Personal Injury Attorneys - Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and the Bronx

Earlier this week, the New York City Comptroller’s Office, which is responsible for settling and adjusting claims for and against the City, released its fiscal report for the year 2012.  In FY 2012, the City paid out $485.9 million in personal injury and property damage tort settlements and judgments, 12 percent less than in FY 2011. In FY 2012, the costliest personal injury claims category was medical malpractice. The second costliest category was motor vehicle claims. Civil rights claim settlements and judgments were the third costliest. The fourth costliest category was police action claims. In FY 2012, medical malpractice settlements/judgments accounted for 34 of the 79 tort cases that settled for $1 million or more.The Comptroller's report also cited as cause for concern the growing number of tort claims filed against the NYPD, which reached an historical high of 9,570 claims filed, and cost the City 464.4 million, in 2012.

Go onto the U.S. Department of Labor’s website and you will find much to read about what OSHA is attempting to do to reduce the exposure of workers to chromium, and more particularly hexavalent chromium. It is estimated that 558,000 workers are potentially exposed to hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] in the United States. Job tasks that may expose workers to Cr(VI) include spray painting, sanding, grinding and abrasive blasting. Hexavalent chromium targets the respiratory system, kidneys, liver, skin and eyes. It is known to cause lung cancer and nasal and sinus cancer.  Other health effects of exposure include eye, nose and throat irritation , nasal septum ulcerations and perforations, gastritis, gastrointestinal ulcers, contact dermatitis, irritation, ulcers, and sensitization from skin contact.

A man who worked as a cashier at a diner housed in a trailer on property owned by The Long Island Rail Road can proceed with his claim against the LIRR that he got mesothelioma from being exposed to asbestos that railroad workers brought into the eatery on their clothes, even though he did not personally work with asbestos. The plaintiff worked at the Dashing Dan Diner on the grounds of the LIRR's now-defunct Morris Park maintenance facility in Queens from 1972 to 1979. Plaintiff testified that, while he worked at the diner, LIRR workers would come in covered in dust, which they would stomp off their boots and shake off their gloves and clothes. Frieder estimated that he served about 200 employees a day. By the end of the day, he said, there was "dust all over the place," requiring heavy sweeping. The evidence established that asbestos was routinely used at the Morris Park facility.

Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month is a national initiative designed to encourage drivers of all other kinds of vehicles and motorcyclists to “share the road” with each other.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)reminds motorists to safely "share the road" with motorcycles and to be extra alert to help keep motorcyclists safe. The NHTSA also stresses the importance of riding sober.  Statistics show that the percentage of intoxicated motorcycle riders in fatal crashes is greater than the percentage of intoxicated drivers on our roads. Motorcycle crashes are one of the most prevalent causes of death and injury on roads.  Motorcyclists are about 30 times more likely to die in a crash than passenger vehicle occupants. Motorcycle fatalities accounted for 14 percent of total highway deaths for the year although motorcycle registrations represent only about 3 percent of all vehicles in the U.S.

In Steel Institute of New York v. City of New York, the City of New York's local statutes and regulations that govern the use of cranes, derricks, and other hoisting equipment in construction and demolition were challenged as being preempted by OSHA. The Steel Institute clearly sought to relieve the construction industry from having to comply with the City’s more stringent, and likely more costly, standards. If the City’s regulations were found to be directed towards workers’ safety, they would have been preempted and unenforceable. What saved the City’s regulations was the extraordinarily high density of people and property in the City such that in most cases construction worksites abut or spill over into adjoining lots and public streets.  The District Court stated: “Cranes therefore pose a unique risk to public safety in New York City ....”

This blog entry is a tribute to our long, and I mean long, time secretary, Alice, who passed away earlier this month.  Alice started working for our firm's founder, Louis H. Levine, before he even founded the firm in the 1950's, and she continued at the firm for about 60 years.  She was a remarkable person who gave more to our office on a professional and personal level than can be adequately expressed.  We are saddened that she is gone, and hope that she rests in peace.

A public hearing was held yesterday, April 26, 2013, at The New York City Buildings Department regarding proposing new rules implementing tougher requirements for department-approved courses that individuals in the construction trades must take as part of trade license qualification, license renewal and worker training. The proposed requirements include course content requirements, course review, course instructors, course facilities, attendance records, course completion and course providers. The construction trades that must take department-approved courses include: Concrete Safety Manager, Hoist Machine Operator, Site Safety Manager, Site Safety Coordinator, Rigger ,Filing Representative, Construction Superintendent, Electrician, Master Plumber, Master Fire Suppression Piping Contractor, Supported Scaffold Worker, Suspended Scaffold Supervisor, Suspended Scaffold User, Mast-Climbing work platform.

Section 1225-c(2a) of New York’s Vehicle and Traffic Law prohibits operating a motor vehicle upon a public highway while using a mobile telephone to engage in a call while such vehicle is in motion without a hands-free device.  In The People v. Andrew Welch, the defendant was charged with violating VTL § 1225-c.  At trial, the police officer testified that he observed the defendant drove past him with a cell phone in his hand which he held close to his chin, and was talking into it.  The defendant testified and admitted that he had the cell phone in his hand and was talking into it, but asserted he was using the phone's Siri feature to activate a call. Justice Karen Morris of Brighton Town Court held that the defendant's testimony, if believed, rebuts the inference that he was engaged in a call and instead establishes that he was activating a call, an action that is not illegal.  She thus found the defendant not guilty.

In 2012 in New York City, there were 274 traffic deaths, the most in four years. In 2010, 11,000 pedestrians and 3,500 bicyclists were injured by motor vehicles in New York City. A study by doctors at NYU Langone Medical Center published in the current addition of the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery shows that even sidewalk and signal-obeying crosswalk users are at risk. Six percent of pedestrians were injured while on a sidewalk. More of those injured on the street were injured while using a crosswalk with the signal (44%) compared with 23% who crossed midblock and 9% who crossed against the signal. Factors lowering the severity of injury include above-average body mass, bicycling vs. being a pedestrian, being struck by a taxi, and being struck in the crosswalk by a turning vehicle. More severe injuries were associated with alcohol, being less than 18 years of age, hearing impairment, and struck by a truck or bus.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a voluntary recall of SeriScaffold Surgical Scaffold Product, a bio-resorbable surgical mesh for use in open or laparoscopic procedures manufactured by Allergan, Inc.  The reason for the recall is that the mesh may have been packaged in improperly sealed pouches with resultant contamination, and surgical sterility cannot be assured. More specifically, the outer of the two pouches may have become compromised.  There is an explicit warning from Allergannot to use SeriTM Surgical Scaffold if the sealed pouch is punctured, torn, or otherwise compromised. It is unclear how it was learned that the product packaging was defective, Our office knows of at least one person who suffered an infection believed to have resulted from contamination of SeriScaffold.