Volkswagen may be repairing vehicles recalled due to the Dieselgate scandal, but they may not be repairing them to the standards expected of Australia. The Dieselgate scandal erupted in 2015 when it was discovered that some Volkswagen diesel vehicles had been fitted with software and hardware designed to cheat emissions testing. While being tested, the software and hardware would scrub noxious nitrogen oxide from the air, but on the road, the vehicles would emit more than the limit allowed by environmental laws allow. Eco Watch reports that while VW vehicles emitted less nitrogen oxide than before the recall, they were still above legal limits in Australia. AAA tested the vehicles and discovered that the vehicles were using 14% more diesel fuel than before the recall but still emitting noxious emissions that were 400% higher than when in a laboratory setting. These results indicate that it would be more prudent to conduct the tests in a real-world driving setting than in a…
Volkswagen Still Having Trouble Meeting Emissions Standards
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FAQ: Why choose Chain | Cohn | Stiles over other in-town, or out-of-town attorneys?
Like many big decisions, choosing a lawyer to help you with your accident, injury or workers’ compensation case can be a difficult one. For one, there are many to choose from — not only locally but throughout the state. Sometimes, there are misconceptions and myths associated with which lawyers are the best, and the reasons why. One myth includes out-of-town lawyers being better than local attorneys. To discuss this issue, Chain | Cohn | Stiles attorney Matt Clark has recorded a short video focusing on this myth and answering the question, “Why choose Chain | Cohn | Stiles over other in-town, or out-of-town attorneys?” You can learn more about this topic below. And if you have other questions related to a personal injury, accident or workers’ compensation legal issues, visit Chain | Cohn | Stiles’ Frequently Asked Questions page. ——— We hear many times from clients who have hired lawyers who they believed…
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Slip and Fall Incidents Can Lead to Concussions
It seems like a weekly occurrence, but our beautiful state is under siege from yet another significant snow storm. We cannot stress enough how serious this type of weather can be, especially for your well-being. Snowstorms can cause school closures, power outages, and car accidents when the roads get slick. But, slip and fall injuries tend to get overlooked. Why? Because they aren’t news headline grabbers, but they should be. Slip and fall injuries don’t affect large groups of people in most cases. Usually, it involves one person who suffered only minor injuries. With all of this snow eventually turning into ice after it begins to melt, New Jersey residents should be on the lookout for slick spots with every step they take. Slipping on the snow and ice can cause an assortment of injuries with varying ranges of severity. These injuries can include: Bruises, bumps, and cuts Soft tissue injuries, sprains, and ligament/tendon tears Head injuries Broken bones Spinal cord…
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Establishing Liability in California Premises Liability Claims
As a general matter, California landowners have an obligation to ensure that their property is safe for those whom they invite onto their land. The extent of the duty owed by a landowner to a visitor depends largely on the relationship between the parties and the reason for the guest’s visit. In California premises liability cases, courts require a plaintiff to establish four basic elements, as outlined in California Civil Jury Instructions section 1000: The defendant owned, leased, or was in control of the property; The defendant was negligent in the maintenance of the property; The plaintiff was harmed; and The defendant’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s injuries. Of course, there are many nuances to premises liability law that can alter the apportionment of liability. For example, if a dangerous condition is so obvious that a person could reasonably be expected to notice it, the landowner has no duty to warn the guest of the…
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In New Report, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Counts Highest Number of Fatal Work Injuries in 2016 Since 2008
The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics collects information about many aspects of our workforce, including the rate at which workers suffer injuries and fatalities. Recently, the Bureau released a report that summarizes its findings regarding the number of fatal illnesses and workplace injuries that occurred during 2016. The results of this report are startling and highlight what we as experienced Boston workers’ compensation lawyers already know: Massachusetts workers face serious risks of injuries and must protect themselves at every opportunity. According to the report, there were over 5,000 employees who lost their lives as results of accidents at the workplace during 2016. This constituted the highest number of fatal accidents since 2008. This is particularly staggering considering the increased efforts from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration to improve safety conditions in workplaces throughout the country. Many state and local…
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Massachusetts Reviewing Board Reverses Dismissal of Claim for Benefits Stemming from Emotional Trauma
The Massachusetts workers’ compensation system provides benefits to individuals who suffer injuries on the job. For many individuals, knowing how to navigate the legal system and understanding the complex procedures that must be followed can be daunting. At Pulgini & Norton, our seasoned Boston work injury lawyers have assisted many workers with understanding the best way to assert their rights following an accident at work. In a recent claim, the employee worked for a temp agency that sent him to work for a company testing new medications. The employee had a medical degree and experience working as a clinical researcher. His boss at the job site instructed him to duplicate her research for the purposes of validating her findings. After performing the same research and testings, the employee concluded that the doctor had used improper methodologies and that her findings were invalid. According to him, his boss pressured him to change his approach to mirror her…
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Workplace Accidents in Hollywood: How to Prevent Them
Every day, workers in Hollywood and across South Florida head to work in order to support their lifestyles, pay their bills, and put aside money for retirement. Employees expect their workplaces to be safe and secure. No one expects to leave for work and never return, but on-the-job accidents and injuries in Hollywood and across South Florida do cause fatalities and serious, permanent injury. Some industries are known especially for having a high risk of injury. Construction work, factory jobs, truck driving, and other sectors have high risk of injury. However, you don’t have to work with heavy machinery to be at risk. Office workers and others in seemingly “safer” professions suffer serious injury each year due to falls, repetitive strain, and other incidents. There are several ways you can prevent on-the-job accidents in your workplace: Get proper training. Good training and experience can help you identify and avoid the dangers of your workplace. If your…
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Does Being Legally Blind Qualify me for Social Security Disability?
According to the National Federation of Blind, approximately 1.3 million people in the United States are legally blind. Legal blindness occurs when an individual’s central visual acuity is 20/200 or less in the better eye or having a visual field of 20 degrees or less. As you can imagine, having limited vision poses a huge barrier to employment. There are two general ways you may be found disabled based on legal blindness. The first way is meeting or equaling one of Social Security’s Listings. The second way is to show due to your vision loss you are unable to perform both your past work and also any other type of work in the national economy. More often than not, when someone who is legally blind applies for disability benefits they will be found disabled based upon one of Social Security’s Listing’s. SSA’s “Listings” is a list of conditions that have been deemed so severe that if you suffer from them you will automatically be found…
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RSH Legal Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Win $5.6 Million Verdict For Death of Worker
Bronson and wife Kara After a week-long trial in early February, a Johnson County jury came back with a verdict of $5.6 million in damages for the family of a worker killed on the job. Bronson Ganka, ... This article RSH Legal Workers’ Compensation Attorneys Win $5.6 Million Verdict For Death of Worker first appeared on RSH Legal
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Designing Design Patent Subject Matter
Sarah Burstein, The Article of Manufacture in 1877, 32 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 1 (2017). Mark McKenna Designs for articles of manufacture are eligible for design patent protection under section 171 of the Patent Act if they are “new, original and ornamental.” As is clear on the face of this provision, design patent subject matter is limited to designs for “articles of manufacture”—other types of design, including architectural design, would seem to be excluded. But what exactly is included? What is a “design for an article of manufacture”? In an important new article, The Article of Manufacture in 1877, Sarah Burstein provides critical historical context on that question. Courts and the Patent Office have in recent years given “article of manufacture” a very broad interpretation. They have, for instance, accepted as design patent subject matter the design of a spray pattern for a water fountain, the design of the shank…
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U.S. Department of Labor Investigations Help Retirement Plans Recover Nearly $16 Million After Losses from Fraudulent Loans
Today’s post was shared by US Dept. of Labor and comes from www.dol.gov CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a settlement agreement with U.S. Fiduciary Services and three of its subsidiaries that provides for payment of more than $7 million to 42 retirement plans that suffered losses as a result of investments in fictitious loans made by Florida-based First Farmers Financial LLC (FFF). The agreement and anticipated future payments from a pending Receivership Estate case involving FFF are expected to compensate the retirement plans fully for approximately $16 million in losses. FFF created the fictitious loans and forged documents stating that the loans were guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Forty-two retirement plans invested in a fund exposed to the fraudulent FFF loans through subsidiaries of U.S. Fiduciary Services. EBSA’s Chicago and Atlanta regional offices conducted investigations of the subsidiaries – Salem…
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WCRI’s 2018 Conference: First Impression
I arrived early for the first day of this year’s conference to find something more than the traditional lobby groups chatting and downing coffee. This year, and for the first time, WCRI has placed a number of charts around the lobby area. And they’re not just fluff. Here’s one: I think this is great […]
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Dental Personnel Treated for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis at a Tertiary Care Center — Virginia, 2000–2015
Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from www.cdc.gov During September 1996–June 2017, nine (1%) of 894 patients treated for IPF at a single tertiary care center in Virginia were identified as dental personnel. Each patient presented for care during 2000–2015. Seven of the patients had died. This is the first known described cluster of IPF occurring among dental personnel. Although no clear etiology exists for this cluster, it is possible that occupational exposures contributed to the development of IPF. During 2016, dentists accounted for an estimated 0.038% of U.S. residents (4), yet represented 0.893% of patients undergoing treatment for IPF at one tertiary care center, nearly a 23-fold difference. Dental personnel are exposed to infectious agents, chemicals, airborne particulates, ionizing radiation, and other potentially hazardous materials (5). Inhalational exposures experienced by dentists likely increase their risk for certain…
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Develop an Injury Prevention Program to Reduce Workers’ Comp Costs
It goes without saying that stakeholders in workers’ compensation programs seek to reduce programs costs through ethical measures with the employee in mind. Part of these steps can include the development of a workplace safety and injury prevention program. While the development of a program like this may take time, it can improve efficiencies through the reduction in workplace injuries, promote safety and improve morale among employees. What is the Purpose of the Program? The purpose of this type of program is threefold – reduce workplace injuries, promote an effective injury response and encourage a better response once an injury occurs. Important steps that need to be taken to develop an injury prevention program should include the following: Establishment of a committee comprised of employees from management and labor. All departments within an organization must be represented; Training is important and…
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WCRI: Keynote: Dr. Erica Groshen On Future Labor Trends
Dr. Erica Groshen, former Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, began this year’s conference. She is currently Visiting Scholar at Cornell’s Industrial Labor Relations School, and if anyone knows anything about the future of work, it is Dr. Groshen. Labor market conditions: Since the end of the Great Recession, the U.S. has added 9.3 […]
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Nurse’s critical comments at union conference about workplace violence in hospitals were not just cause for dismissal
A mental health nurse whose critical comments, in a closed-door union meeting, about workplace violence in hospitals were later published online by a local newspaper and in a union press release without her knowledge or permission, has been reinstated by an arbitrator with back pay. The comments in the union press release that were attributed to the nurse included: “Staff at hospitals with forensic psychiatric units or those with medium security units where patients come direct from area prisons are “easy targets for violence” on understaffed wards. Many of these patients are strong and aggressive young offenders and nurses are told that “the violence is part of the work we do. Nurses are often blamed directly by the employer for the assaults that are directed at them. Or supervisors tell nurses ‘thanks for taking one for the team’. Often nurses face reprisals for reporting incidents of violence and when we demand increased security…
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Saving Lives—Building A Modern Pharmacy Program Amid A Deadly Epidemic
Dr. Terrence Welsh, Medical Director for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, flew into Boston for WCRI’s 2018 conference to talk about Ohio’s attack on the opioid epidemic. He began with two slides worthy of reproduction here. The first is scary indeed: So, in 2011, the Ohio BWC decided to do something about it. Here […]
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How LLCs Can Benefit from Tax Reform
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump last December, made a wide variety of sweeping changes to the United States Tax Code. In addition to reducing the corporate tax rate, the tax reform law implemented some changes which can benefit small business owners, and people should be aware of how they can take advantage of these changes and minimize their tax burden by establishing themselves as a LLC. Pass-Through Entities and LLCs One significant change that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made was in how pass-through entities are treated. With pass-through businesses, such as sole proprietorships or LLCs, profits are taxed at the owner’s individual tax rate rather than the corporate tax rate. Under the tax reform law, owners of pass-through entities can now deduct 20% of their qualified business income. The pass-through deduction is a “below the line” deduction which is taken from a…
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Bum Steer: Ford Recalls 1.4 Million Vehicles for Potential Detaching Steering Wheels
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Cars are complicated machines, and they’ve only gotten more so with over a century of technological refinement (Did you know you can get five cupholders now??). Having noted that a working vehicle is something of a mechanical marvel and that the layman might not fully understand its every working, it’s also safe to say most will know some things about what a car should do. The tires shouldn’t fall off. The sunroof should stay put. Airbags should help more than they harm. And one of the most important elements of the vehicle–the steering wheel–should at no time come loose and/or fall off. That last one seems pretty straightforward, yes? Nothing controversial about believing the thing responsible for directing two to forty tons of gasoline-filled steel and fiberglass should remain securely attached. Someone might want to pass that wisdom along to automakers, because Ford Motors recently attracted…
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Responding to Domestic Abuse Accusations During Divorce
Your spouse can drop a figurative bomb on the divorce process by accusing you of domestic violence or child abuse. Besides the potential criminal ramifications, the accusation may temporarily prevent you from seeing your children. The restriction can become permanent if the investigation substantiates the accusation. Unfortunately, some spouses will make false accusations of domestic violence or abuse, knowing that it will put the accused at a disadvantage. You were previously concerned about getting a fair share of the allocation of parental responsibilities, but you are now fighting to have any access to your children. When your spouse accuses you of domestic abuse, your divorce attorney can create a strategy to contest the accusation: Comply with Court Orders: The court may immediately respond to your spouse’s domestic abuse accusation by granting a temporary order of protection, prohibiting contact with your spouse and children. You may feel defiant towards the…
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