A lawsuit has been filed against a community care home in Tunkhannock, Penn., over the death of a 48-year-old patient at the facility. The mentally ill man – who had a history of stuffing larger amounts of food in his mouth – suffocated on four donuts in September 2010. The suit claims the staff knew the victim’s unsafe habits, but did nothing to protect him or keep him away from areas with food unsupervised.
A Maryland family has filed a $5 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the man convicted of drowning their 22-year-old son. The man convicted of the 2008 murder is set to be sentenced to four years in prison as part of a plea agreement. The lawyer for the family said they were “dissatisfied with the anticipated sentence and want[ed] to take further action.”
A New York man has filed a $100 million wrongful death lawsuit against a Brooklyn hardware store clerk who is accused of murdering and dismembering the man’s 8-year-old son. The suit not only claims wrongful death, but is also blaming the man for the “extreme physical pain and mental anguish” the boy suffered. The lawsuit also names the man’s father as a defendant, claiming he should have been aware of his son’s actions.
A Chicago mother has filed a lawsuit against an elementary school security guard for allegedly handcuffing a first-grader and detaining him for more than an hour. The suit accuses the guard of “acting in conscious disregard” of the boy’s safety, and says the actions were “reckless.” The boy suffered “permanent” and “personal” injuries, the suit says.
Safeway has issued a recall of some chicken salad products due to an undeclared allergen. The recalled product, Signature Cafe Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, contains eggs that are not listed on the ingredients label. The recalled product was sold at all Safeway and Safeway-owned stores, including Carrs, Dominick’s, Genuardi’s, Pak ‘N Save, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb and Vons.
A Utah woman has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs over the death of her husband from an overdose of medications prescribed by VA doctors. The man, who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury he sustained in Iraq, was taking a myriad of drugs. The lawsuit claims his doctors should have monitored his prescriptions more closely and that they failed in their duty to “provide reasonable, necessary, appropriate and timely medical care and treatment.”
The Austin City Council has agreed to a $750,000 settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit filed over a fatal police shooting in 2009. Nathaniel Sanders, 18, was shot and killed by a police officer during a struggle in the early morning in an East Austin apartment parking lot. The incident prompted concerns over Austin police officers’ use of force against minorities, and the officer responsible for the shooting was later fired.
A federal appeals court has reinstated a wrongful death lawsuit filed against a Madera, Calif., police officer who shot a man in the chest with her pistol, believing it to be her Taser. The man was handcuffed in the back seat of the officer’s patrol car when the incident occurred. The appeals court said the officer had acknowledged the man posed no danger to anyone but himself, and that a jury might even question the use of a Taser in the situation, let alone a gun.
