Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

A report coauthored by the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO found that 80 Massachusetts workers died in 2007 because of injuries sustained while at work or because of work-related illnesses. The report is called "Dying for Work in Massachusetts."

The most dangerous industry for Massachusetts workers continues to be construction and firefighting. 20 construction workers died while on the job last year, while 9 Massachusetts firefighters died, most of them due to work-related illnesses. Other industries in Massachusetts with a high number of worker fatalities in 2007 are transportation, fishing, utility work, and motor vehicle repair.

Stress on the job reportedly led to six deadly heart attacks. Three of these fatalities were 38-year-old firefighters. 19 worker deaths were caused by fall accidents.

Two 17-year-old construction workers were among 2007's worker fatalities. A 71-year old mechanic was recorded as the oldest person to die last year due to a worker injury. One telecommunications worker with Verizon was electrocuted and died in Plymouth when his bucket struck high voltage wires.

Some people have expressed worries that certain companies are prioritizing productivity over worker safety. For example, the bucket used by the telecommunication worker that died was not insulated.

Work safety advocates believe that many of last year’s deaths could have been avoided if workers had been given the proper gear, equipment, and training. For instance, the 17-year-old construction worker that died in a fall accident was not using a safety harness when he fell from a Salem church roof last year.

Although Massachusetts workers’ compensation law provides injured workers and their families with financial compensation, the recovery may not cover all expenses and losses.

Our Boston workers’ compensation law firm can make sure that you are paid all of the workers’ compensation that you are owed in a timely manner. We can also determine whether there are any negligent third parties.

80 people in Massachusetts died of workplace injury in 2007, Associated Press/Boston Herald, April 29, 2008

80 work fatalities in state last year, Boston.com, April 29, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health

Read the Report "Dying for Work in Massachusetts" (PDF)

Massachusetts AFL-CIOhttp://www.altmanllp.com/lawyer-attorney-1226007.html

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The Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles has reduced the $30 million wrongful death judgment against actor Robert Blake to $15 million. Blake,74, had lost the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of his murdered wife Bonny Lee Bakley, but filed an appeal.

Blake said that the jury that awarded the judgment had engaged in misconduct and that the court made procedural mistakes. The appeals court, however, said that it did not find any evidence of jury misconduct or that the trial court had made errors. It did, however, find that the $30 million award was “excessive” and cut the judgment in half.

If Bakley’s estate does not agree to the new award amount, there will be a new trial to determine wrongful death damages.

Blake was tried for Bakley’s 2001 shooting death, which took place outside Vitello’s, a restaurant that she and Blake frequented. The two of them have a daughter named Rose, now 8.

Blake said that he left his wife in the car while he went back to the restaurant to get his gun that he left at the restaurant table. Blake said that he carried a gun with him and had hired a bodyguard to protect Bakley, who he thought was being followed.

Blake says he returned to the car and found his wife had been shot. She was pronounced dead upon arrival at a nearby hospital. Blake was arrested and charged with her murder nearly one year after her death.

One of Blake’s more famous roles as an actor was the television detective named Barretta on the television show with the same name. He has been acquitted of all criminal charges.

If someone you love has died because of the negligent, reckless, or criminal actions of another party, you may be able to sue for wrongful death damages. The best way to determine if you have grounds for a case is to contact a Boston, Massachusetts wrongful death lawyer.

Financial recovery could include pain and suffering, loss, future financial support, medical and funeral costs, and other related-damages.

Court cuts Robert Blake's wrongful death judgment, Reuters, April 26, 2008

Actor Blake Appeals Wrongful Death, ABCNews.com

Related Web Resources:

Robert Blake Timeline, People/CNN

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In Massachusetts, Boston-area psychiatrist Dr. Kayoko Kifuji is being sued for the wrongful death of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley. Rebecca died in 2006 following an overdose of psychiatric drugs.

The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that Rebecca was mostly prescribed drugs over the phone, using “slipshod diagnosis.”

Kifuji had diagnosed Rebecca with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder. She prescribed Seroquel, Clonidine, and Depakote.

The official cause of Rebecca’s death was prescription drug overdose, or "intoxication due to the combined effects" of clonidine, valproic acid (Depakote), dextromethorphan, and chlorpheniramin.” Her body was found in her Hull home on December 13, 2006.

Six weeks prior to Rebecca’s death, a nurse at her preschool in Weymouth told Kifuji that she believed the girl was taking too much medication. She described her as a “floppy doll” that was always tired. The doctor examined Rebecca but did not lower her prescription dosage.

A court-appointed guardian is representing Rebecca’s estate. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for Rebecca’s pain and suffering, her wrongful death, and the loss suffered by her 7-year-old sister and 13-year-old brothers, who are her estate’s beneficiaries. The two of them currently reside in foster homes.

Rebecca’s parents, Michael and Carolyn Riley, have been charged with her prescription overdose death. Her parents, awaiting their criminal trial in jail, have pled not guilty to the charges.

Last year, Kifuji agreed to stop seeing patients while the State Board of Registration in Medicine investigates the case. She told police that she was very concerned when she found out that Carolyn had increased Rebecca's nightly dose of clonidine.

Please contact our Boston, Massachusetts medical malpractice law firm today if you believe that you or someone you love was the victim of medical error or negligence.

Doctor is sued in death of girl, 4, Boston.com, April 4, 2008

Girl fed fatal overdoses, court told, Boston Globe, February 7, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Dr. Kayoko Kifuji, MD

Psychiatrist takes paid leave after death of girl, Boston.com, February 7, 2008

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The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is suing CSX Transportation and Cohenno Inc, a Stoughton lumber company, and is accusing them of negligence, for allegedly causing a 112-ton freight car to crash into a commuter train in Canton on March 25. The MBTA wants CSX and Cohenno to pay for repairs to the damaged train and cover overtime costs incurred by the MBTA and any other expenses as a result of the train collision. Damages are estimated at up to $1 million.

The freight car had escaped from a lumber yard in Stoughton, where it flew down three miles of train track before striking an MBTA commuter train and injuring 150 people. 120 people have already filed injury claims with the MBTA.

The lawsuit accuses both companies of failing to execute several basic security measures that would have prevented the Massachusetts train accident from happening. The MBTA is accusing CSX workers of failing to set the hand brake on the freight car and not putting a choking device next to its wheels—that would have prevented it from rolling—after delivering the car to the lumber company and storing it on a side rail.

The lawsuit alleges that Cohenno workers lost control of the freight car while trying to move it, which caused it to roll onto the tracks. The son of Bob Cohenno, the lumber company owner, however, says that workers did not try to move the freight car while it was in the yard.

The MBTA is also accusing CSX employees of failing to properly secure a steel gate that seals off the lumber yard from the commuter train tracks and not properly setting the derail device, which could have derailed the freight train so that it wouldn’t have run into the main rail line.

The MBTA alleges that the CSX has a habit of leaving freight cars without activating their hard breaks. According to the lawsuit, none of the freight cars at the Cohenno lumber yard on the day of the crash were properly secured.

In Massachusetts, our Boston personal injury lawyers handle cases throughout the state involving catastrophic injuries and property damage.

If you were injured in a train collision that was caused by the negligence of one or more parties, one of our Massachusetts train crash lawyers would be happy to discuss your case with you during a free consultation.

MBTA sues over commuter rail crash, Boston.com, April 18, 2008

No immunity in train accidents, Boston.com, March 26, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Train crash response 'seemed to just flow', Boston.com, April 3, 2008

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

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Nancy Magee, a Whitman, Massachusetts woman, is suing pet store chain PetSmart for the death of her husband. Her wrongful lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, alleges that Thomas Magee and two other people became infected with a rodent virus during their transplant surgeries. All three people had received their organs from the same woman, who is believed to have contracted the virus from her pet hamster, which she had purchased at a PetSmart in Warwick, Rhode Island.

Thomas Magee, 54, underwent a successful liver transplant surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital on April 10, 2005. The hospital delayed his release after he developed high blood pressure and a fever. On May 5, his wife Nancy was notified that he would need another kidney and liver transplant. Thomas died on May 7, 2005.

Later that month, the Rhode Island Health Department announced that Magee, and two other transplant patients—a double lung recipient from Massachusetts and a kidney transplant patient in Rhode Island—had died after becoming infected with the rodent virus.

Magee’s cause of death is listed as lymphocytic choriomeningitis. The virus is found in hamsters, mice, and other rodents. Symptoms are usually not fatal unless the person with the infection already has a compromised immune system.

Humans can contract the virus if they come into contact with the rodent’s saliva, fecal droppings, nesting materials, or urine—especially if the materials come into direct contact with a person’s nose, broken skin, eyes, or mouth. A rodent bite can also transmit the virus. The CDC says that it cannot be transferred between humans—although organ transplantation is now being investigated as a means of getting the virus.

Nancy Magee says that PetSmart was negligent when it failed in its duty to warn customers that hamsters might have the virus, as well as notify them that it could be dangerous for people with weak immune systems.

Nancy Magee is filing her wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of herself and their three children.

Our Boston wrongful death law firm represents clients throughout Massachusetts.

PetSmart Sued Over Infected Hamster Blamed in Three Deaths, Boston Herald, April 16, 2008

Suit: husband’s death tied to hamster, Wicked Local Whitman, April 16, 2008

Related Web Resource:

Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis, CDC.gov

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The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court says that Michael Haslam, a construction worker on Boston’s “Big Dig” freeway project, is not eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits for injuries he sustained when he fell asleep at the wheel while driving home after working for 27 hours straight. The court’s ruling reverses an earlier decision by the Industrial Accident Board.

The state’s highest court says that Haslam failed to prove that he needed to work as many hours as he did and that the circumstances surrounding his injury accident did not exempt him from the “going and coming rule,” which does not cover injuries sustained by workers when they are going to or coming from a job.

On August 3, 2001, Haslam started work at 5am. His shift was supposed to end at 3:30pm. Due to numerous work delays, however, the pouring of concrete did not take place until 1am the following day, and Haslam chose to stay because he needed to make sure that the job was done. He testified that if he hadn’t stayed, “I probably wouldn’t have had a job.”

He also said, however, that no one told him he had to stay. Also, the construction crew supervisor testified that he could have found someone else to replace Haslam if he had known that the foreman was so tired. Haslam's contract stipulates that he cannot be made to work overtime.

Haslam drove home on August 4, 2001 at around 8 in the morning after working for 27 hours. He says that he was “totally exhausted” and fell asleep at the wheel. Haslam struck a utility pole and sustained injuries.

A 2004 ruling found that Haslam was entitled to workers’ compensation for his injuries because “the physical state that caused the accident arose directly out of and had presented itself while [the employee] was still on the job.”

The SJC court, however, agreed with the insurance company that argued that Haslam was not obligated to stay longer than his work shift and that the “going and coming rule" applied.

If you have been injured on the job in Massachusetts, you should contact our Boston workers’ compensation law firm to discuss your legal options. We have helped many injured workers’ whose claims were denied or reduced to recover the compensation that was owed to them.

Sleepy Employee Hurt Driving Home Denied Mass. Workers' Comp, Insurance Journal, April 9, 2008

SJC: Big Dig worker not entitled to workers’ comp, BostonHerald.com, April 8, 2008

Related Web Resources:

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, The Big Dig

Department of Industrial Accidents, Labor and Workforce Development

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