Archive for June, 2010
Omaha World Herald Reports on Keating, O'Gara Case Against Hearthstone Homes
Posted by Jeff Downing in Employment Discrimination Nebraska Attorney, Employment Law, Lincoln Nebraska Employment Discrimination Attorney, Nebraska Employement Discrimination Lawyer, Nebraska Employment Discrimination Wednesday, 30 June 2010 08:42 No Comments
One of Doug Peterson’s cases is featured in today’s Omaha World Herald:
SUIT CITES BIZARRE REASONING FOR FIRING
By Juan Perez Jr.
Omaha World Herald
June 30, 2010A former employee of Omaha’s largest homebuilder has filed a lawsuit alleging that the company’s chief executive officer forced a religious agenda on workers and fired her because her unborn child carried “negative energy.”
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court by Jammie D. Harms of Lincoln, who worked as administrative assistant to John J. Smith, chief executive officer of HearthStone Homes.
Harms alleged that Smith and other company managers “actively attempted to create a spiritual, religious work environment based on concepts incorporating universal energy, concepts of reincarnation, and intuitive spiritualism.”
Smith told employees that past lives can explain current behaviors, and they can be understood through positive and negative force fields, according to the lawsuit.
Harms, who alleges religious and pregnancy discrimination, is seeking back pay, reinstatement and compensatory and punitive damages.
An official with HearthStone Homes denied any wrongdoing and said Harms was fired, along with many other workers, because of the economic downturn that continues to plague the U.S. housing market.
Harms, hired in April 2008, believed she was required to follow these religious beliefs in the workplace and had to attend mandatory training sessions that reinforced the beliefs, said her attorney, Doug Peterson.
In April 2009, about one month after Harms told her boss she was pregnant, the lawsuit alleges that the following incidents occurred:
• Harms was called into a meeting led by Smith and other company managers. They told Harms that she had a troubling “disconnect” with her fetus.
• Harms was asked to take part in a conference call with an Arizona-based psychic to determine “whether or not negative energy was being created with the pregnant plaintiff because she had a male boss versus a female boss.”
• Smith consulted with a chiropractor and “self-described energy worker” who told Smith he shared a former life with Harms’ unborn child and suggested that he “partner” with the baby. Smith declined, saying the baby’s energy was hostile toward him.
Harms, who was paid $45,100 annually, was fired in June 2009.
Neil Smith, a HearthStone vice president who said he is not related to the company’s chief executive, declined to comment on the lawsuit’s allegations.
He said that Harms was let go because of the recession and that she declined the company’s offer of a severance package.
“This would appear to be just her next response as she tries to bring some sort of conclusion to her moving beyond HearthStone,” he said.
Neil Smith acknowledged that the company follows certain practices believed to help employees develop their intuition.
In addition to what he described as coaching sessions that help develop employee potential, he said the company uses massage therapy and creates quiet “meditative-type spaces, where people can take that time to get clear … so they can function at a higher level.”
Though the company’s practices may seem unorthodox, Neil Smith said, they should not be demonized. They even may have contributed to some of the company’s success despite bleak economic conditions, he said.
“The notion of ‘spiritualism’ takes it to more of an esoteric place that I’m not sure is productive,” he said. “We look at the body from a holistic perspective, and there are tons of different resources out there and we’re just open to exploring them.”
The company’s alleged emphasis on spiritualism has been argued before in the federal courts.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict that favored a former HearthStone employee who sued the company for religious discrimination in 2003.
The employee, a Protestant, had alleged that the company fired him because he resisted attending “Mind Body Energy” sessions designed to cleanse his body of negative energy.
Neil Smith, the company vice president, said HearthStone did not want to force its views on any of its employees.
“I’ve not had anybody personally come to me and tell me that it’s been pushed on them,” he said. “We have a pretty open environment here. If someone feels like they had been pushed upon, it’s not while they’ve been working here.”
HearthStone has built homes in Omaha since 1970.
Builder Magazine recently ranked the company No. 28 on its annual Builder 100 list, up from No. 30 in 2008 and No. 64 in 2007, placing the company among the nation’s largest home construction companies.
If you or a loved one have suffered employment discrimination, please call the experienced Nebraska employment attorneys of the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621.
Keating, O'Gara Attorney Doug Peterson Files Tort Claim for Defectively Designed Roundabout in Southwest Lincoln
Posted by Jeff Downing in Auto Accident Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Auto Accidents, Car Crash Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Defective Design, Defective Products, Defective Signage, Nebraska Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer, Nebraska Wrongful Death Attorney, Personal Injury, Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Wrongful Death Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska Monday, 28 June 2010 11:56 No Comments
Attorney Doug Peterson of the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm has filed a tort claim on behalf of a seriously injured client regarding an accident that occurred at a poorly designed roundabout in southwest Lincoln.
From the Lincoln Journal Star:
WOMAN SAYS COUNTY IS PARTIALLY LIABLE FOR MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT
By Algis Laukitis
Lincoln Journal Star
Posted: Sunday, June 27, 2010 5:22 pmA woman who was severely injured in a motorcycle accident in May 2009 has filed a $1 million tort claim against Lancaster County.
An attorney for Lycebeth Loy alleges the county is partially liable because of inadequate warning signs and street lights at a roundabout in an undeveloped area of Lincoln.
Lycebeth Loy was a passenger on a motorcycle driven by her husband, Robert, when it struck a median as he approached the roundabout at Southwest Fourth Street on May 6, 2009.
Police say Robert applied his brakes, but lost control of the motorcycle and his wife was thrown to the concrete. Both Loys were wearing helmets.
As a result of her severe head injury, her attorney, Douglas Peterson of Lincoln, says Lycebeth Loy required emergency medical treatment and long-term medical care and therapy, the cost of which currently exceeds $300,000. She also asks to be paid for future medical care and past and future wages.
Tort claims are required by state law and are a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit in district court. A political subdivision can approve or disapprove a claim. Lycebeth Loy is asking for not less than $1 million, the maximum amount under the state’s Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act.
The County Board is scheduled to vote on the tort claim on Tuesday. Such claims are routinely denied.
The Hallam couple filed a tort claim against the City of Lincoln in March because it was involved in the “design, maintenance and control” of the Denton Road detour along Amaranth Lane, which leads to the roundabout.
Peterson alleges Amaranth Lane was created for a proposed development of a Walmart shopping center and other commercial property. He says the lane was designed to be fully illuminated with a roundabout in the middle. The development was never built.
“Once the project went dormant, the road became a dark cornfield with an unlit roundabout in the middle of darkness,” Peterson wrote in the tort claim.
Peterson said the couple were unfamiliar with the road, did not know it had a roundabout, and could not see any reflective markers or any warning signs.
“We contend that it was very foreseeable that drivers would be completely unfamiliar with this area since the road has never been open to the public,” Peterson wrote.
“Drivers would be completely unfamiliar with a roundabout contained in the darkness of this road.”
If you or a loved one have been injured on a Nebraska road or highway due to improper signage or defective highway design, call the experienced lawyers of the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm for a free consultation: 888/234-0621.
Jury Awards Damages of $2.46 Million Against Supplier of Defective Chinese Drywall
Posted by Jeff Downing in Defective Products, Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Product Liability Monday, 21 June 2010 13:39 No Comments
The first jury to consider a defective Chinese drywall claim has come down hard on the supplier. A Florida jury awarded 2.46 million to a Miami couple who claimed their house was ruined by gas emitted from the defective product.
Fla. Jury Finds Domestic Distributor of Chinese Drywall Negligent
Jose Pagliery
06-21-2010A Florida jury on Friday awarded $2.46 million to a Miami couple who claimed their house was ruined by gas emitted by imported Chinese drywall in the nation’s first trial against a domestic distributor.
Jurors concluded that Miami-based Banner Supply knowingly sold defective wallboard that was installed in the Coconut Grove, Fla., home of Chevron attorney Armin Seifart and Lisa Gore, who asked for $4.4 million in damages for repairs and the inconvenience of temporarily losing access to their $1.66 million home.
“It’s a strong victory in favor of consumers,” said family attorney Ervin Gonzalez of Colson Hicks Eidson in Coral Gables, Fla. “The American public won’t tolerate companies that cheat.”
Jurors decided Banner was negligent, knowingly sold defective wallboard and violated Florida’s deceptive and unfair trade law, and that its product will reduce the home’s resale value.
The couple’s lawsuit is similar to thousands nationwide by homeowners with Chinese drywall installed in their homes. Homeowners complain noxious gases released by the wallboard leave homes smelling like rotten eggs and corrode metal pipes and electronics . . .
If you or a loved one have been injured due to a defective product, talk to one of the experienced Nebraska defective product lawyers at the Keating, O’Gara Law Firm at 888/234-0621.
Professor Richard Epstein Argues Against Cap on Liability Damages
Posted by Jeff Downing in Auto Accident Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Car Crash Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Constitutional Rights, Keating O'Gara Law Firm, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Nebraska Medical Malpractice Attorney, Nebraska Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer, Nebraska Wrongful Death Attorney, Product Defect Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Wrongful Death Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska Wednesday, 16 June 2010 13:10 No Comments
Arguments against liability caps don’t just come from plaintiff’s attorneys. Highly respected University of Chicago professor Richard Epstein argues against a statutory cap on damages for BP.
From the Wall Street Journal:
BP Doesn’t Deserve a Liability Cap
By RICHARD A. EPSTEINOur national frustration continues to rise with each new drop of BP oil that leaks into the Gulf of Mexico. Everyone knows we can’t legislate away environmental risks without consigning ourselves to the Stone Age. What’s needed going forward is a comprehensive legal strategy that addresses the risks though a combination of regulation before the fact and tort liability (and criminal sanctions where appropriate) afterwards.
Tort remedies are essential to protect people (and their property) who do not have contractual relations with defendants from harms such as air and water pollution. The legal system should never allow self-interested parties to keep for themselves all the gains from dangerous activities that unilaterally impose losses on others—which is why the most devout defender of laissez-faire must insist, not just concede, that tough medicine is needed in these cases. The fundamental question here is one of technique: What mix of before and after sanctions will do the job at the lowest cost?
The first element in the mix is a no-nonsense liability system that fastens full responsibility on the parties who run dangerous operations, no excuses allowed. Accordingly, we have to be especially wary of statutory caps on tort damages, including the current law, under which, in the case of the oil industry, the “total of liability . . . with respect to each incident shall not exceed for an offshore facility except a deepwater port, the total of all removal costs plus $75,000,000.” That $75 million is chicken feed. Fortunately, the law removes that cap if the incident was caused by “the gross negligence or willful misconduct” of any party, or its failure to comply with any “applicable Federal safety, construction, or operating regulation.”
To truly have a “system of justice”, you can not have liability caps–for BP or any other negligent actor.
JAMA: Outpatient Surgery Centers Suffer from Infection Control Problems
Posted by Jeff Downing in Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Lawyer Lincoln Nebraska, Medication Errors, Nebraska Medical Malpractice Attorney Friday, 11 June 2010 14:30 No Comments
From the Wall Street Journal health blog:
Infection Control Gaps Seen at Outpatient Surgical Centers
The role of hospitals in spreading infections has been the subject of a lot of research. But increasingly, attention is being paid to infection-control practices at outpatient surgical centers — especially given the high-profile 2008 endoscopy-center catastrophe in Las Vegas, which may have exposed 40,000-odd people to the risk of hepatitis and HIV.Researchers at the CDC surveyed 68 of these ambulatory surgical centers in three states, looking to see how well they complied with infection-control guidelines in five areas, including hand hygiene, injection safety and environmental cleaning practices. In a study published in JAMA, they report that state inspectors noted at least one lapse at 68% of the centers and saw lapses in at least three areas at 18% of the facilities. At 28% of facilities, medications in single-dose vials were used for more than one patient.
Of the 68 facilities, 39 eventually received state citations for infection control deficiencies and 20 for medication administration lapses.
This is all pretty important because, as an accompanying editorial notes, more than 75% of all operations performed are now done on an outpatient basis . . . .
If you or a loved one have been injured due to medical malpractice at an outpatient surgical center, call 888/234-0621 for a free consultation.
