The recession has led to more people filing lawsuits on the basis of age discrimination.  However, that hasn’t translated into higher damages or awards for these people.  In fact, it has been just the opposite.  Jurors, many of who are likely to have been laid off at some point over the past couple of years, are likely to sympathize with plaintiffs, but less likely to attach a huge award to the plaintiff’s losses.

The number of age discrimination complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reached a 10-year high in 2009.  But, plaintiffs in a variety of industries are finding it hard to take their age bias-related lawsuits before a jury.  In many of these cases, it’s highly likely that the jurors have lost their jobs or have been able to find re-employment recently, and while there is empathy for the plaintiff’s position, jurors are less likely to hand out huge awards.

It’s a difficult situation that has had many people with age discrimination complaints feeling the impact.  Last month saw a relatively rare occurrence.  In a high-profile age bias lawsuit, a court sided with a former Google employee, who alleged that he had been subjected to discrimination at Google’s workplace.  The basis of the lawsuit was that colleagues and coworkers at Google constantly made disparaging remarks about his age, and called him fuddy-duddy and other such terms.

Surprisingly to employment lawyers, the court decided not to apply the  “stray remarks“ doctrine in this case, and sided with the employee.  The “stray remarks” doctrine disallows courts from considering remarks made by colleagues, employers or coworkers in passing, and which have nothing to do with the decision-making process in the company.

However, any Los Angeles employment attorney would caution plaintiffs against over optimism and enthusiasm over the Google verdict.  In a tough economy, judges and jurors alike are likely to view layoffs as an acceptable part of company survival, and are less likely to award damages to persons who feel they have been discriminated against.

Driving in California

California, contains the largest population in the USA and is ranked third when you compared overall land area. It has the unlikeliest ecological communities and natural views that attract tourists from all over the world. The state has an excellent transportation network containing freeways, expressways and highways. California is famous for its car culture and residents are likely to use cars for vacation, long trips etc, that give Californian cities a reputation for traffic congestion. Recent data shows, over 33 million vehicles are registered in city centers of California. The huge number of vehicle is affecting the accident rate in the state. However, 6 interstate highways and 7 US routes create a huge pressure of traffic in cities of the state.

Car Accident trends in Californian Cities

Recent data shows, there were a total of 4,236 major vehicle accidents in California and over 198,708 were injuries were reported.  The rate has increased in last five years.  Los Angeles is the city where most of the accidents occurred and lowest car accident rate is in Beverly Hills.

A search for finding out America’s most dangerous highways shows that the most dangerous highway is in Southern California, its state road 138, which is directed to Las Vegas with mountain roads, no barriers and deep valleys.  Another road can be listed which is I-10, both in Arizona and California.

Reasons for Accidents:

• Disobeying traffic laws
• Safety lack in roads and highways
• Careless driving
• Distracted driving
• Defects in vehicles
• Weather problem

Preventing Car Accidents:

For preventing car accidents and saving lives, different awareness organizations and bodies have helped to make drivers aware of some issues.  Drivers should drive in the central and right lane because it allows other drivers more options if trouble occurs.  A study shows most of the accidents occur in the left lane. If drivers drive in the right or center lane they can easily change lanes if necessary.  Drivers should use “defensive” driving tactics.  Drive carefully and keep your eyes on the road.  Always scanning for trouble ahead.  Drivers need to obey transportation rules and regulations, wear seat belts while driving and avoid using mobile or electronic devices that interrupt concentration while driving.  Also, before driving a driver should check the vehicle for any defects and gather information about road conditions, because these are some elements that are causes for road accidents.

Life is more valuable than time, so drivers need to be carful while driving, especially on busy roads in California.  So be careful while driving and always watch out for others.

Brain injuries are one of the most concerning issues in the U.S.  A recent study in shows, almost 1.5 million people suffer from brain injuries which is huge in number compared with deadly physical problems like multiple sclerosis (10,400), Spinal cord Injuries (11,000), HIV/AIDS (51,334), and Breast Cancer (176,300).

Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) can be defined as damage of brain or functional disabilities of the brain due to a direct or indirect hit in head or skull that protects the brain from all possible threats. In such cases, the brain can be bruised, stretched or torn to cause bleeding. The problems for a brain injury may start from mild and turn into severe in a shortest period of time.

Types of Brain Injury:

Nerve Damage: Nerve damage is the basic type of brain injury that may occur when receives a blow to the head.  In first stage, you may not be aware of the injury & your doctor may also describe the problems as mild. But one important thing you should keep in mind is that a mild problem can turn into a serious problem that leads to loss of consciousness, known as a coma, losing control over sensory organs or arms or legs.

Bruising: It can be defined as bleeding inside of the brain due to a direct hit to the head.  This can lead to functional disability of the brain, Coma, Seizures, brain damage or higher pressure inside the skull.

Oxygen supply interruption: Oxygen is a human’s lifeline and fuels the brain so it can fulfill its responsibilities. Blood flow within the brain can be interrupted due to an injury. This may creaate obstacles or decrease sufficient oxygen supply to brain that can lead to brain damage. This problem is popularly known as Anoxia.

Hematoma: Hematoma means blood pools inside of the brain. There are three types of hematoma including Epidural hematoma (outer layer of the brain, between the brain & skull), Subdural hematoma (middle layer of the brain), Intracerebral hematoma (the inner part of the brain). Hematomas also causes similar problems like nerve damage, bruising or oxygen deprivation

Cerebral hemorrhage: This is bleeding inside the head. It may occur in three areas of the brain including the outer surface, inside the spaces of the brain, or into the tissues.

Causes & Risk Groups of people

Researchers identified leading causes of brain injury which are, falls (28%), motor vehicle-traffic crashes (20%), struck by/against (19%), Assaults (11%), Blasts or certain military duties for Military personnel. Also, the highest risk age group is identified as children 0-4 years of age or 15-19 years old.

Treatment of brain injury is based on the depth of the problem; it may include surgery, therapy, or a rehabilitation process that helps to overcome the problems. Finally, awareness and head protection is the best way to avoid incidents like brain injuries.



What duties does a priest have who finds out about a family member and fellow clergyman’s sex abuse of a child?  The case involving Bishop Charles Bennison of Pennsylvania revolved on that question.  This week, the Episcopal Bishop who was accused of covering up child sex abuse involving his brother, has won an appeal by the Episcopal Church of Appeals.  Advocates against child sex abuse and California sex abuse lawyers will be concerned at this development.

In 2008, Charles Bennison was found guilty by a church panel of covering up a sexual relationship involving his brother and a 14-year-old girl.  His brother, John Bennison was then the rector of St. Mark’s Church in Upland, California.  He allegedly began a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl, of which Bennison eventually became aware.  A church panel in 2008 determined that Bennison had engaged in conduct that was unbecoming of a clergyman because he failed to stop the relationship, even after he found his brother with the minor girl, and even after hearing rumors about the abuse.

In May, an Episcopal Church appeals panel met to discuss the situation.  The panel has reversed that decision, because too much time had passed before charges were brought against Bennison in 2007.  The statute of limitations in clergy abuse has an exception, but that can only apply in sex abuse cases where the respondent has been directly involved in the abuse.  In this case, it was Bennison’s brother who perpetrated the abuse and therefore, the statue limitations exception did not apply here.

It seems that Bennison has been let off on a technicality.  This is a man who should have stepped in when he found out about his brother and fellow priest conducting an illegal sexual relationship with a child.  Bennison will now likely resume his former position as leader of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.  It’s like a slap in the face of victims of child sexual abuse.

A new study by the University of Minnesota School of Public Health looks at whether colleges around the country have been able to implement recommendations made by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.  The study found that most colleges are doing a poor job of implementing these.  As a result, there has been very little improvement in the numbers of college students driving under the influence, even though these numbers have declined significantly across the general population in the US.

Back in 2002, the NIAAA recommended that colleges implement a four-tier program to prevent drinking among college students.  Tier 4 involved educating students about the dangers of drinking, and was the least effective, while Tier 1, which involved interventions to crack down on such behavior, was the most effective.  Tier 2 involved placing restrictions on drinking and alcohol excesses by enforcing the minimum drinking age laws, restricting access to alcohol retailers and taxing alcohol.  Tier 3 involved discouraging alcohol use especially during weekends, banning sponsorship from the alcohol beverage industry, banning alcohol on campus, establishing no-alcohol dormitories and prohibiting keg parties.

The University of Minnesota study found that 98% of the colleges that were surveyed were not employing an effective strategy.  About 22% of the respondents were not even familiar with the NIAAA recommendations for preventing alcohol use among college students.  Twenty three percent of the colleges had not implemented any of the recommendations contained in Tier 1 and 2, which are the most effective in preventing college drinking.  About 65% of the colleges had managed to implement just one or two recommendations in these two types.

One of the conclusions that Alabama DUI criminal defense lawyers can draw from the survey is that colleges have failed to take the problem of drunk driving among college students seriously.  There seems to be no attempt to nip the problem in the bud, with the result that students don’t understand the consequences of their actions, and may be caught driving under the influence.  This could have serious consequences for the rest of their lives.

In February, a helicopter crashed north of Phoenix, Ariz., killing five people. On board that helicopter were pilot John “Rick” Morton and Thomas J. Stewart, along with Stewart’s wife, child and brother-in-law. According to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, the passengers and pilot most likely knew they were going to die moments before their chopper went down. Stewart and his family were on their way back to Scottsdale after spending a long weekend at the family’s ranch near Flagstaff. While an official cause for the crash has yet to be determined by investigators, a mechanical failure is suspected to be at the root of the helicopter’s problems. Witnesses who saw the helicopter go down claim that pieces of the aircraft were falling from the sky just moments before the crash.

Now the pilot’s wife, Charlotte Morton, and her adult daughter, Brenda, have filed a lawsuit against the mechanic who did repairs on the helicopter and his company, Cascade Airframe Repair Inc., as well as the manufacturer of the aircraft, Eurocopter, and the previous owner of the helicopter, Clearwater Corp. Lawyers for the Morton family allege that those named in the suit are negligent because they had knowledge that the chopper’s blades were faulty. One of the main rotor blades on the crashed aircraft had been severely damaged after flying through a intense thunderstorm and had undergone extensive repairs by both Cascade and Eurocopter. The lawsuit states that the cause of the crash was a crack that developed along the edge of the rotor blade, leading it to expand and separate while in flight. The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages and none of the defendants has made an official response to the suit.

Morton had been the Stewart family’s personal pilot for years. Previously, Morton was a U.S. Army veteran who had flown helicopters in Vietnam. He accumulated more than 11,000 hours of flight time during the past 30 years of his career. He was killed on the day of his 38th wedding anniversary.

In an international tragedy last month, Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 94 other passengers were killed in a plane crash outside the Russian city of Smolensk. As Poland and the world mourned the loss of the president and many Polish leaders, investigators went to work to find out what caused the flight to go down in a treacherous ravine.

Last week, a preliminary report unveiled that at least two passengers visited the cockpit before it crashed, while several other passengers are said to have been using cell phones while in the air. Cell phone use on airplanes can affect navigation. In this case, proper navigation was crucial as the pilots were navigating through dense fog and challenging terrain. These details were published last week in a report conducted by Russian and Polish authorities. Russia and Poland, who previously have failed to cooperate on local and international matters, are determined to join forces in this case in an effort to heal their rocky relationship.

The investigation thus far has uncovered at least two voices not belonging to crew members on the cockpit flight recorders. What the voices said and who they belonged to has not been revealed yet by officials. The voices were heard a little more than 15 minutes before the plane crashed. One of the voices, however, is believed to be that of Air Force Commander General Andrzej Blasik. News of unknown passengers in the cockpit has furthered speculation by the international press that President Kaczynski or someone in his entourage pressured the crew to land, despite the already-poor visibility having shrunk to about 660 feet.

The airplane that went down on April 10th was filled with political figures en route to a memorial ceremony for Polish officers killed by Soviet secret police in 1940. Russian and Polish investigators also are looking into whether the terrain around the Smolensk military airport distorted instrument readings.

Products marketed as “all-natural” or “good for you,” like our daily vitamins, have been slowly revealing themselves in courtrooms as products that may need to be monitored as closely as prescription medications.

Last month, a Texas judge approved a $110 million settlement against the makers of vitamin supplement E-Ferol. The drug is thought to be the cause of death of nearly 40 infants in the mid-1980s.  These drugs have clearly caused injuries to children.  The company which marketed and distributed the solution claimed the supplement had the power to prevent blindness, although it had never been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration. Pulled off the market in 1984, E-Ferol caused dozens of children to suffer from liver and kidney damage after taking the drug.

Elsewhere, the maker of the Ultimate Power Meal, Gary Null, Ph.D., filed a suit against his own supplier this week after he took the drug and experienced dangerous side effects. In his lawsuit, Null alleges that the Ultimate Power Meal contains 1,000 times more vitamin D than labeled. After consuming his own product in December 2009, Null became severely ill with serious fatigue and bleeding from within his feet. Null is seeking $10 million in damages from Triarco, the manufacturer of Ultimate Power Meal, based in Wayne, N.J. Null claims that Triarco did not properly test the product before sending it out. Since the reporting of Null’s reaction, Ultimate Power Meal has been pulled off the market and subjected to a thorough recall. Health industry insiders claim that Null’s suit is strategic and may prevent class action lawsuits against his company for reactions caused by using the product.

And last year, over-the-counter drug czar Bayer Inc. was sued for claims by their Men’s One-A-Day vitamin that touted prevention from prostate cancer. The libel suit was filed in San Fransico in October.

Motorcycle safety often depends on other motorists and the riding skills and experience of the motorcyclist. However, motorcycle accidents can also be traced to malfunctioning of the vehicle. It’s important for motorcyclists to have more than a working knowledge of how their vehicle works, and to be able to look for and identify any problem areas that may need fixing.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has a sample inspection checklist that should be handy to motorcyclists. The checklist contains all the items that need to be in working condition for you to ride safely.

• Before you begin riding, check the tread depth of the tires. Look for signs of wear and tear. Look for sharp objects that may have become embedded into tires. Check the tire pressure.
• Inspect your motorcycle wheels. Look for cracks in the cast and seals, and fix any bent, broken or missing spokes
• Inspect your motorcycle brakes.
• Inspect the C control hoses and look for cracks, cuts, leaks and bulges.
• Look for frayed cables.
• Check that the throttle is moving freely, and does not rev when the handlebar is turned.
• Check for any cracks on the headlamp. Check the reflector as well as the mounting and adjustment system of the headlamp. Check if the other lamps are in working condition. There should be no cracks, and lamps should be cleaned. The brake lamp should activate upon front brake or rear brake application.
• Check if the mirrors are cleaned. Check if the turn signals are flashing properly.
• Check your oil levels. Look for leaks of engine oil, hypoid  oil and hydraulic fluid

Very often, Las Vegas personal injury lawyers come across accidents involving new and inexperienced motorcyclists. It’s the reason why we would advise against simply going out, purchasing a motorcycle, and riding away. Take time for a motorcycle training course, which will include awareness of the motorcycle’s mechanical functioning. You should be able to tell when a motorcycle isn’t stable enough to ride, because a mechanical failure could be disastrous.

Ultimately, it’s important to remember that passengers in a car could be safe from injuries caused by a mechanical malfunction of the vehicle, but there is no such safety cushion for a motorcyclist.



Nobody likes to admit it, but at some point, everyone has been suckered by a product that they’ve seen on television that promises to do this or that. Once we get it home, however, we discover that this miracle product is actually a total dud. We toss it in the trash and chalk it up to another example of “buyer beware.” When it comes to prescription drugs, though, false promises can be extremely hazardous. Two pharmaceutical giants, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, settled two separate lawsuits last month. Both lawsuits involve false claims, illegal marketing and unapproved uses of two highly-profitable and extremely popular medications.

Johnson & Johnson paid out $81 million to settle a case that claimed it marketed the epilepsy drug Topamax for unapproved psychiatric uses. Topamax was thrust into the legal system after a Virginia psychiatrist filed a whistle blower lawsuit that assisted the Justice Department in making its case. His lawsuit claimed that the company promoted Topamax for unapproved treatments for alcohol dependence to weight loss and that Johnson & Johnson gave doctors financial kickbacks. J&J pleaded guilty to a single criminal charge. Six million of the settlement will pay a criminal fine, while the rest of the money will resolve civil claims that the company’s marketing of the drug led government health programs to pay for Topamax for unapproved uses.

AstraZeneca’s false marketing came with a steeper price tag: $520 million. The drug giant had marketed its anti-psychotic medication Seroquel for uses that the Food and Drug Administration had not approved. The suit alleged that AstraZeneca had encouraged doctors to prescribe Seroquel for a myriad of unapproved uses, from post-traumatic stress disorder to anger management. Like the J&J suit, the government claimed the company sweetened the deal for doctors by handing over money to prescribe the drug. AztraZeneca, however, has denied the allegations and agreed to pay the $520 million settlement.

Both Seroquel and Topamax also have faced class action suits from patients who claim the drugs didn’t deliver what they promised.