Category Archives: Injuries

by | December 25, 2012 · 8:25 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Oregon Restaurant Employee Awarded $70,000 In "Unlawful Employment Practices" Lawsuit; Woman Claimed Discrimination After Filing For Workers' Compensation

“…the (plaintiff) was placed in a position to work near heat, which caused a re-blistering of the wound, according to the lawsuit…(her) physician contacted the worker’s compensation carrier again to say she was to Hospitality Industry Lawsuitwork on modified duties without exposure to heat, the lawsuit states KFC continued to expose Vargas to heat in the workplace…”

“…her physician instructed her not to return to work because KFC was not able to follow the modified duty requirement. Vargas then told her employer she could not return to work until her burn healed…two days later, KFC terminated her employment, stating that Vargas had resigned…”

A Salem woman was awarded more than $70,000 after a lawsuit she filed against Chick Inc., the Salem company that owns three KFC franchises, for unlawful employment practices. Jurors unanimously found in favor of plaintiff Sarai Vargas, who claimed she was wrongfully discharged and that she experienced discrimination after filing for workers compensation because of a workplace burn. A four-day trial ended Dec. 14.

While wearing protective gloves, Vargas suffered second-degree burns after grease splattered on her right arm as she pulled chicken from the grill oven May 9, 2010, Vargas’ lawyer Larry Linder said.

Vargas was treated by a doctor for the burn and was cleared to return to work on a modified duty, which included light activity with no exposure to heat, Linder said.

For more:  http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20121225/NEWS/312250021/Woman-who-took-KFC-court-wins-70-000

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by | December 23, 2012 · 8:00 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Connecticut Hotel Guilty In "Wrongful Death" Lawsuit Filed By Family Of Man Killed By Hotel Van; Jury Awards $2.3 Million For Driver's Negligence

The jurors ruled both Coleman and Campos were at fault in the accident. But the jurors said Coleman, and thus LaQuinta as well, were responsible for 58 percent of the negligence and Campos was responsible for 42 Hospitality Industry Lawsuitpercent…the (victim) was found to share some of the negligence probably because “no one can say for sure” if he obeyed a stop sign…the (driver) did not have a stop sign…”

“…The lawsuit also alleged (driver) was using a cellphone in violation of state law…the jurors awarded $1,709,840 in damages to the victim’s estate and $580,000 in damages to the widow…”

The family of Jose Mauricio Campos Thursday won a jury verdict of nearly $2.3 million in a wrongful death lawsuit against a hotel corporation and its employee, the driver of a van that struck Campos. Campos, 52, was riding a bicycle at about 6:45 p.m. Sept. 15, 2008 when he was hit by the van, operated by Robert Edward Coleman, near the intersection of Westfield and Gilbert streets in West Haven.

Coleman was a defendant in the civil suit, along with his employer, LaQuinta Inn and Suites, owned by LQ Management. He and the corporation were found to be equally liable.

Campos, who was not wearing a helmet, was thrown to the pavement by the impact and suffered a serious head injury. He died three days later at Yale-New Haven Hospital after emergency surgery. The plaintiff was his wife, Gregoria Campos of West Haven. The Camposes had three sons, now adults.

For more:  http://nhregister.com/articles/2012/12/22/news/new_haven/doc50d67c73417dd288959464.txt

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by | December 22, 2012 · 7:21 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: Gas Fireplace Manufacturers To Provide "Protective Screens" To Prevent Severe Burns From "Scorching Glass Fronts"

“…Under the voluntary standard, the glass is allowed to reach temperatures as high as 500 degrees or 1,328 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the type of glass used. Up to now, most manufacturers have not provided Hotel Glass Fireplacesscreens or prominent safety warnings out of fear of marring the aesthetic appeal of fireplaces or scaring off customers…”

Some have argued that the risks of a fireplace are so obvious that keeping kids safe is simply a matter of good parenting and common sense. However, some child burn victims were hotel guests whose parents had no experience with gas fireplaces.

Fred Stephens’ 11-month-old daughter Lila had to have skin grafts on both palms after suffering third-degree burns from fireplace glass at a resort in the Wisconsin Dells in 2010.

To stave off regulation and lawsuits over severe burns to toddlers, manufacturers will provide protective screens as standard equipment with new gas fireplaces. The industry has revised its voluntary guidelines to call for the addition of mesh screens attached to new fireplaces to prevent contact with the scorching glass fronts.

Fireplace makers will have a long lead time — until Jan. 1, 2015 — to provide screens with new units, though companies are already retooling to do it sooner, said Tom Stroud, a senior manager with the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association.

As reported by FairWarning, more than 2,000 children age 5 and under were injured by contact with the unprotected glass in a recent 10-year period, according to a federal database. The injuries triggered at least a dozen lawsuits and scrutiny by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

For more:  http://www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2012/12/new_gas_fireplaces_to_get_safe.html

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by | December 21, 2012 · 6:56 am

Hospitality Industry Safety Risks: New Jersey Hotel "Not Responsible" For Near-Drowning Of Guest; Jury Finds Pool Area "Complied With State Law"

“…the attorney for the hotel owner, said the pool area complied with state law and asked the jury to consider pool safety No Lifeguard Signthe responsibility borne by Robert Smith and his daughter when they entered the pool…”

A jury in Hackensack on Thursday determined that a hotel owner was not responsible for a near-drowning that left a Georgia man brain-injured after he tried to rescue his daughter from the hotel’s swimming pool.

The family of Robert A. Smith sued Ratan R. Park, LLC., owner of the Ramada Inn in Rochelle Park, for damages after Smith was overcome by water on July 4, 2009, when he tried to rescue his 11-year-old daughter, Brianna, after she drifted into the pool’s deep end.

Smith remains in a nursing home with permanent brain injuries that an attorney for Smith’s family said were the direct result of negligence by the hotel’s owner.

In the trial before Superior Court Judge Charles Powers, Attorney Greg Haddad had argued that the pool’s depth markings were inaccurate, its bottom was steeper than it should have been and the hotel owner failed to provide a “life line” separating the pool’s deep and shallow ends, presenting a “perfect storm” for guests who couldn’t swim.

Neither Smith nor his daughter could swim, and O’Hara in closing arguments on Wednesday in state Superior Court told the jury in the civil case that “both had a duty to exercise reasonable care; they had an obligation to make reasonable observations.”

For more:  http://www.northjersey.com/news/Jury_absolves_Rochelle_Park_hotel_of_responsibility_in_near-drowning_in_pool.html

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by | December 18, 2012 · 7:40 am

Hospitality Industry Insurance Risks: Workers' Comp Insurance Fraud Costs Businesses $7.2 Billion Annually

In 2007 State Fund discovered Safehome Inc. was under reporting their employee payroll to avoid paying the proper premium. An audit was completed and indicated that Safehome Inc. had failed to pay the proper workers compensation insurancepremiums for their workers’ compensation policy in the amount of $477,285. Additionally, State Fund determined the business was operating out of its classification, and related payroll was never reported to either State Fund or EDD, according to investigators.

“…the three types of most common workers’ comp fraud – injured worker fraud, provider fraud and premium fraud – haven’t changed much…”

Workers’ compensation fraud costs businesses $7.2 billion annually, roughly a fifth of all workers’ compensation payments, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

In the past, it’s been challenging to prosecute workers’ compensation fraud, but recently passed legislation is making it easier for agencies like State Fund to work together to fight fraud. In June, as a result of a joint task force that included State Fund, more than 100 enforcement actions were taken against companies for failure to comply with state contracting, insurance and payroll requirements.

And earlier this year, State Fund partnered with other agencies on a fraud case that resulted in a conviction with restitution orders to both State Fund and the Employment Development Department.

For more:  http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2012/12/12/273777.htm

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by | December 16, 2012 · 9:14 am

Hospitality Industry Insurance Risks: Pending Legislation Before Congress Deals With Medicare Payments, Workers' Compensation And Liability Insurance Claims

“…the Medicare Secondary Payer and Workers’ Compensation Settlement Agreements Act of 2012…deals only with workers’ compensation claims, and seeks to establish clear and consistent rules for workers’ workers comp medicalcompensation set-asides for claimants covered by Medicare…”

“…The Strengthening Medicare and Repaying Taxpayers Act…deals with issues related to the Medicare Secondary Payment Act. Specifically, it deals with mandates for providing timely information on conditional payments, penalties and statutes of limitations when claims are reported to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services by insurers and self-insured and third-party payers on no-fault auto-insurance claims, workers’ compensation claims, and claims under liability insurance…”

Insurance and related industries are seeking to win support in the waning days of the current Congress for two pieces of legislation dealing with payment of injured worker claims to people whose primary insurance is Medicare. Officials of both the American Insurance Association and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America are urging action on the bills this year.

Nathaniel Wienecke, PCI senior vice president, Wednesday asked officials of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee if it could act on the bill this year.

Currently, workers’ compensation claims that overlap with Medicare coverage are subject to lengthy, cumbersome review by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to establish the proper “set-side” coverage amounts for future medical expenses, according to PCI officials.

For more:  http://www.propertycasualty360.com/2012/12/14/insurance-reps-push-for-action-on-medicare-seconda?t=commercial

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by | December 11, 2012 · 6:50 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: New Jersey Hotel Sued For "Negligence" By Man Who Suffered Brain Damage In Pool Incident; "Staff Wasn't Prepared To Handle Drowning Emergency"

“…the plaintiff’s attorney, said his clients’ case also is based on a claim that the hotel’s staff wasn’t prepared to handle a drowning emergency. Hotels aren’t required to employ lifeguards but they must designate someone Pool safety No Lifeguard Signas a “certified pool operator.” In this case, the pool operator, an assistant manager, was present when plaintiff went under…but because plaintiff was unresponsive on the pool bottom by the time the pool operator pulled Brianna out of the water, and because the pool operator himself couldn’t swim, he was unable to rescue Smith before he suffered brain damage…”

A Georgia man who suffered permanent brain damage while trying to save his daughter in a hotel swimming pool was the victim of negligent owners who failed to ensure the pool area was safe, a lawyer for the plaintiff said Monday during opening arguments in the civil trial.

Robert A. Smith, 40, was overcome by water on July 4, 2009, when he tried to save his 11-year-old daughter, Brianna, after she drifted into the deep end of the Ramada Inn poll in Rochelle Park. Safeguards that should have been in place – such as visual cues indicating the water’s depth and a “life line” separating the shallow and deep ends – were missing. In combination with a pool bottom that was steeper than it should have been, the result was a “perfect storm” for hotel guests who couldn’t swim, said Greg Haddad, an attorney for Smith’s family.

“This facility, its pool, were operated in a negligent manner,” Haddad told a jury in state Superior Court in Hackensack on Monday. “The focus of this company and these people was to make money at the complete disregard for [the safety of] customers.”

The family of Robert Smith, who remains in a “minimally-conscious state” in a nursing home, is suing the owner of the Ramada Inn, Ratan R. Park, LLC., for damages, said Haddad.

In a recording of the 911 call reporting the drowning, the caller tells the emergency operator, “Somebody’s drowning inside the water. … Nobody can swim here.” Eventually, another hotel guest dove in the water to save Smith.

Smith’s condition is stable, Haddad said, and his doctors believe he could live for another 20 or 25 years. His family is asking for at least enough money to cover his medical expenses, which will amount to $7 million over his lifetime if he is cared for at home, and $12 million if he remains in a nursing home, Haddad said.

For more:  http://www.northjersey.com/news/Lawyers_debate_Rochelle_Park_hotels_liability_in_swimming_pool_case.html

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by | December 9, 2012 · 7:29 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Iowa Restaurant Linked To Meat Contaminated By E. Coli That Nearly Killed Woman; Beef Processing Plant Used Mechanical Tenderizer

“…Although blading and injecting marinades into meat add value for the beef industry, that also can drive pathogens — including the E. coli O157:H7 that destroyed Lamkin’s colon — deeper into the meat…if it isn’t Risks of E. coli contamination in restaurant beefcooked sufficiently, people can get sick. Or die.

Big Beef and other processors are co-mingling ground beef from many different cattle, some from outside the United States, adding to the difficulty for health officials to track contaminated products to their source. The industry has resisted labeling some products, including mechanically tenderized meat, to warn consumers and restaurants to cook it thoroughly.

Three years ago, at age 87, Lamkin was forced to begin wearing a colostomy bag for the rest of her life after a virulent meat-borne pathogen destroyed her large colon and nearly killed her. What made her so sick? A medium-rare steak she ate nine days earlier at an Applebee’s restaurant.

Lamkin, like most consumers today, didn’t know she had ordered a steak that had been run through a mechanical tenderizer. In a lawsuit, Lamkin said her steak came from National Steak Processors Inc., which claimed it got the contaminated meat from a U.S. plant run by Brazilian-based JBS — the biggest beef packer in the world.

“You trust people, trust that nothing is going to happen,” said Lamkin, who feels lucky to be alive at 90, but beef companies “are mass-producing this and shoveling it into us.”

The Kansas City Star investigated what the industry calls “bladed” or “needled” beef, and found the process exposes Americans to a higher risk of E. coli poisoning than cuts of meat that have not been tenderized. The process has been around for decades, but while exact figures are difficult to come by, USDA surveys show that more than 90 percent of beef producers are now using it.

Mechanically tenderized meat is increasingly found in grocery stores, and a vast amount is sold to family-style restaurants, hotels and group homes. The American Meat Institute, an industry lobbying group, has defended the product as safe but recently said it can’t comment further until it sees results of an assessment by the meat safety division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/12/08/4469815/mechanical-tenderizers-linked.html#storylink=cpy

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by | December 8, 2012 · 7:20 am

Hospitality Industry Legal Risks: Illinois Restaurant Sued For Negligence By Woman Who Slipped On "Wet And Slick Floor"; Lawsuit Seeks $50,000 In Medical Costs And Damages

“…as she was walking to the restroom, (the woman) slipped on a wet and slick floor…she suffered severe pain slip_and_fall accidentand discomfort, incurred medical costs and endured damages of more than $50,000, the suit states…”

A woman claims she suffered severe injuries after she slipped and fell on a wet floor at a restaurant. Janet L. Althoff filed a lawsuit Nov. 26 in Madison County Circuit Court against Ali Veseli doing business as Round Table Family Restaurant.

Althoff claims she was visiting Round Table at about 2:30 p.m. on March 9 when she walked from a dining room to a unisex restroom.

Althoff blames Veseli for causing her injuries, saying the restaurant negligently failed to correct the unsafe condition and failed to warn of the wet floor. In her complaint, Althoff seeks an unspecified judgment, plus other relief the court deems just.

For more:  http://madisonrecord.com/issues/366-personal-injury/250097-round-table-family-restaurant-sued-by-woman-who-claims-she-slipped-on-wet-floor

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by | December 3, 2012 · 6:58 am

Hospitality Industry Health Risks: Hotel Employee Causes Chemical Reaction By "Accidentally" Mixing Pool Chemicals, Forcing Evacuation; Hazmat Team Sent For Clean-Up

“…an employee had accidentally poured chlorine into a container of muriatic acid, causing a chemical chlorine gas leakreaction…since chlorine was diluted and poured down a drain by an employee, the Region of Peel’s hazardous materials team has also been sent to the hotel…”

A mishap with pool chemicals has forced some of the staff and guests at the Hilton Garden Inn on Traders Blvd. E. to be evacuated from the hotel this morning.

Everyone on the first floor of the building was evacuated as the Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services Department and police arrived. The second floor has now been evacuated after guests reported smelling chlorine. A Mississauga Transit bus has been sent to the hotel at 100 Traders Blvd. E., just east of Hurontario St.,  to accommodate those who have been forced outside. A decontamination area has been set up to help with the clean-up.

An ambulance has taken one person to Credit Valley Hospital.

For more:  http://www.mississauga.com/news/article/1547378–hotel-evacuated-after-pool-chemical-mix-up

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