An explosion at the Chevron Pascagoula Refinery claimed the life of a worker after a fire ignited an explosion in the furnace where the man was working. According to the director of the Jackson County Emergency Services, fire units extinguished the flames and prevented any harmful chemicals from being released to the public. An investigation of the explosion is currently underway.
The suit on behalf of a St. Bernard man who passed away as a result of a rare brain infection has been settled with two manufacturing companies who were blamed for the man’s death. The lawsuit alleged that the “neti pot” used to clear the man’s sinuses and the water heater in the man’s home were defective and ultimately responsible for the brain-eating amoeba that infected the man and took his life. The parents of the victim settled with the companies and the wrongful death lawsuit was subsequently dismissed.
Students swimming at an on-campus pool at a St. Martin Parish school were transported to the hospital after a large surge of chlorine was released in the water and air surrounding the pool. The school’s swim coach noticed poor circulation of chlorine in the water’s pool and turned on a system that was intended to fix the problem. Instead, a large burst of chlorine consumed the area, causing an evacuation of the area and sending many of the swimmers to the hospital. Roughly 25 students, aged 12 to 15, were swimming in the pool at the time and many complained of throat irritation and breathing problems.
18-wheelers on the Bonnet Carre Spillway, causing both trucks to overturn. The first accident occurred when the truck driver swerved out of the motorist’s way to avoid a head-on collision. The second accident occurred only a few miles later when the impaired driver’s SUV struck the other 18-wheeler head-on. Fortunately, no fatalities were reported, but all drivers involved in the accidents suffered minor injuries. The impaired SUV driver was charged with DWI and other offenses.
A worker at the Home Furniture Distribution Center in Lafayette was killed after he was struck by a piece of heavy equipment. The man was standing on a loading platform when the equipment fell on him, causing major injuries. He was transported to the Lafayette General Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), this is the twenty-first death resulting from a workplace accident this year and the third to occur in the Lafayette area. An investigation of the accident is underway.
Employers are obligated to maintain a safe working environment to prevent injuries or deaths from occurring in the workplace. This includes making sure that equipment is safe and secure, employees are properly trained, and hazard-free work conditions are maintained at every hour of the day. These safety standards are heightened when the work environment involves the constant use of heavy equipment or machinery. An employer’s negligence to preserve safe working conditions could lead to liability for damages resulting from a workplace accident. If you have suffered an injury in the workplace, you should immediately consult with a skilled personal injury attorney who can adequately assess your situation and protect your rights.
A multi-vehicle crash in Duson sent ten hospital patients back to the hospital when the van they were occupying was rear-ended by another vehicle, causing the van to collide with a truck stopped in front of it. The ten passengers were treated at a nearby hospital for minor injuries and the motorist that caused the multi-vehicle accident was cited for careless operation.
Lafayette Parish has been among the top three parishes in Louisiana for alcohol-related crashes, and was one of 10 pilot parishes to receive money from the state Department of Health and Hospitals to reduce such accidents.
In 2009, The Knowledge Effect (previously the Lafayette Coalition to Prevent Substance Abuse), a coalition to fight drunk driving, received a $1.3 million dollar grant to increase DWI patrols and boost the number of DWI arrests in Lafayette Parish.
According to a report issued by the coalition, the drunk driving arrests in Lafayette has risen from 211 in 2007 to 1,144 in 2011, and a decrease in alcohol-related fatal wrecks in Lafayette Parish from 24 in 2007 and 2008 to 16 in 2009 and 11 in 2010.
Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft wrote that “the program’s all-inclusive approach to every aspect of alcohol use has been very effective and contributed to the decreased number of deaths from alcohol- related accidents in Lafayette.”
The Louisiana School Boards Association passed a resolution in unanimous support for the Bullying Prevention Act of 2012, an anti-school bullying bill before the state legislature this session. The bill purports to make schools safer by providing a means for students to directly report instances of violence to school administrators and school board officials.
Almost one third of all students ages 12 to 18 report being bullied in U.S. schools. In the tragic event that bullying leads to serious injury or suicide, the victim or victim’s family may have legal rights under state tort law. Negligence law can be used to hold a school legally responsible for a bullying injury if the school failed to adequately supervise or protect the students. Intentional tort claims can also arise against a school and bully when a student suffers an intentional injury at school.
In addition to state law, Title IX of the Federal Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that gives a student the right to sue her school district if the student suffered severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive sexual harassment while at a federally funded school and if the school administrator knew of the harassment and ignored it.
This month a former worker sued the Lafayette Housing Authority for back wages, claiming that she was wrongfully terminated in violation of her employment contract. This lawsuit marks the fourth lawsuit against the organization by former contract workers. As of now, two lawsuits have been settled for a total of $40,000.
In Louisiana, most employees are at-will employees. This designation means that an employer can terminate an employee for any lawful reason, with or without cause. Nevertheless, an action for wrongful termination arises if an employer fires an employee in violation of a protected legal right.
An employee’s legal rights may arise by contract or by operation of law. For example, if an employee has a contract with an employer, termination in violation of the contract could violate the employee’s contractual legal rights and give rise to a wrongful termination claim. As another illustration, if an employer fires an employee on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, or national origin, an employer may be in violation of federal and state employment discrimination statutes.
The Louisiana Supreme Court recently ruled that a plaintiff bringing a legal malpractice suit does not need to first appeal his original case prior to filing a legal malpractice suit against his attorney. The Court also stated that expert testimony is not always required to prove a legal malpractice claim in the state. The Court’s holding simplifies the process of bringing a legal malpractice claim and eases a plaintiff’s burden in proving the claim.
In MB Industries, LLC v. CNA Insurance Company, the plaintiff sued its attorney after its attorney handed over their documents without first copying them during document production. These actions caused an adverse outcome in the plaintiff’s case. The Court found that a reasonable jury would find this situation to be negligence under any standard of care, and for this reason, the case required no expert testimony to prove the claim. However, the Court ultimately decided that the plaintiff failed to meet its burden of proof in the case.
Legal malpractice occurs when an attorney handles a lawsuit with negligence. The legal profession imposes various ethical and professional duties on lawyers. To prove attorney negligence, the plaintiff must prove that the attorney’s conduct fell below a reasonable standard of care expected from lawyers and that this breach of care caused the plaintiff to lose his case and suffer financial harm.
To prove legal malpractice cases, Louisiana courts utilize a “case within a case” approach, which can make legal malpractice claims notoriously difficult to prove. To prove causation, the plaintiff needs to prove that his underlying case would have been successful, but for his attorney’s negligence. In other words, a Court must determine that the plaintiff would have clearly won his underlying case to proceed with his legal malpractice lawsuit.
Louisiana Lawyer Blog