Hasenyager & Summerill: Utah's Wrongful Death & Personal Injury Attorneys
injury
Wrongful Death or Personal Injury Due to Propane or Gas in Utah
11/24/12
Utah Wrongful Death or Injury Due to Propane or Natural Gas
As the weather cools down in Utah, many people turn up their heaters and some use portable propane heaters to keep the chill at bay. However, carbon monoxide gas, an odorless byproduct of furnaces, water heaters and propane space heaters can cause death or serious brain injury. Lots of propane space heaters have been made over the years, and they are either handed down, sold at garage sales or found up in the attic and put to use. Heater as old as 1963 may still be in service, and not too long ago the Consumer Products Safety Commission issued a recall on one of these old heaters because it had a faulty burner, leaking poisonous carbon monoxides and causing the death of several people.
Carbon monoxide can be generated by both natural gas and propane fueled furnaces, water heaters and space heaters and can bring about death or serious brain injury if there is not proper ventilation or the unit is malfunctioning or defective. A negligently installed unit may not be properly ventilated, or properly tuned and calibrated, leading to the accumulation of CO and death. Because many furnaces and heaters have not been run all summer, and because CO is odorless, serious injuries and wrongful death can follow since furnace or heater has not been properly adjusted, filters have not been change or etc. Warning symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include: dizziness, light headed, nauseated and can sometimes even feel like you are just ill or coming down with a mild flu. Seek prompt medical attention especially if these symptoms accompany recent start up of furnaces, water heaters, or portable propane heaters and or gas powered generators. Also seek professional to inspect your equipment and make sure that everything is functioning properly and install CO detectors to avoid personal injury or wrongful death. If you have been harmed, injured or lost a loved one due to wrongful death, seek a Utah wrongful death or personal injury lawyer in Utah who can help. Wrongful death and personal injury due to propane or natural gas in Utah is often due to negligence or products liability and the law provides a right of action to seek compensation for the losses.
Golf Course Updates Paths Following Injury
08/31/12
More Than Two Years After Jury Verdict In Personal Injury Lawsuit, Golf Course Updates Cart Paths
In April of 2010 a jury found that Ogden City was negligent in designing and maintaining their golf cart paths, leading to a serious personal injury. Our firm handled the lawsuit for damages as a result of the negligence of Ogden City. Recently, the Standard Examiner ran a story revealing that Mt. Ogden Golf Course paths have finally been updated. Hopefully, those paths have been re-graded and widened in a manner that helps prevent future injury. It only took two years, but we are glad that the golf course is taking steps to improve the safety of their golf course. Premises liability (aka slip and fall) style cases can cause serious injury and even result in wrongful death or paralysis. Our Utah personal injury lawyer and wrongful death attorneys regularly handle such cases.
Utah Injury Lawsuits And Collateral Sources
08/02/12
The Collateral Source Rule in Utah: Evidence of Insurance in Personal Injury, Wrongful Death and Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Often times, whenever there is an injury or death, health insurance has paid some of the medical expenses that occur. When there is a lawsuit for medical malpractice, wrongful death or personal injury, the health insurance companies expect that they can be repaid for the damages caused by the negligence of the defendant. In other words, just because you have health insurance, doesn’t mean that a physician or defendant should be given the benefit of that insurance. So, as part of any recovery, often times the health insurance companies will need to be reimbursed out of any recovery or judgment obtained against the defendant in a personal injury lawsuit under Utah law.
However, this doesn’t mean that the jury or the court should consider evidence of that insurance. Specifically, juries and courts do not consider the existence or payment by health insurance for injuries sustained as a result of negligence. Accordingly, lawyers are not allowed to refer to the existence of health insurance as part of their case because it may prejudice the jury and reduce the ultimate amount of liability imposed upon the defendant. In a recent Utah Supreme Court case, Wilson v IHC,the court ruled that even hinting or alluding to the existence of health insurance or payment of benefits for the plaintiff is wrong and should not be done. The tortfeasor, also known as the defendant, in a medical malpractice, wrongful death, or personal injury lawsuit under Utah law must be held accountable for the full amount of the harm that they have cost. This is irrespective of the existence of any health-insurance benefits. Moreover, the health insurance companies are entitled to reimbursement in any event. Even if they are not a party to a lawsuit currently before the jury.
Contractors Liable for Injury At Work In Utah?
07/26/12
General Contractors May Be Liable for Personal Injury or Wrongful Death to a Subcontractor’s Employee Under Utah Law
In Gonzales v. Russell Sorensen Construction, 2012 UT App 154 (May 24, 2012), the Utah Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of a general contractor’s motion for summary judgment. The case recognized that general contractors may be liable on a theory of premises liability. The Utah case also recognized that general contractors can be held liable for personal injury or death of a subcontractor on the basis of direct negligence.
In Gonzales, a worker brought an injury claim against the general contractor. The appeal focused on a general contractor’s potential liability for injuries allegedly resulting from a hazardous condition on the job site. Gonzales sued the general contractor, Sorensen, and the subcontractor, John Clayton Construction (Clayton), after falling from some scaffolding at a job site. Gonzales fell from the scaffolding because a piece of aluminum that he was holding onto while on the scaffolding came into contact with high-voltage power lines that hung within 10 feet of the roof of the building. In its motion for summary judgment, Sorensen contended that, as a general contractor, it could not be liable for a workplace injury or wrongful death unless Sorensen had exercised direct control over the injury-causing aspect of the work. The trial court denied Sorensen’s motion and held that when an owner relinquishes control of property to a general contractor, that contractor must be responsible for any conditions it creates on the property, specifically, in this matter, the constructing of a building and its resulting conditions.
Sorensen raised two challenges to the denial of summary judgment. First, Sorensen contended that Gonzalez’s amended complaint failed to sufficiently plead the theory of premises liability, barring him from raising that theory in his memorandum in opposition to summary judgment. Second, Sorensen contended that the trial court erroneously relied on section 384 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts to conclude that Sorensen owed a duty of care to Gonzalez as an employee of an independent contractor.
After dispensing with Sorensen’s first argument, the court of appeals went on to rule that section 384 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts does state Utah law governing the liability of general contractors for harm caused to others by conditions at a job site and that Gonzalez alleged material facts to support a claim of direct negligence based on principles articulated in section 384. In particular, Gonzales had claimed that Sorensen violated its duty of care with respect to the premises of the job site because Sorensen constructed or oversaw the construction of the building too close to energized power lines, or knew of the building’s dangerous proximity to them, and could have foreseen harm to Gonzalez and other subcontractors and employees. The court ruled that these material facts that Gonzales had alleged could support a claim of direct negligence based on principles articulated in section 384 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts.
Gonzalez v Sorenson Construction
Bicycles & Cars - Narrow Margins for Error
04/20/12
With warming spring weather, more and more bicycles are getting out on the road. The consequences of a collision between a car or truck and a bicycle rider can be catastrophic. According to a ten year retrospective study (Bike Accident Injury Fact Sheet), during the years 1993 - 2002, 66 people died as a result of collisions between bikes and car or trucks. Many of these wrongful deaths could have been avoided. Additionally, on average over 452 people are seen in emergency rooms every year for bicycle related injuries with hospital bills averaging a total of $1.2 million.
Utah law imposes a duty on drivers to avoid collisions with bicycles. Utah drivers must treat bicyclists the same as other vehicles on the road, pass bicycles in the same way they would pass another car or truck, allow at least three feet of clearance when passing a bike, and cannot drive or park in a bike lane. Drivers should also be very careful around children on bicycles as they react unpredictably and, where there is one, there is usually another chasing right behind. Utah’s publication Share the Road Bike Safet contains a nice breakdown of the rules for drivers and bicyclists which can help avoid unnecessary injury or death.
Utah law imposes a duty on drivers to avoid collisions with bicycles. Utah drivers must treat bicyclists the same as other vehicles on the road, pass bicycles in the same way they would pass another car or truck, allow at least three feet of clearance when passing a bike, and cannot drive or park in a bike lane. Drivers should also be very careful around children on bicycles as they react unpredictably and, where there is one, there is usually another chasing right behind. Utah’s publication Share the Road Bike Safet contains a nice breakdown of the rules for drivers and bicyclists which can help avoid unnecessary injury or death.