Oregon Personal Injury Blog - Wrongful Death

Xcel Energy HydroPlant Chemical Fire Kills Five Contract Workers

Courtney Mills — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 12:29:38 GMT

A smoldering fire 1000 ft. inside a tunnel at a hydro-electric plant outside of Georgetown, Colorado, developed late Tuesday, killing five contract workers of the company as they tried in vain to escape.

The five who perished in the chemical fire were from a group of nine contract maintenance workers at Xcel Energy. The workers had crawled 1,000 feet inside an empty 4,000 foot long underground water tunnel to perform certain maintenance upgrades when something went awry.

The machinery used to apply epoxy to the surface metal of the tunnel to prevent corrosion malfunctioned and ignited a chemical fire, trapping the workers in the tunnel and subjecting them to toxic fumes of burning epoxy resin. Officials at Excel Energy and Cabin Creek authorities had initially hoped to rescue the trapped workers, but efforts proved futile. Miraculously, four co-workers were able to escape the fire alive.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Wrongful Death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Courtney Mills

Worker Dies in Wind Tower Collapse

Jenny Albano — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 22:49:09 GMT

Chadd Mitchell died on Saturday at a wind farm that is under construction in Oregon. Mitchell was killed when a 242-foot-tall tower he was working on fell over.

Mitchell, of Goldendale, Washington, was working at the top of the tower -- essentially a hollow tube -- when it buckled. A second worker in the tube was injured and a third worker on the ground was not hurt, according to The Oregonian newspaper. Federal officials are investigating the incident, it said.

Mitchell's death is the first reported for the wind power industry due to a tower collapse.

Susan Sloan of the American Wind Energy Association stated that wind turbines and the towers that hold them are not inherently unsafe, and said she could not speak specifically of the Oregon incident. Sloan also mentioned that there have been a handful of people who have been killed while performing maintenance or construction at wind farms.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Workplace Injuries and Discrimination.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano

Woman Suing Portland for Brother's Death

Christina Cole — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 18:44:57 GMT

A Portland police sniper that killed a man in 2005 is now being sued his sister that has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officer and the city.

The lawsuit alleges the officer of excessive force in the death of her brother, whom the officer shot in the back with an M-16 rifle. She further accuses the city of wrongful death for their role in what the lawsuit describes is the officer's long history of excessive force.

On November 4, 2005, the man was suicidal, drunk and armed with a gun when police surrounded his apartment. He was in phone contact with officials at the time he was shot to death.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Widow Files Wrongful Death Claim Against the State

Christina Cole — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 17:49:18 GMT

A wrongful death claim filed against Ohio state contends a police officer killed when responding to a call should have been notified the man being pursued could possibly be armed and dangerous.

The officer's widow has filed suit against the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the state patrol. JuWanna Taylor's case will go before the Ohio Court of Claims on Monday, January 23rd.

Taylor was killed near Massillon in August 2002 when responding to a call for help from the patrol. The state says dispatchers followed proper procedures that were in place. Since then, the state began developing a warning system that kicks in when Police encounter someone threatening harm to a law enforcement officer.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settles for $250,000

Christina Cole — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 13:28:33 GMT

A wrongful death lawsuit has been settled with a Mother whose son was killed when a state representative's son hit him in a fatal drunken car crash.

After pleading guilty last year to a felony charge of leaving the scene of the accident that resulted in death and a misdemeanor count of drunk driving, Andrew Saunders, has been ordered to serve four years in prison.

Saunders was driving a car registered to his Father, Representative Tom Saunders, on February 4, 2005, after drinking at the New Castle Elks Lodge when he hit Thomas Michael Jackman. Jackman's Mother, Olive, filed a wrongful death suit involving Saunders and the Elk Club that served him drinks, but has agreed to settle the case for $250,000 according to Henry Circuit Court records.

As part of the settlement, the Elks Club denies any liability for the injuries.
During his sentencing hearing in December, Saunders told Thomas Jackman's 92-year-old mother that he was sorry. Olive Jackman said her son had helped her around the house with banking and other responsibilities. She now must rely on the help of friends.
The Associated Press left messages seeking comment Monday at Tom Saunders' home and Statehouse office. Saunders was first elected to the Indiana House in 1996. His district covers parts of Henry, Randolph and Wayne counties in eastern Indiana.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Christina Cole

Wife runs over, kills husband with Mercedes-Benz

Staff Writer — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 10:42:02 GMT

A wrongful death lawsuit in Texas began Tuesday, involving a woman who was convicted of running over her husband with her Mercedes-Benz in 2002 after finding him at a hotel with his mistress.

The wife was sentenced to 20 years of prison time in the murder of her husband. The victim's parents are now suing their daughter-in-law for monetary damages in the wrongful death of their son, according to a report from kwtx.com.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Should Philip Morris be Subject to Collective Punishment?

Brad Brad — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 12:14:34 GMT

In an Oregon Court case, Philip Morris complained that the non-parties in the case were never identified, their individual circumstances were not presented in court, and there was no way for a defendant to respond to allegations of widespread harm.

Philip Morris argues that individual smokers should have to prove their own cases.

In my opinion, this illustrates a larger issue of personal responsibility. Should the courts decide that individuals should have listened to the governments health warnings or the cigarette companies assurances that cigarettes were not harmful. Common sense would indicate that the former would be true.

Read more about the recent case and the issue of damages in this story by Associated Press reporter Pete Yost-
In Oregon case, court weighs damages against cigarette company
By PETE YOST / Associated Press

In the case over punitive damages, the Williams family is counting on justices to find that Philip Morris' conduct was so reprehensible that it justifies exceeding guidelines the court has laid out in two rulings in the past 10 years that struck down large awards.
One difference is that the earlier cases did not involve physical injuries.
The company doesn't deny making public statements rejecting a link between smoking and cancer; rather, it says there's no evidence Williams ever heard the statements or ever read them.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brad Brad

Oregon Wrongful Death Lawsuit Brings Question of Punitive Damages to Supreme Court

Staff Writer — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 14:27:55 GMT

I was reading the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog today when a post by Peter Lattman caught my eye. Lawyers Banter Over Punitive Damages, while highlighting WSJ's new Legal Banter column, also notes that the US Supreme Court will once again address the issue of punitive damages in Philip Morris v. Williams next term.

The case is on appeal from the Oregon's Supreme Court, which ruled that a $79.5 million punitive damages award -- when compared to a compensatory damages award of less than $1 million -- was not excessive...
The Court last addressed punitive damages in 2003's State Farm v. Campbell. In that case, the court overturned a $145 million punitive damages award and set a soft limit on punitives, ruling that "few awards exceeding a single-digit ratio between punitive and compensatory damages" will "satisfy due process."

On a similar note, Tampa-area "blawger" Bob Carroll recently commented that the Florida Supreme Court's decision to uphold a lower court's ruling, which threw out $145 billion in punitive damages against the tobacco companies, may open the door for a flood of individual Florida tobacco lawsuits.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Another Wrongful Death Case Involving Big Tobacco

Staff Writer — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 08:37:22 GMT

In another wrongful death case against cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris, the Oregon Court of Appeals threw out a $150 million verdict for the estate of Oregon woman Michelle Schwarz, who died of cancer at age 53 after smoking low-tar cigarettes.

Attorneys for Schwarz claimed that the company had marketed its low-tar cigarettes as a safer alternative to regular cigarettes.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Roosevelt Robinson reduced the $150 million verdict to $100 million, saying the original verdict was "grossly excessive." The Oregon Court of Appeals vacated the verdict and remanded the case for a new trial to determine appropriate punitive damages.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer

Oregon Wrongful Death Case Goes to Supreme Court

Staff Writer — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 08:05:17 GMT

A wrongful death case against Philip Morris USA that was upheld in the Oregon Supreme Court earlier in 2006 will go to the U.S. Supreme Court this fall.

The case involved the family of Jesse D. Williams, who died of lung cancer in 1997 after smoking cigarettes since the 1950s. Williams was a janitor and smoked three packs of Marlboros a day. An Oregon jury awarded the Williams family $80 million, and the Oregon Supreme Court upheld the ruling, saying that it was not an excessive amount due to the Philip Morris company's "extraordinarily reprehensible" conduct in marketing cigarettes.

In the Oregon Supreme Court ruling, the court stated that Philip Morris,

knew that smoking caused serious and sometimes fatal disease, but it nevertheless spread false or misleading information to suggest to the public that doubts remained about the issue.

This case will give the U.S. Supreme Court a chance to clarify their ruling in 2003 regarding an insurance case that set guidelines for deciding punitive damage amounts.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Staff Writer