| Laws/Cases |
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| Hospital Settles Over Death of Girl |
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An Illinois hospital has agreed to pay $3 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of an 18-month-old girl who died after visiting a Chicago-area hospital. According to the lawsuit, St. Francis Hospital and Health Center in Blue Island administered penicillin to the child despite suspicion of an allergy to the drug. The lawsuit also claimed that the hospital destroyed evidence related to the case following the girl’s death. Staff, Chicago Tribune 05/18/2009
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Chicago Tribune
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| Supreme Court Rules on AT&T Maternity Leave Case |
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The Supreme Court on Monday reversed an appeals court decision over AT&T’s refusal to grant benefits to women who took maternity leave prior to the enactment of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. In a 7-2 vote, the justices found that that the 1979 law, which bars companies from treating pregnancy leave differently from other disability leave, was not intended to be retroactive. The former AT&T employees claimed they should be credited for leave taken between 1968 and 1976. James Vicini, Reuters 05/18/2009
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Reuters
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| Jury Awards Damages Over Unread X-Rays |
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A Pennsylvania jury has ordered a Philadelphia hospital and two emergency room doctors to pay nearly $2.2 million to the widow of a man who died after hospital staff failed to review his x-rays. According to court records, x-rays and other tests that would have revealed a serious heart condition were not interpreted until the morning after Zachary James had died. Jurors found that Dr. Thomas Powell was 48 percent liable, Dr. Emil Skobeloff was 36 percent liable and St. Joseph's Hospital was 16 percent liable. Stephanie Farr, Philadelphia Inquirer 05/14/2009
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Philadelphia Inquirer
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| Southwest Named in False Imprisonment Suit |
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A California woman has filed a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines claiming she was wrongly imprisoned after a dispute regarding use of her cell phone. According to the lawsuit, Norma Steiner was arrested for disorderly conduct and jailed for several hours in Nashville when a flight attendant accused her of failing to comply with a request to turn off her cell phone. Steiner maintains that she immediately complied with the flight attendant’s request. The lawsuit seeks $2 million in damages. Ben Mutzabaugh, USA Today 05/17/2009
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USA Today
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| Judge Orders Plaintiffs to Amend WaMu Complaint |
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A federal judge has asked attorneys representing Washington Mutual Inc. investors to amend a shareholder lawsuit after concluding that the initial complaint lacked substance. In a ruling Friday, Seattle U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman gave attorneys for the plaintiffs until June 15 to update their complaint. The lawsuit claims that executives and others misled investors about practices that ultimately caused the Seattle-based bank to collapse. Andrea James, Seattle Post-Intelligencer 05/15/2009
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Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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| Costco Violated Wage Laws, Suit Claims |
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Attorneys for a group of California Costco workers have filed a lawsuit accusing the nation’s largest warehouse club of violating wage laws. According to the putative class-action suit, the retailer refused to pay workers while they were locked inside stores prior to closing time. The lawsuit is not the first to accuse major retailers of locking up employees. Similar cases have been filed against Polo Ralph Lauren Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., General Motors Corp., American Express and Sprint Nextel Corp. Karen Gullo and Margaret Cronin Fisk, Bloomberg 05/16/2009
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Bloomberg
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| Advocates: Feres Doctrine Hurts Soldiers Bill Sizemore |
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When a 37-year-old technical sergeant stationed at Langley Air Force Base died during childbirth, her parents were shocked to find out that they had no recourse to address the alleged negligence they believe caused their daughter’s death. Such cases, Tommy and Connie Wilson learned, were barred by a decades old Supreme Court ruling known as the Feres Doctrine. Now, lawmakers and soldier advocates are lobbying to repeal the Feres Doctrine, saying it reduces service members to second-class citizens. Bill Sizemore, Virginian Pilot 05/17/2009
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Virginian Pilot
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| Jury Finds for Plaintiff in Med-Mal Case |
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A Rhode Island jury has awarded $4 million to a former truck driver who claimed to be the victim of medical malpractice. Following a three-week trial, jurors found that Dr. Kenneth J. Morrissey was negligent in his care of the plaintiff during treatment for arm pain in 2002. The award includes $1.5 million for physical pain, $1.5 million for mental suffering, $500,000 for disfigurement and $500,000 for lost wages. Katie Mulvaney, The Providence Journal 05/16/2009
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The Providence Journal
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