Workers Comp, Personal Injury Settlements Making News

Over five years after a fire started by the pyrotechnics of 80’s metal band Great White in a small Rhode Island concert venue killed 100 people and injured over 200 others, it appears that some closure is coming for the victims and survivors. Great White’s insurer has agreed to a settlement payout of $1 million dollars, which will be paid out to members of class action lawsuit as determined by an as-yet-undetermined formula to be written by a Duke University law professor.

This $1 million settlement is on top of roughly $175 million that defendants of multiple lawsuits stemming from the fire back in February 2003 have offered to pay to settle out of court. This includes both the state of Rhode Island and the town of West Warwick, where the club is located, who have agreed just last month to each pay $10 million. In addition to the lawsuits, tour manager Daniel Biechele pled guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter back in 2006.

With the class action lawsuit being settled out of court, it appears that some questions that could have been raised in a trial may never be answered. Among the plaintiffs is Chris Fontaine, whose son was killed in the fire and daughter was badly injured, and expressed “I just feel that we’re never going to get the answers we need that would put some of this to rest for us.” While Great White’s insurance policy had a maximum payout of $1 million, it is unclear just how much a guilty verdict in court may have been worth.

Back in 2001, sixteen-year old Evan Perez underwent surgery at Staten Island University Hospital to have a tumor removed from one of his ribs by pediatric surgeon Brian Gilchrist and Perez was assured that the growth was non-cancerous. Not only did it turn out that the growth was cancerous, but Gilchrist failed to remove all of it and the remaining tumor spread to three of Perez’ other ribs. Perez had to undergo additional surgery nine months later at a different hospital to have the new growth removed.

Perez, who has stated he has “scars all over my body,” later filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against both Dr. Gilchrist and SIUH in part due to the cancer misdiagnosis. A settlement was agreed to with the help of Justice Joseph J. Maltese in which Gilchrist’s insurer would pay Perez $1.75 million with the hospital paying an additional $150,000.

Though his legal trouble may be over lawyers for Perez have noted that while their client is feeling better, and is continuing to undergo radiation treatment, his medical prognosis remains unclear. Staten Island University Hospital has wished Perez the very best through their spokesperson, but Gilchrist has yet to make any public statements.

Although Airborne denies any illegal conduct or wrongdoing, they have decided to settle a class action lawsuit brought against them by the Federal Trade Commission which challenged the older packaging labeling on Airborne dietary supplements and the associated advertising. Airborne claims the settlement decision is in order to avoid any additional expenses and distraction from running in their corporation.

Back on November 29, 2007 Judge Phillips approved of an initial settlement of $23.5 million, with most of the funds scheduled to be distributed amongst class action attorneys associated with the case and the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, DC. Now, an additional $6.5 million has been added to the total amount Airborne will pay out, with these funds specifically set aside to refund consumers who joined in the class action lawsuit. An assigned claims administrator will approve and pay out individual claims by mid October.

In related news, attorneys with Airborne are continuing their discussions with attorneys general in 28 states to resolve investigations into the older advertising and packaging labeling on the company’s dietary supplements. Airborne CEO Elise Donahue has stated that “we’re just one of many major consumer brands across America that are under assault by class action lawyers” as she continues to defend her company’s practices.

On August 13th, a federal court granted the final approval for a $33 million pay out by Citigroup Smith Barney to settle a class action lawsuit filed against them. In the lawsuit, plaintiffs allege that Smith Barney discriminated against its female Financial Advisers by not paying full compensation and overlooking potential business opportunities with them.

The $33 million will be distributed by a claims administrator who will determine how much is to be paid out to each member of the lawsuit. Employees who were working at the company between August 24, 2003 and March 1, 2008 are eligible to file, and records show that over 1,285 employees so far have filed claims. An independent Diversity Monitor and an Industrial Psychologist will also be assigned, as per part of the settlement, to oversee Smith Barney to ensure that policies including partnership arrangements and branch manager promotions are equally applied to their male and female staff.

Renee Fassbender-Amochae, one of the lead plaintiffs, noted “As a woman who is committed to a career in the financial services industry, I am proud to see the changes this settlement has created for other women at the company” while Kelly M. Dermody, a co-lead class council added “this settlement not only provides serious monetary benefits for all class members, but also real, institutional improvements for female brokers at the company.”

The final settlement came as a result of intense negotiations that were mediated by an Atlanta GA attorney.

In 2007, a false advertising and misleading marketing lawsuit was filed by POM Wonderful against rival juice company Purely Juice for stating that their product is 100% pomegranate juice. POM Wonderful, who worked in conjunction with seven independent labs, found that the product Purely Juice was selling was not purely juice but in fact contained primarily cane sugar and corn sweetener and little pomegranate solids.

The court ruling, which was filed in the Central District of California, specifically noted that “Purely Juice’s advertising from January 7, 2007 to August 30, 2007 was literally false, as demonstrated by the independent tests performed by seven different laboratories. Although Purely Juice claimed that its adulterated “100% Pomegranate” product consisted of “100% pomegranate juice” and contained “NO added sugar or sweeteners,” independent laboratory testing of the juice found these statements to have been false.”

The two companies finally settled earlier this week, with Purely Juice agreeing to pay POM Wonderful $1.5 million in damages. Purely Juice, who relies on a broker to get their juice, admits that there may have been sugar added to their incoming supplies in 2007 and claims that after dealing with the issue internally have had no issues since. Purely Juice returned jabs against POM Wonderful, claiming that they have been bullying nearly a dozen pomegranate juice makers in campaigns to damage their reputations.