Kentucky Injury Lawyer Blog

Justice has apparently been reached in a story worthy of a episode of the popular crim drama, “Law and Order.’’ In a real life injury actress Rosie Perez has settled her personal injury lawsuit with the producers of hit U.S. crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit after suffering an accident on set in 2009.

The actress sustained back and neck area injuries and was forced to wear a brace after she was violently shaken by an extra while shooting an episode for the show.

She filed suit against the show’s production company bosses last year accusing them of negligence in allowing for the conditions for the particular stunt in question to injure her. She insisted they “recklessly and carelessly” failed to provide experienced personnel for the scene.

According to reports, earlier this week, Perez, who was seeking damages in excess of $75,000, reached an agreement with TV executives, according to her representatives. The details of the settlement have not been made public.

Several people — including a deaf man — have joined a lawsuit against Colorado Sheriff Doug Darr over alleged violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The original plaintiffs are Timothy Siaki and his fiancée, Kimberlee Moore, along with the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, an advocacy group. The lawsuit allges that Siaki was held in the Adams County jail for 25 days without access to a sign-language interpreter and other devices for the deaf to communicate. The Sheriff's Office has denied the allegations. In a statement the Sheriff's Office said Siaki communicated in written English with the jail staff after his arrest.

One plaintiff was picked up for a traffic violation and put in the jail. However, he was denied any access to communication devices and was not able to call his aunt and legal guardian.

The Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition said it recently has settled similar cases. "Throughout Colorado, sheriffs are breaking the law," said a spokeman. "More than 20 years after the passage of the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act), sheriffs and police have no policies or procedures for providing sign-language interpreters for deaf persons."

The Sheriff’s department has had no recent comment.

According to the Courier-Journal Louisville Metro Government has settled seven more claims this past month stemming from the train derailment at the Louisville Zoo. These settlements totaled $150,000. Readers will remember the accident in 2009 that sent 22 people, including many children, to area hospital emergency rooms. In all, the city has settled 23 claims for over $525,000. On top of that, the city has paid $176,000 in legal fees. While the Courier does not report this, it should be noted that these legal fees are most likely paid to lawyers who are representing the city and not lawyers for the injured people. Those attorneys will be paid on what is called a “contingency fee” basis. This means that their payment is contingent upon (or depends on) getting their injured clients money for their injuries. These lawyers then take a percentage of the money they are able to obtain for their clients, typically between 33% and 45% depending on the type and complexity of the case and how far into the litigation they are.

In any event, despite the money the city has already paid to resolve these claims, according to the Courier, it will likely pay a lot more to several other injured claimants due to the severity of their injuries. It is believed that these people were injured worse than many of the earlier claimants. Because their injuries are worse, possibly permanent and disabling, they are worth more than those whose injuries were not as bad or have resolved over time. The reason that the city has not settled these claims yet may be due to many factors. It may have been waiting to see what the smaller claims settled for to know what other liability it might have; it may be that the injuries of those remaining claimants (including how bad they were and whether they might be permanent) was simply not known until this point; or it may be that these claimants are simply refusing to settle, instead seeking their day in court. Either way, we may soon know the city’s total liability for this accident, which was caused, according to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, by travelling at an excessive rate of speed, being in poor mechanical condition, and being operated by someone inadequately trained to do so.

After allegations of hazing, Eastern Kentucky University has suspensed the Phi Delta Theta, Lambda Chi Alpha and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity chapters at its Richmond campus

Officials at the University said the school's Hazing Committee conducted interviews, including talking with members of the three chapters, before concluding that hazing had occurred and imposing suspensions.

According to EKU, Pi Kappa Alpha will be suspended until January 2014 and Phi Delta Theta will be suspended until August 2013.

Lambda Chi Alpha originally was to have been suspended until Aug. 20, 2012, but a suspension would have carried an automatic three-year organizational shutdown from the fraternity's international board. As a result, EKU waived a formal suspension and placed the fraternity on a reduced activity schedule until Aug. 20.

The fraternities are not permitted to hold meetings or stage events on EKU's campus during the period of suspension, although chapter members can continue to live in fraternity dormitories.

It is not often on this forum that animals are the topic of a post, unless said animal was the alleged cause of damage. However, the tragic deaths of 14 bomb-sniffing dogs allegedly housed in an unventilated sealed truck while awaiting air shipment from Houston to military forces in Afghanistan has spawned a lawsuit in which requested damages may top $1 million.

Named in the suit as defendants are Indian Creek Enterprises, Inc. — doing business as Animal Port Houston — and Live Animal Transportation Services.

According to the lawsuit that was filed, the animals — German shepherds and Belgian Malinois — died on Dec. 21 while housed in a truck at Animal Port Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport facility.

Also, according to the lawsuit, the animals — Tiny, Rex, Rocky, Crock, Dork, Harrie, Stress, Sigo, Rex, Jaco, Kimbo, Kilo, Albert and Bak — were taken the Houston shipping facility on Dec. 20. A veterinarian had certified all were in good health.

The attorneys for the dogs owners the animals were to be flown to Afghanistan Dec. 21, 2010. However, when agents for the dogs' owners visited the shipping facility early on that morning, they found the animals inside an unattended refrigerated box truck, the lawsuit says. The truck was running with the doors partly ajar. Unfortunately, when the dogs were discovered none of them had survived the ordeal.
The owner, nor any of the representatives, of Indian Creek Enterprises, have issued a comment.

There was a spill of approximately 6,400 gallons of alcohol spilled at Heaven Hill distillery on Saturday afternoon. The spill is being deal with by a hazardous materials response from
Bardstown Fire Department and state and federal environmental regulators.

A dyke has been created to help capture some of the 180-proof alcohol, but a large portion spilled down a creek and into a lake at the rear of the building, said Bardstown Fire Chief Anthony Mattingly.

The spill occurred after a tanker delivered a load of the alcohol to the distillery in Nelson County. A shutoff valve between a large tank and a smaller tank was left open, allowing the liquid to flow into a smaller tank that then overflowed into a containment area. But a separate valve -- opened recently to release excess rainwater -- also had been left open. That allowed the alcohol to flow across a gravel parking lot and into the creek and lake, Mattingly said.

A Filipino housekeeper is suing a potential employer in federal Court because she feels that her ethnicity precluded her from gaining employment. Virginia Lim, 50, has filed a discrimination suit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan against an employer who declined to hire her, billionaire upper East Side industrialist Leonard Blavatnik.

The Russian-American businessman, who ranks 80th on Forbes magazine’s billionaires list. Blavatnik, 54, whose net worth is reportedly $9.5 billion, is the chairman of Access Industries and lives here and in London.

At this point it is not clear what proof Ms. Lim may have to establish her claims , but it is worth noting that Lim was one of two workers who first filed discrimination complaints against Blavatnik with the city’s Commission on Human Rights and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission as required by federal law.

Police are reporting that 31-year-old Jeremy Burnette of Noblesville was traveling north on Hazel Dell Parkway in Carmel, Indiana on his motorcycle when an SUV pulled in front of him from a subdivision on Rippling Brook Way. Burnette was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash, but he was still pronounced dead at the scene from blunt force injuries.

The 73 year-old driver of the SUV told police he did not see Burnette on the motorcycle.

An investigation is ongoing. Burnette's family will be entitled to answers and may want to retain an attorney to hire an independent accident reconstructionist. An independent accident reconstruction can go above and beyond police investigations and shed additional light on all the factors that may have led to a wreck.

If it is determined after a complete investigation and reconstruction that the driver of the SUV pulled into Burnette's lane of travel and encroached upon Burnette's right of way causing the collision, then the driver of the SUV may end up being liable in whole or in part for Burnette's wrongful death.

Our thoughts are with all involved.

LMPD Police Chief Robert White, who is a named co-defendant in a civil suit along with former detective Crystal Marlowe, is leaving Louisville to accept a position in Denver, CO. According to the news outlets in Louisville White's departure is effective immediately. The Mayor of Louisville has indicated that a search for White’s replacement has already begun. has said the search for the next police chief has already begun.

"Chief White has been a high-caliber leader who has made our city safer and who has earned tremendous respect across the city," Fischer said. "It's not a surprise that, over the years, many cities have tried to hire him. Denver is gaining a police chief of high integrity."

Louisvillians may remember that White found Marlowe guilty of 68 separate counts of violating department procedures, mostly involving the use of photographs to help witnesses identify suspects. White stated in his formal letter of termination to Marlowe:

"Your actions have brought great discredit upon our department," White wrote in a detailed, nine-page letter to Marlowe. "Your conduct has damaged the image of our department which we have established with our community. … It is clear through my investigations you have chosen to violate the policies of the Department for your own convenience which led to individuals being charged with crimes they did not commit."

Ms. Kelly M. Schor was the owner of the dog and family pet and she sued in U.S. District Court in February. The allegations are that Officer Max Wittlinger should not have shot six-year-old Sadie, the family pet, while family members were chasing her down. The loss of the dog was traumatic for Ms. Schor and the rest of her family.

The police report said the dog was acting aggressively, theoretically this is the reason that the police would not settle this rather simple case before now.

According to representatives for the borough it admits no liability, and the plaintiff must pay her own attorney's fees. However, the parties wanted to resolve the matter short of trial and therefore an agreement was reached.