They said, that had they known about the bear, they would not have camped in that area.

Somewhere in the government campground employee communication hierarchy, information and warnings about the bear were not passed along. Some Forest Service employees did not know about the earlier incident, and consequently, no action was taken to warn arriving campers.

The US District Court judge ruled for the plaintiffs, finding that they had shown that the bear that attacked was the same bear that had attacked campers earlier in the day.

Besides arguing government immunity from suit, attorneys for the U.S. Forest Service contended that its employees were not negligent and had not omitted any duty to the plaintiffs.

In May, 2011, the US District Court judge hearing the case, found the U.S. Forest Service, which owns the land where the attack occurred, 65% liable, and awarded the boy's estate $1.95 million.

On October 7, 2011, a Utah state District Court judge granted summary judgment to the Utah state defendants, dismissing the family's wrongful death suit. He ruled that Utah policies regarding black bears were "not law" and nothing contained in those policies changed the liability protections of the Utah Governmental Immunity Act.

Different jurisdictions, different party defendants, different laws involved, different result.

In November, 2009, an 80 year-old man died following a fall from a Hollywood, Florida, drawbridge that opened while he was walking across it.

Witnesses indicate that, at first, he clung to the bridge's railing as it lifted into the air, but as a policeman on the scene rushed to reach him, he fell from an estimated height of 60 feet.

The bridge had flashing lights, a bell, and a gate to stop pedestrians when it was opened. There was also a security camera and live bridge operator on duty.

It was reported that the decedent was familiar with the drawbridge, as he frequently walked across it. He may have been wearing ear phones at the time of the accident. On the other hand, the live bridge operator may have been distracted by the TV that was in his office, and did not check for pedestrian traffic on the bridge before starting to raise it. When he was questioned, he could not explain why he did not see the man on the bridge.

The man's wife and three daughters sued a variety of defendants, both public and private, who were involved with the ownership or operation of the bridge. It was recently reported that the matter settled for $1.5 million.

New rules for Florida drawbridge operation are forthcoming.