tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13722494796800114952024-03-21T15:47:30.689-04:00Connecticut Accident & Personal Injury LawyerConnecticut Injury Law — Today & Yesteryear: John Serrano, a Connecticut Personal Injury Attorney Based in Hartford and Waterbury, Reviews Connecticut Supreme and Appellate Court Cases Dealing with Personal Injury, Automobile Accident and Workers' Compensation Law. Attorney Serrano Analyzes Current Cases As Well As Those Historical, Precedent-Setting Cases Which Best Illustrate the Development of Connecticut Injury Law Over the Years.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-87189465377252108442014-04-18T09:36:00.004-04:002014-04-18T09:36:51.875-04:00In Personal Injury Cases, No Reduction in Medicaid Reimbursement for Attorney Fees<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj92xKvR7aygTK8ivdzGJTYNwiGiw0S6ghWRTz8P3em12Za1ECBtplugeerlgy_Py_cPx9skeXadPB8QrAOyIYtn5DQYRL1qCOuFiKfNmYxPEiqt2HiVm95ByjkzhsmdPPh6JLuZeP9tn2a/s1600/capitol_dome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Connecticut Hartford Personal Injury Lawyer - Waterbury Farmington Glastonbury" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj92xKvR7aygTK8ivdzGJTYNwiGiw0S6ghWRTz8P3em12Za1ECBtplugeerlgy_Py_cPx9skeXadPB8QrAOyIYtn5DQYRL1qCOuFiKfNmYxPEiqt2HiVm95ByjkzhsmdPPh6JLuZeP9tn2a/s1600/capitol_dome.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><b>State Gets Full Reimbursement<br />of Medicaid Injury Payments</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><strong><em>State v. Peters</em>, 946 A.2d 1231, 287 Conn. 82 (2008)</strong></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia;"></span></strong><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mr. James Peters was
seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in Connecticut in 1997.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the Medicaid program, the State paid
$63,000 of the medical bills for his injuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The State also gave him $7000 in cash assistance.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mr.
Peters hired a <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_personal_injury_lawyer.htmhttp://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_personal_injury_lawyer.htm"><span style="color: blue;">personal
injury lawyer</span></a> to represent him with his accident case and received an
arbitration award of $747,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
paying attorneys fees and costs of $221,000, 30% of the total award, Mr.
Peters was left with $526,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
State asked for reimbursement of the full $70,000 it had paid to Mr. Peters in
Medicaid benefits and cash assistance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He believed the amount paid back should be reduced by the 30% that was
deducted from his award for attorneys fees and costs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The
State sued Mr. Peters for the full amount.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He argued that Medicare reduced the reimbursement amounts for bills
related to personal injury accidents by the percentage of attorney fees and
Medicaid should do the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The court
disagreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He appealed to the
Connecticut Supreme Court, which also disagreed.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The
Supreme Court justices stated that nothing in either the Federal or State
statutes regarding Medicaid requiring this kind of reduction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it could be argued that a reduction
would be a fair thing to do, the Court said, it was to the Connecticut legislature
to change the law.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> The legislature has not changed the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result is that if someone in Connecticut
needs help from the State to pay for medical bills related to a personal injury
accident case, the State gets reimbursed in full, without any reduction for attorney
fees.</span></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-19623464137014520322014-04-12T22:28:00.002-04:002014-04-18T08:39:07.738-04:00Injured Motorcycle Passenger Loses Claim Against Police Officer at Prior Accident Scene<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong>Passenger Hurt When </strong><strong>Motorcycle</strong></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #274e13;">Swerves </span></strong><span style="color: #274e13;"><strong>to Avoid Tow Truck at</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><strong>Prior Accident Scene</strong></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><strong><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia;"><em>Faulkner v. Daddona</em>, 63 A.3d 993, 142 Conn.App. 113
(Conn.App. 2013)</span></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">
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</span><br />
</span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.5pt;">Ms. Patricia Faulkner suffered <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_personal_injury_lawyer.htm"><span style="color: blue;">personal
injury</span></a> when she was thrown off the back of a motorcycle that came upon an
accident scene and swerved to avoid a tow truck that she claimed unexpectedly
pulled out and blocked both lanes of travel on Route 262 in Watertown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her lawyer sued a police officer at the
scene of the prior accident and the town’s police chief claiming that the
accident scene was not properly secured.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">
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</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
police chief and police officer successfully asked the court to throw out the
case on the grounds that Connecticut personal injury law protects municipal
employees from lawsuits for injuries if the employees are performing activities
that require them to exercise discretion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The court threw out the case and the Connecticut Appellate Court agreed
with that decision, quoting language from a 2006 case to explain its reasoning:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Municipal officials are immunized from liability for
negligence arising out of their discretionary acts in part because of the
danger that a more expansive exposure to liability would cramp the exercise of
official discretion beyond the limits desirable in our society. . . .
Discretionary act immunity reflects a value judgment that—despite injury to a
member of the public—the broader interest in having government officers and
employees free to exercise judgment and discretion in their official functions,
unhampered by the fear of second-guessing and retaliatory lawsuits, outweighs
the benefits to be had from imposing liability for that injury. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-5415568342000139122014-04-12T11:30:00.004-04:002014-04-18T08:39:39.380-04:00Town Dispatcher Not Responsible for Personal Injuries from High Speed Car Chase Accident<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9t_mbvGCxM8COebKYIt00hNBlNRBh1u6FFc9Vf0qAkw8leNJNe_j7q_NkYMlHRyycc-Q_VpXMUvfadlleOhcwVFA_wGyOV6Lhm_rxhJYzAYHDKlIeh6bBXr182lNKVSTqzI1ifY4qnJOT/s1600/SLF+Icon+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Connecticut Personal Injury Accident Attorney, Hartford - Waterbury" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9t_mbvGCxM8COebKYIt00hNBlNRBh1u6FFc9Vf0qAkw8leNJNe_j7q_NkYMlHRyycc-Q_VpXMUvfadlleOhcwVFA_wGyOV6Lhm_rxhJYzAYHDKlIeh6bBXr182lNKVSTqzI1ifY4qnJOT/s1600/SLF+Icon+2.png" title="" /></a></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><em>Edgerton v. Clinton</em>, SC 19095 (March 18, 2014)</strong></span></span></span></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">One summer night in 2005,
Matthew Vincent, a volunteer firefighter, was driving on Route 81
(Killingsworth Road) in Clinton, Connecticut, across from the commuter parking
lot entrance when a car driven by Mr. William Cardillo hit him while turning
left onto Glenwood Road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vincent
stopped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cardillo kept going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vincent chased him, turning on his vehicle’s
blue courtesy lights and calling the Clinton 911 dispatcher on his cell
phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They turned right onto Liberty
Street, left onto Ferry Dell Road, left onto Brickyard Road, left onto
Kelseytown Road, and right onto Ironworks Road, all dark, winding residential
roads, Mr. Vincent all the while calmly telling the dispatcher their
route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fifty seconds after turning onto
Ironworks Road, Mr. Cardillo lost control and hit a tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His car flipped over and caught fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the crash, his passenger, Walker Hopkins,
suffered a severe brain injury.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mr. Hopkins’s conservator hired a <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_personal_injury_lawyer.htm"><span style="color: blue;">personal
injury law firm</span></a> to sue for the accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The lawyers sued everyone who might be found responsible for the
accident: the drivers of both cars, the Clinton fire department (because Mr.
Vincent was<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a volunteer fireman who had
used his lights during the chase), the Clinton dispatcher for not telling Mr.
Vincent to end the chase, and the town of Clinton because the dispatcher was
its employee.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The conservator’s lawyers hired an expert who testified
that the 911 dispatcher, Ms. Ellen Vece, should have immediately told Mr.
Vincent to stop chasing Mr. Cardillo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The town’s lawyers hired a different expert who testified that Ms. Vece
did nothing wrong in not telling Mr. Vincent to stop because because she had no
way of knowing that he was speeding.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At the personal injury trial in January 2011, a Waterbury
jury found that Mr. Vincent and Mr. Cardillo were each 5% responsible for the
accident and that Ms. Vece was 90% responsible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The jury awarded the conservator $12.7 million to provide for Mr.
Hopkins’s care.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Town of Clinton appealed the jury’s verdict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three years later, in a 4 to 1 decision, the
Connecticut Supreme Court reversed the judgment against the town, thus taking
away 90% of the award. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To get the verdict against the Town under Connecticut personal
injury law, the conservator’s lawyers had to convince the jury of the following
things:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="square"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>
<li style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The dispatcher’s failure to tell Mr. Vincent
to stop the car chase created an immediate risk that someone would suffer
a personal injury.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>
<li style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">As an occupant of the car being chased, Mr.
Hopkins likely could be identified as a person that was at risk of being
injured.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>
<li style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The dispatcher knew or should have known that
by not telling Mr. Vincent to stop the car chase that there was an
immediate risk that someone would likely suffer a personal injury.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span>
<li style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">The dispatcher’s failure to tell Mr. Vincent
to stop the car chase a substantial reason that caused this serious car
accident.</span></li>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Connecticut Supreme Court reversed the jury verdict
against the town because the justices felt that they dispatcher had no way of
knowing that there was a risk that someone would be injured because Mr. Vincent
was calm and rational on the phone while speaking to her, because there were no
background noises such as screeching tires or rushing wind during the call that
would make the dispatcher realize that the cars were speeding, and because the
dispatcher did not know that Mr. Vincent was using his blue courtesy lights.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">The expert witness called by the conservator’s
lawyers testified that a properly trained dispatcher should have immediately
told Mr. Vincent not to follow the other car because the average layperson does
not have the expertise or training to pursue another car and the mere fact that
a car chase was occurring was likely to create an immediate risk that someone
would be injured in a car accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
jury agreed with the expert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
reversing the jury verdict, however Connecticut Supreme Court focused on the fact
that the dispatcher had no way of knowing that the cars were dangerously speeding.</span> </span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-55851578526279033392014-04-06T00:26:00.002-04:002014-04-18T08:40:06.430-04:00Injured Motorist Sues the Wrong Company in a Personal Injury Law Car Accident Case<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">ESPN <span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">≠</span> </span>Disney in a</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><strong>Personal Injury Case</strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9t_mbvGCxM8COebKYIt00hNBlNRBh1u6FFc9Vf0qAkw8leNJNe_j7q_NkYMlHRyycc-Q_VpXMUvfadlleOhcwVFA_wGyOV6Lhm_rxhJYzAYHDKlIeh6bBXr182lNKVSTqzI1ifY4qnJOT/s1600/SLF+Icon+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><em>Manka v. Walt Disney Co</em>., AC 34777 (March 25, 2014)</strong></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The <a href="http://disney.com/" target="_blank">Disney</a> entertainment empire started with a mouse. The <a href="http://espn.go.com/" target="_blank">ESPN</a> sports behemoth started with cable tv coverage of a small market, long gone hockey team (<a href="http://www.hartfordwhalers.org/" target="_blank">Go Whalers</a>!). If you are a NASCAR fan, you know that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Briscoe" target="_blank">Nicole Briscoe</a> is a popular sports reporter married to a race car driver.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> In 2008, ESPN signed a contract with Keko Media, Inc. to have Ms. Briscoe provide commentary for ESPN broadcasts. </span>While driving in a rental car to ESPN in Bristol on
December 7, 2008, Ms. Briscoe collided with a car driven by Carrie Manka, who
hired a Connecticut personal injury law firm to sue for her injuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her lawyers sued the Disney Company, claiming
that Ms. Briscoe was their employee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No
she was not, Disney’s lawyers told the court, and asked the court to dismiss
the <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/conn_auto_accident_lawyer.htm" target="_blank">personal injury automobile accident</a> case for lack of jurisdiction, which the court did.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ms.
Manka’s lawyers appealed to the Connecticut Appellate Court, claiming that
Connecticut’s long arm statute, CGS 33-929(f), gave the court jurisdiction
because (1) Ms. Briscoe’s contract was to be performed in Connecticut at the
ESPN headquarters in Bristol and (2) she had committed a tort in the state by
causing a car accident with personal injuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ms. Briscoe, the lawyers claimed, was Disney’s employee because the contract defined ESPN to include its "affiliated" companies.<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> I</span>n throwing out the case, the trial court found that although Disney and ESPN "appear to be linked through a number of intermediary corporations," Ms. Manka's lawyers did not provide any credible evidence of a direct relationship between the companies. The Appellate Court agreed that the trial court was justified in deciding that Ms. Briscoe did not work for Disney and in dismissing the personal injury case, noting that the contract provided that Keko would make Ms. Briscoe available to ESPN.</span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-64963866715604372152014-04-01T23:13:00.000-04:002014-04-18T08:40:18.304-04:00Amnesia Helps Save Speeding Police Office From Fault for Fatal Intersection Accident<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgesBwMluT_eKnK9LYunBbTPM7dBiyPaLMs-X7MBOV4ClZgvLuyvRodIIolV18NloYUrPYX5Cdn6mxtUVE9F2wri7cEziBTfjQaUeNBvi3i0JD4pljt9EduWxL0uUX2Jo7Q96HOc6DZniAQ/s1600/Police+Siren.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Connecticut Personal Injury Lawyer - Hartford, New Britain, Waterbury" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgesBwMluT_eKnK9LYunBbTPM7dBiyPaLMs-X7MBOV4ClZgvLuyvRodIIolV18NloYUrPYX5Cdn6mxtUVE9F2wri7cEziBTfjQaUeNBvi3i0JD4pljt9EduWxL0uUX2Jo7Q96HOc6DZniAQ/s1600/Police+Siren.png" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Officer Does Not</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Remember Fatal Crash</span></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><em>Winn v. Posades</em>, 913 A.2d 407, 281 Conn. 50 (2007)</strong></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">When Officer David Posades arrived for his midnight
shift at the Plainville Police Department on September 4, 1997, he realized he
had left the keys to his handcuffs at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That same Thursday, Glenn Winn was having an evening out and at some
point that night drank some alcohol and smoked some marijuana.</span></span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Route 177 crosses Plainville from north to south.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Route 372 crosses the town from east to
west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the intersection where they meet,
the speed limit for Route 372 is 25 mph and the speed limit for Route 177 is 35
mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The area is a mix of small
businesses and residential homes.</span><br />
<br />
</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Officer Posades must have been in quite a hurry to get
his keys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was driving his cruiser
between 58 and 75 mph westbound on Route 372 as he approached the
intersection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If he was going 75 mph,
his speed would have been <em>triple</em> the speed limit! His siren and emergency
lights off were off as he sped toward the traffic light at the
intersection.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<br />
</span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mr. Winn, driving south on Route 177 was also above the
speed limit, although by nowhere near as much as the officer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Winn was going between 37 to 46 mph as
he neared the intersection.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<br />
</span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>At the light, the two cars collided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The front of Officer Posades’s cruiser hit
the side of Mr. Winn’s car, flipped it over and threw Mr. Winn from his
car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The accident put him in a
coma.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He never regained consciousness
and died 9 days after the accident. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<br />
</span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mr. Winn’s mother hired a lawyer to sue Officer Posades
and the Plainville Police Department for this <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_fatal.htm"><span style="color: blue;">fatal car accident</span></a>.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span></span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">No
witnesses were found for the accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Officer Posades testified at trial that he did not remember the
accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last thing he remembered,
he told the court, he was driving west on Route 372 toward the intersection
with Route 177.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The
judge at the trial stated from the bench, “Personally, I find it reprehensible
that a police officer on duty not responding to an emergency was traveling that
fast.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he threw the case out of
court.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Mr.
Winn’s mother appealed the case to the Connecticut Appellate Court and the
Connecticut Supreme Court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In agreeing
that the trial judge was right to throw out the case, both these courts pointed
to a 100-year-old Connecticut Supreme Court case,<i> Wallace v. Waterhouse</i>,
86 Conn. 546, 86 A. 10 (1913), in which a speeding car killed a dog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While traveling at the “excessive” speed of
20 mph, Arthur G. Waterhouse ran over and killed Mr. John T. Wallace’s dog which
had crossed into the street.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Maybe
it was Mr. Waterhouse’s excessive speed that caused the accident, the Supreme
Court justices said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or maybe, the
justices said, the accident happened because of the “commonly known” “habits
and characteristics of dogs” to go wandering into the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without any other evidence presented by the
dog’s owner, a jury could only guess what had happened; because cases are to be
decided on facts, not guesses, Mr. John Wallace’s lawsuit to get compensated
for the death of his dog was thrown out of court.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Connecticut Supreme Court applied the same reasoning
to the wrongful death lawsuit brought by Mr. Winn’s mother against the
Plainville police and Officer Posades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The court stated:</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In a case involving an
<a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_auto_safety.htm" target="_blank">automobile accident</a>, a plaintiff cannot merely prove that a collision occurred
and then call upon the defendant operator to come forward with evidence that
the collision was not a proximate consequence of negligence on his part. Nor is
it sufficient for a plaintiff to prove that a defendant operator might have
been negligent in a manner which would, or might have been, a proximate cause
of the collision. A plaintiff must remove the issues of negligence and
proximate cause from the field of conjecture and speculation.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In
short, although the “evidence showed that Posades had been negligent or
reckless in operating his police cruiser through the intersection at a highly
excessive rate of speed,” no one could say for certain whether his speed caused
the accident, or whether the accident happened because the traffic light
malfunctioned, or whether it was Mr. Winn who passed through the red light.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Referring to the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wallace v.
Waterhouse</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> case, and to other <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/conn_auto_accident_lawyer.htm"><span style="color: blue;">car accident</span></a>
cases, the Connecticut Supreme Court justices said, “Our conclusion today is
simply that we decline to vary from our previous case law that consistently has
concluded that proof of excessive speed by the operator of a motor vehicle is
insufficient, standing alone, to establish legal cause.”</span></span></div>
</span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
</span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
</span><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-11507293619644181972014-03-29T10:58:00.000-04:002014-04-18T08:41:05.464-04:00School Not at Fault for Car Accident Blamed on Lack of Security Cameras<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChCZYf1prMmsV63L4i0LmmDol1hVVha2TGCZYy0vIx93FD3bqVyGIt4ZSMqzDbVhlZ-x_uMFyAKbTHjiE_taNzJB8d2IgAYg2atFuXSUS9ZhXx4Jr_M90bXm0I_VWEEER5FJmT7eDc3xJ/s1600/Hopkins_Logo_Maroon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Connecticut Car Accident Lawyer - Hartford, Farmington, Waterbury" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChCZYf1prMmsV63L4i0LmmDol1hVVha2TGCZYy0vIx93FD3bqVyGIt4ZSMqzDbVhlZ-x_uMFyAKbTHjiE_taNzJB8d2IgAYg2atFuXSUS9ZhXx4Jr_M90bXm0I_VWEEER5FJmT7eDc3xJ/s1600/Hopkins_Logo_Maroon.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">School Not at Fault</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #38761d;">For Single Car Accident</span></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><em>Chen v. Hopkins School, Inc</em>., </strong><strong>AC 35164 (2014)</strong></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">At 354 years old, the
<a href="http://www.hopkins.edu/" target="_blank">Hopkins School</a> in New Haven, Connecticut, is the 3rd oldest private high school
in the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s motto is <i>Quod
Felix Faustumque Sit</i>, which in Latin means, “May It Bring You Happiness And
Good Fortune.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For one of its students,
November 6, 2008, brought not happiness but a <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_personal_injury_lawyer.htm" target="_blank">personal injury</a> in a <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/conn_auto_accident_lawyer.htm" target="_blank">car accident</a>
caused by her tire blowing out, and no good fortune came from the attempt by
her lawyers to blame the school for the accident.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Connie Chen had driven about 1/2 mile from the school
when her tire blew and she had her accident. It appeared that the sidewall of
her tire had been cut by a knife or other sharp object while her car was parked
at the school parking lot. The lawyers whom she hired to represent her for the
accident sued the school, claiming that the accident happened because the
school did not “use surveillance technology as a disincentive to criminal
activity and as an aid to apprehending offenders.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To prove her personal injury case, Ms. Chen’s lawyers
hired an expert on security who said that the school was responsible for the
accident because it should have had a security camera in the parking lot. When
her lawyers told the court that they had no other evidence to prove that the
school should be liable for the accident, the school’s lawyers asked the court
to throw out the case, which the court did.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ms. Chen’s lawyers appealed to the Connecticut Appellant
Court, which ruled that the trial court was right in dismissing her personal
injury case. The Appellate Court stated that even if the expert’s opinion was
believed,</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="BlockQuote" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">it doesn’t help the court
know whether this purported vandal or criminal who purportedly inserted some
object into the tire would have known that there was a security camera there
because there was nothing testified to about signage, whether a lack of
knowledge would have deterred this activity from taking place, whether the
camera would be monitored twenty-four hours a day, whether if someone saw this
person doing what he or she did, it would have stopped what ultimately
transpired. None of this is being offered by this expert, neither is there any
statistical or empirical evidence presented by this gentleman to indicate that
the ultimate incident would not have occurred because there were security cameras
in the parking lot.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-pagination: widow-orphan;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Although
the school was not found responsible for this personal injury case, perhaps
it has now installed security cameras in the parking lots to help protect
the students and staff. Hopefully, Ms. Chen has recovered from the
injuries she suffered in this accident. And hopefully, from the education she obtained at this venerable Connecticut private school, happiness and good fortune
come her way.</span></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-64013655001473384732014-03-26T03:10:00.002-04:002014-04-18T08:41:49.298-04:00Connecticut's Workers' Compensation Law: 100 Years of Irony<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAUc9L5RuD3zBXXjpuLHW4QskGXH4x6clJIlBBkuwTASfyDfkm2rqL3Qdj7mgZWMSP6i8OMNx5Mf7bdUoatGRrEGww445tYitqio_GvAAKpGV_3y1dQBXd0Sbt1uaNT1ok1hXrbLY1659/s1600/bond+hotel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Connecticut Workers Compensation Lawyer - Hartford, New Britain, Waterbury" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZAUc9L5RuD3zBXXjpuLHW4QskGXH4x6clJIlBBkuwTASfyDfkm2rqL3Qdj7mgZWMSP6i8OMNx5Mf7bdUoatGRrEGww445tYitqio_GvAAKpGV_3y1dQBXd0Sbt1uaNT1ok1hXrbLY1659/s1600/bond+hotel.jpg" height="200" title="" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><strong>Hartford's Bond Hotel</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><strong>Responsible for Fatal</strong></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><strong>Workers' Comp Accident</strong></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><em>Powers v. Hotel Bond Co.,</em> 93 A. 245, 89 Conn. 245 (1915)</strong></span></span></span></span><br />
<strong><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_workers_comp_benefits.htm"><span style="color: blue;">Connecticut
Workers' Compensation Act</span></a> was passed in 1913. Before the act was
passed, the only way for someone injured at work to recover compensation was to
file a personal injury law suit against the employer.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Filing
a personal injury lawsuit in court to be compensated for a job accident was
very problematic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Legally, it was
necessary to prove that the employer, through some act of carelessness or
negligence, was at fault for the accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In a personal injury case, that the employer could raise as a defense
that the accident happened because the injured worker was careless or not paying
attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another common defense claimed
by employers was that the injured employee assumed the risk of getting injured
by taking the job.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
1913,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the industrial revolution was
steaming along (pun quite intended, as steam engines, with their inherent
dangers of exploding or causing burns, where quite common).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Factories were dimly lit labyrinths of
crowded machinery with uncovered gears, flywheels, belts and mechanized cutting
tools whirring along inches from workers hands and feet.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">To alleviate the
suffering visited upon injured workers, many states, including Connecticut,
began to pass workers’ compensation laws that <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/conn_workers_comp_lawyer.htm"><span style="color: blue;">removed
questions of fault</span></a>, contributory negligence and assumption of risk from the
determination of when and how a worker who was hurt on the job could be
compensated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These laws were based on
the idea that the contract between an employer and worker automatically
included a provision that the employer would compensate an injured worker for
an accident at work provided that the injury did not arise through the
employer’s intentional or willful misconduct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In 1913, to
support himself and help support his mother, John J. Powers worked at
Hartford’s five-star <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Bond"><span style="color: blue;">Hotel
Bond</span></a>, a brand new, state-of-the-art facility that featured a magnificent
ballroom on its top floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Powers,
tragically, suffered a fatal accident at work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">This tragic
accident would give the Connecticut Supreme Court its first opportunity to
review the Workers’ Compensation Act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In its decision, the court set forth the fundamental principles that 100
years later still underpin Connecticut’s law for compensating employees who are
hurt at work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The court also explained
the goals behind the Act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately, given how the workers’ compensation system actually works
today, these goals are awash with irony. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia;">First, The Case</span></u><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">After Mr.
Powers’s death at his job, his mother filed a workers’ compensation case to be
compensated for the loss of the financial support which he had been providing
her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She won the case and the workers’
compensation commissioner awarded her $5 per week for 6 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The Hotel Bond
Company appealed the workers’ compensation case to the Connecticut Superior
Court, which upheld the award.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hotel
Bond then appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court, arguing that the Superior
Court should have tried the case all over again, that Mr. Powers’s mother
should not get workers’ compensation because she was not his dependent, and
that it was wrong for the commissioner to have awarded her the $5 per week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The Supreme Court
upheld the workers’ compensation commissioner’s decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In doing so, the justices found that the 6
years of $5 weekly payments was reasonable, noting that the Workers’
Compensation Act stated that the compensation to be paid to the dependents of a
worker killed on the job was a minimum of $5 and a maximum of $10 per week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The justices also
ruled that it would make no sense for there to be a whole new trial of the
facts during an appeal to the Superior Court; instead, the point of the appeal
was to see if the workers’ compensation commissioner had followed the Act and
if there were sufficient facts in the case for the commissioner reasonably to
have ruled as he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Supreme Court
also found that Mr. Powers’s mother could be considered a dependent under the
Workers’ Compensation Act.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Now The Irony<o:p></o:p></span></u><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The words of the justices:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="BlockQuote" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The act by eliminating the proof of
negligence, by minimizing the delay in the award, and by making it reasonably
certain, seeks to avoid the great waste of the tort action, and to promote
better feeling between workman and employer, and accepts, as an inevitable
condition of industry, the happening of accident, and charges its cost to the
industry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The reality:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Workers’
Compensation cases in Connecticut can and often do go on for years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It usually takes several weeks to schedule a
hearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most hearings are “informal,”
meaning that they are simply a negotiating session supervised by the workers’
compensation commissioner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The parties
often follow the recommendations of the commissioner at these informal
hearings, but they are not required to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">To decide a
workers’ compensation case, a commissioner has to take evidence at a “formal”
hearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are scheduled
infrequently and far into the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The reason:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Connecticut has
about 1.8 million persons in the labor force and there are only 16
commissioners to handle all the cases of persons who are hurt on the job.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The workers’ compensation
system hardly fosters good feelings between a worker and employer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Insurance rates go up when persons are hurt
on the job so employers often try to keep injured workers from making claims.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if a employer is sympathetic to an
employee hurt on the job, it is not the employer who usually controls the
compensation process but the insurance company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Some larger employers are self-insured for workers’ compensation
claims, but they are usually very difficult to deal with because every dollar
paid on a claim is a dollar off the bottom line.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Economists
would argue that industry bears cost of work accidents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Companies simply pass on their premium costs
onto the consumer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Companies also join
together to lobby the state legislature to reduce the benefits paid to injured
workers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the last significant
reform of the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Act, which took place in the
1990’s, the amount paid to workers for permanent disability was reduced by approximately
one-third.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That reform also limited the
commissioners’ power to award benefits after injured workers are paid for
permanent disability.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The words of the justices:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="BlockQuote" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">[The Workers’
Compensation Act’s] procedure contemplates a speedy investigation and hearing
by a commissioner without the formalities of a court and without, as a general
rule, the employment of an attorney. It attempts to improve the condition of
the workman under modern methods of industry by giving him partial recompense
for an injury, with a result more certain and speedy and less expensive than
under the former method in tort litigation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The reality:<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Investigations
of a workers’ compensation case are hardly speedy, especially, as if often the
case, a workers has previously been hurt in a car accident or other personal
injury case or has a prior or subsequent job accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Investigation often involves sending workers
to a series of doctors for opinions as to what accident caused the employee’s
injury or disability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oftentimes, these
doctor’s visits have nothing to do with making the injured worker better but
only serve to push around the finger of blame for the injury.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While
it is not necessary to have an attorney for a workers compensation case, it
also is not necessary to go to the dentist to deal with a toothache. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which might be more painful<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to
pull your own tooth or to handle your own workers’ compensation case<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>—<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is
an open question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Act is several
hundred pages long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The workers’
compensation law has deadlines that if missed can mean the end of a case for
the injured worker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Act itself is
complex and this is compounded by the fact that decisions from the appellate
courts and the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Review Board often
significantly alter the law.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Although
far from perfect, the Connecticut Workers’ Compensation Act often does provide
injured workers with the ability to recover financially, at least in part, from
their injuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best course of
action:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>stay alert and <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_workers_comp_safety.htm"><span style="color: blue;">work
safely</span></a> to lessen your chance of getting hurt at work.<o:p></o:p></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-41322179426580604882014-03-22T05:39:00.000-04:002014-04-18T08:45:45.149-04:00Finding Fault in a Personal Injury Rear-End Accident Without Direct Evidence of Carelessness<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Connecticut Car Accident Personal Injury Lawyer, New Britain - Farmington" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6dmO5amocHynv0LpzIfvydrEHpp_pPxKQ-psS5D2KCiTVDp7bebK1ilIBRz26ITnGU-qEhTRBYyja7TYwN7iRYv8AX8JAUyg2bevgMTiJ-_jOJMItFxKVU4UhVibItKpPeATTf0oH66B/s1600/Car+Crash.jpg" height="135" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Proving Fault in Rear End Auto</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Accident Personal Injury Case</span></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<strong><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia;"><em>Rawls v. Progressive Northern Ins. Co</em>., ___ A.3rd ___, 310 Conn. 768 (2014)</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In a <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/conn_auto_accident_lawyer.htm" target="_blank">car accident case</a> where there was no evidence as to
what the defendant driver was doing when he crashed into the plaintiff’s car
from behind, the Connecticut Supreme Court looked back to a 1932 case involving
a team of horses to rule that a jury could find that the driver was careless
because the accident occurred in broad daylight on a straight road.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was 5 pm on June 14, 1929.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edward Stevens was driving his father’s car on the road from
Hartford to Middletown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up ahead, he
saw a slow moving line of traffic following a team of horses pulling a baker
wagon, which was probably returning home after distributing the bread and
pastries that had been baked that morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Edward told the jury he signaled and slowed down.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Behind Edward, William J. Ghent, Jr. was a passenger in a
car driven by </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">Thomas Hellyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thomas hit Edward’s car from behind and the
impact tragically threw William from the car onto the pavement, killing
him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Seatbelts were not available in
cars until the Nash automobile company made them an option in 1949.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thomas told the jury that he drove into Edward’s car
because Edward tried to pass the line of cars but suddenly swerved back due to an oncoming car
.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edward denied
doing this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The jury believed Edward,
not Thomas, and said that Edward was not responsible for this fatal accident.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thomas appealed to the Connecticut Supreme Court.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Court concluded that there was “abundant
evidence” to support the jury’s decision, stating, “from our examination of the
evidence, it would appear that the jury might reasonably have concluded that
the sole cause of the accident was </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">the negligence of the
operator of the car in which [William] was riding” because it “was broad
daylight on a clear day,” the “road was straight,” and Thomas “had a full view
of the [Edward’s] car and of the traffic ahead, and had abundant opportunity
either to have stopped his car if under reasonable control or to have turned
out to the right and avoided the accident.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fast forward to a red traffic light in Bridgeport,
Connecticut, at 11:30 pm on March 27, 2006.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ronald Rawls stops at the light and about 15 seconds later hears a “loud
noise” and is “hit from behind real hard” by a car driven by Zabian
Bailey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ronald tells the jury that he
“did not see Bailey’s car prior to the collision, did not know where Bailey was
looking when the accident occurred, was not aware of Bailey’s speed, and could
not state whether Bailey had applied his brakes or swerved prior to the
collision.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The jury decided that Zabian was responsible for this
rear end accident and gave Ronald money for his medical bills and personal
injuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Zabian did not have
insurance, so Ronald’s lawyer filed a claim against Ronald’s own insurance
company, Progressive Northern, which was responsible for the accident under the
<a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_no_insurance.htm"><span style="color: blue;">uninsured
motorist</span></a> part of Ronald’s policy.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Progressive appealed to the Connecticut Appellate Court,
which threw out the jury’s verdict, noting that Ronald’s recollection of a loud noise did not prove negligence and he did not have any eyewitness to prove
that Zabian had been negligent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unhappy
that he would not get anything for his personal injury case, Ronald had his
lawyer appeal to the Connecticut Supreme Court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A lot was riding on the Supreme Court’s decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Think about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most common car accident personal injury case is a rear end
accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many times, if not most of
the time, the driver and passengers in the car that gets hit do not see the car
that hits them before the crash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are looking forward, the driver waiting for the light to change, the passengers
seated normally, eyes forward. There are often no witnesses to an accident
or the witnesses often leave before the police arrive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If the Appellate Court’s decision became the law, no one
could recover money for a rear end personal injury car accident case unless
they were looking backwards or had witnesses to prove that the other driver was
not paying attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The case was so
important that the <a href="http://www.cttriallawyers.org/index.cfm"><span style="color: blue;">Connecticut
Trial Lawyers Association</span></a> asked permission to file a brief (written
argument) with the Supreme Court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fortunately for Ronald<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">—</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> and for anyone that gets hurt in Connecticut when
a careless driver hits them from behind<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">—</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"> the Supreme Court overturned the Appellate Court
and gave Ronald the money that the jury had awarded him for his personal injury case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking back to Edward Stevens and the slow
moving team of horses, the Supreme Court stated, “The present case is similar
to <em>Ghent v. Stevens</em> … in which this court found that there was sufficient
evidence to support findings of negligence and causation based on the facts
that there was a rear-end collision in ‘broad daylight,’ on a ‘clear day,’ and
on a straight road with a ‘full view’ of the traffic ahead.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In reinstating the jury verdict, the Supreme Court
stated:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><div class="BlockQuote" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in;">
First, the jury could
have considered the fact that the plaintiff was stopped at a red traffic light
and that traffic lights are normally highly visible to drivers. The jury also
could have considered that, because the weather was clear and the road was flat
and straight, the traffic light and the two stopped cars at that light probably
would have been visible from a great distance. In addition, the jury could have
inferred from the fact that the plaintiff was stopped for fifteen seconds prior
to the collision that the traffic light was red for at least fifteen seconds,
if not <span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
<div class="BlockQuote" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">longer …. Bailey </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">thus would have had ample
opportunity to react and </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;">avoid the collision if he
had been acting with reasonable<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="BlockQuote" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">care.</span>” </div>
</span><div class="BlockQuote" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Summing up:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have
car insurance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watch out for traffic
ahead of you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wear your seatbelt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you are hit from behind and suffer personal injury in Connecticut, get a lawyer
who can remind the court about those horses pulling the baker’s carriage back
to Middletown.</span></div>
</span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-27117577228592597412014-03-21T03:09:00.000-04:002014-04-18T08:46:14.683-04:00A Personal Injury Case Gets Lost When Notice of an Injury Does Not Get Noticed<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9t_mbvGCxM8COebKYIt00hNBlNRBh1u6FFc9Vf0qAkw8leNJNe_j7q_NkYMlHRyycc-Q_VpXMUvfadlleOhcwVFA_wGyOV6Lhm_rxhJYzAYHDKlIeh6bBXr182lNKVSTqzI1ifY4qnJOT/s1600/SLF+Icon+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Connecticut Personal Injury Accident Attorney, Hartford - Waterbury" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9t_mbvGCxM8COebKYIt00hNBlNRBh1u6FFc9Vf0qAkw8leNJNe_j7q_NkYMlHRyycc-Q_VpXMUvfadlleOhcwVFA_wGyOV6Lhm_rxhJYzAYHDKlIeh6bBXr182lNKVSTqzI1ifY4qnJOT/s1600/SLF+Icon+2.png" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Connecticut</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: blue;">Personal Injury Law</span></strong></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><em>Walker v. Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport</em>, AC 34096 (March 11, 2014)</strong></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When Delores Walker got <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_fall_down.htm" target="_blank">hurt on property</a> belonging to the
Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport, she probably was thinking that she
needed a lawyer and probably not thinking about how our legal system in
Connecticut comes from the days of the kings in England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately, the fact that our law goes back
to the English common law cost her the chance to recover for her <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_personal_injury_lawyer.htm" target="_blank">personal injury</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In olde England, the King was not just the ruler, the
King was the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you got hurt
because the royal carriage knocked you down, you could not sue the King because
that would be like saying the law was wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You could only sue the King if the King let you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And today, you can only sue the government,
including the Housing Authority of Bridgeport, if the government lets you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The government does let you sue for personal injuries
caused by the carelessness of government employees, but you have to do it in
exactly the way the government lets you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you want to sue a government housing authority in Connecticut, you
have to follow <a href="http://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_128.htm#sec_8-67" target="_blank">General Statutes § 8-67</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This statute says that any person injured on housing authority property
must send a notice of the injury within 6 months to the chairman or secretary
of the housing authority.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Through her attorney, Ms. Walker sent a notice addressed
to “Bridgeport Housing Authority” with the salutation “To Whom It May
Concern.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The notice followed the
requirements of the statute in that it identified Ms. Walker as the injured
person, stated when and where she was injured, and stated that she intended to
sue for her personal injuries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
because the notice was not specifically addressed to either the secretary or
chairman of the housing authority, neither of them noticed it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Unfortunately
for Ms. Walker, she and her lawyer were never able to tell a jury about her
personal injury case because the lawyer for the housing authority noticed that
the notice was never noticed by who the law said needed to notice it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her case was knocked out of court by summary
judgment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s good to be the king.</span></span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1372249479680011495.post-55316041018959142862014-03-16T12:53:00.001-04:002014-04-18T08:47:13.283-04:00A Rolls Royce on the Hartford - New London Turnpike Gets Connecticut's Accident Law Rolling<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3ijqwFIF6JfRUYK_qKeYdTATfzYb9TgwhGpvj5eghyphenhyphentGhVSxa3GUbOmnKHBMBSJE0ly4KpJOFziya3LK9CUsrL98CO_YGk7VdovUZVrjyLMLTiA1idysnpmrwOOm7N1NVUyAPRfNrsB8/s1600/rr+30x30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Connecticut Personal Injury Accident Law" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3ijqwFIF6JfRUYK_qKeYdTATfzYb9TgwhGpvj5eghyphenhyphentGhVSxa3GUbOmnKHBMBSJE0ly4KpJOFziya3LK9CUsrL98CO_YGk7VdovUZVrjyLMLTiA1idysnpmrwOOm7N1NVUyAPRfNrsB8/s1600/rr+30x30.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #38761d;">Car Accident Law </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="color: #38761d;">From the Roaring 20's</span></strong></td></tr>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #006600; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong><em>Mahoney v. Beatman</em>, 147 A. 762, 110 Conn. 184 (1929)</strong></span></span></span></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br />
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It was July 1926, the <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Gatsby-Scott-Fitzgerald/dp/0743273567" target="_blank">Great Gatsby</a></i> era, the height of the Roaring 20’s. Edward Mahoney was speeding towards the Connecticut shore on the Hartford –
New London Turnpike (nowadays you would take Route 2) in his brand new Rolls
Royce, his chauffeur at the wheel, the speedometer marking 60 miles per
hour. Joseph Beatman was coming the other way driving his Nash (made in
Wisconsin, the Nash automobile company merged with Hudson to form American
Motors Corporation, whose best known car was the Rambler and which was bought
out by Chrysler in 1987 — ask your grandfather).</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> Proving
that you do not need to be texting on a cell phone to drive distracted and
cause a <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/conn_auto_accident_lawyer.htm" target="_blank">car accident</a>, Joe was turned toward the back seat as he drove, presumably
having a conversation with his passengers, perhaps about whether Babe Ruth
would again slam 50 homers that year.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> Joe’s Nash
crossed over the center of the road. Ed’s chauffeur tried to avoid the
crash by driving off the concrete highway onto the gravel shoulder. The
Nash struck the hub caps of the Rolls Royce’s left front wheel, the spare wheel
on the running board, and the fender. The Rolls Royce went diagonal for
125 feet, crossed the road, hit a tree, knocked down a 2 1/2 foot stone wall
and rolled over onto its side. The chauffeur never braked after the
collision.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> Fortunately, Ed and his chauffeur were
okay. Ed’s Rolls Royce, however, was not. To repair the damage
caused by the accident would cost $5850, a stupendous auto body shop bill equal
to $77,000 today.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"></span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> Ed hired a lawyer and sued. Joe’s lawyer argued that if the
chauffer had not been racing along at 60 mph, he would have been able to
maintain control after the impact and the damage to the Rolls Royce would have
been much less.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> The case was tried to a judge. Concluding that the accident was wholly caused by Joe driving onto
the wrong side of the road, but agreeing with Joe’s lawyer that the chauffeur’s
unreasonable speed caused him to lose control of the car after the collision,
the judge gave Ed only $200 for the accident. A very unhappy Ed appealed to the
Connecticut Supreme Court.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> In deciding the case, the Supreme Court’s
ruling established a fundamental principle still used today by Connecticut’s
courts to determine when a negligent driver (or his insurance company) must pay
for damage caused by his carelessness. This rule applies to all tort, negligence, and personal injury cases, not just to car accident cases.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Supreme Court’s decision came out on November 7, 1929, nine
days after <i>Black Tuesday</i>, when the stock market crashed, the roaring
twenties hushed up, and the Great Depression started.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given that he had a Rolls Royce and a chauffeur to drive it, Ed
undoubtedly was a member of that gilded age’s millionaire club and he probably
took a beating when the market collapsed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Court’s decision must have given him a ray of sunshine during those
dark times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reasoning that because the
chauffeur’s speed had nothing to do with bringing about the accident, the Court ruled
that Joe’s crossing the center of the road was the “proximate cause” of all of
Ed’s damages and ordered the trial court to make Joe responsible for the full
$5850 repair bill to the Rolls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Supreme Court stated that a careless or negligent person is
responsible for all natural and probable consequences of the careless or
negligent act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the negligent person’s
act is a substantial factor in producing the damages, then he or she must pay
for the damage, unless an independent and unexpected force intervenes to
produce the damage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Applying this rule to the facts of the case, the Court held
that the chauffeur’s speed was not a new and independent event that caused the
damage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the damage arose because
Joe crossed the line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether the Rolls
was traveling below, at or above the speed limit had nothing to do with causing
the accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 60 mph speed of the
Rolls therefore was not a proximate cause of the damage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether Ed ever collected the $5850 from Joe or Joe’s insurance
company for this accident is a different story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And even if he got paid, perhaps as a result of the stock market
crash he ultimately had to give up his Rolls Royce and his chauffeur.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> Ed’s name lives on, however, linked to the most
famous ruling in Connecticut tort and <a href="http://www.serranolawyer.com/accident_personal_injury_lawyer.htm" target="_blank">personal injury</a> law, <i>Mahoney v. Beatman</i>, that if you
case an accident because of your negligence or carelessness, do not complain
that the damages would have been less if the other driver had managed to better
control her car after the crash, or had been wearing a seat belt (why not a
crash helmet?), or was more physically fit, or had been driving a Hummer<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>— none of those things have anything to do
with causing the accident itself.</span></span> </span> </span><br />
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</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13986042048838417447noreply@blogger.com0