December 10 roundup
Joe Nocera’s recent column on the Vioxx settlement infuriated loyalists of the plaintiff’s bar, and they won’t like his new one on lead paint litigation much better [NY Times] Trial of Overlawyered...
View ArticleUpdate: N.M. pipeline rescuers can sue for emotional distress
Three years ago we prematurely reported that sanity had (as of that point) prevailed in the New Mexico case where firefighters and emergency medical personnel, otherwise uninjured, were seeking to sue...
View ArticleWounded in shootout, sheriff’s deputies sue widow
Last year in Shingle Springs, Calif., a schizophrenic 34-year-old named Eddie Mies gunned down his father and then engaged in a shootout with sheriff’s deputies which resulted in his own death and the...
View ArticleAugust 29 roundup
One for your “firefighter’s rule” file: firefighter perishes in blaze, his widow sues security alarm company [SF Chron, San Pablo, Calif.] And another: Nassau County, N.Y. cop injured by drunk driver...
View ArticleBoston Chinese restaurant blaze: “Firefighters’ families settle for $2.2m”
Boston Globe: “The families of two Boston firefighters killed in a West Roxbury restaurant fire and a third firefighter injured in the blaze will split $2.2 million to settle lawsuits they brought...
View ArticleUtility not liable for rescuers’ emotional distress after explosion
Albuquerque Journal, last month: “After deliberating for less than four hours, a Roswell jury decided that El Paso Natural Gas Co. is not liable for the emotional distress firefighters and emergency...
View ArticleClaim: furniture makers responsible for firefighters’ anguish
Nine firefighters died in a blaze at a Charleston, S.C., furniture store in 2007. Now four other firefighters who were on the scene that night, along with two of their wives, have filed a lawsuit...
View ArticleU.K.: “Policewoman sues man who called 999″
Thetford, Norfolk, U.K.: “A man who dialled 999 fearing a burglary at his petrol station is being sued by the policewoman who answered the call because she fell on the premises.” The officer, Kelly...
View ArticleDeputy sues 911 caller after being assaulted at her home
In Harris County, Tex., sheriff’s deputy Brady Pullen responded to a 911 call placed by Camina Figueroa from her Katy, Tex. home. While on the call, Pullen was attacked and injured by a man apparently...
View ArticleTexas: deputy sues family of delusional man shot by police
Kemal Yazar’s wife called police out of concern for her husband, who had begun behaving erratically and speaking delusionally. Following a struggle of some sort, police shot the unarmed father of three...
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