Florida Injury Attorneys Blog

A former stripper at an Alabama club called The Furnace received a jury award in the amount of $100,000 following a lawsuit in which she claimed her employers let her drive drunk following a shift at the club. Patsy Hamaker sued the club for $1.2 million following a drunk driving accident that left her with a broken back and nose.

According to testimony in the trial, Hamaker had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit following a stint in one of the club’s VIP rooms. The trial, which lasted four days, featured testimony from one of the club’s top dancers when it comes to selling drinks to patrons and a claim that the club’s management did confiscate Hamaker’s keys but they were unable to produce those keys at trial. Hamaker claimed the club disregarded its own safety rules and that led to her injuries

A woman from Tampa has filed a personal injury lawsuit claiming an oral surgeon left an inch-long piece of a steel drill bit in her wound for nearly a year. According to an Associated Press story the lawsuit claims that Donna Delgao suffered sinus infections and nosebleeds following her oral surgery.

According to the story the surgery took place in 2008 and Delago had the drill bit removed by another surgeon 11 months later. She is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages. Her attorney is claiming she may suffer nickel poisoning and other side effects due to the mistake. The St. Petersburg Times reported the surgeon would have no comment on the case.

Continue reading "A Tampa Woman Sues Her Dentist For Leaving A Drill Bit In Her Head" »

Lawyers representing talk show host Nancy Grace have asked that her deposition in a Florida wrongful death lawsuit not be videotaped in order to protect Grace from embarrassment. CBS News’ website is reporting that the HLN host’s lawyers want to ban cameras to prohibit the release of the deposition.

Grace is facing a wrongful death lawsuit in Orlando after a guest on her show committed suicide. Melinda Duckett’s family is claiming the 21-year-old Florida mother suffered emotional distress following Grace grilling her client about her missing 2-year-old son. Duckett committed suicide shortly after a taping of the Nancy Grace Show.

Continue reading "Nancy Grace Wants Cameras Barred From Recording Her Deposition In Wrongful Death Lawsuit" »

Christine Wuennenberg filed a long-anticipated lawsuit against Walt Disney World for a monorail accident that took her son’s life. Austin Wuennenberg died while working in the Orlando theme park. The lawsuit says Disney failed to follow safety procedures which led to the crash, according to an Associated Press story.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of Federal authorities citing Disney for workplace violations. One of the citations was for failing to have a workplace free of hazards that could cause death or harm to workers. Disney said it could not comment on the lawsuit at this time according to the story.

Continue reading "Mother Of Disney Monorail Operator Sues The Orlando Theme Park In Son’s Death" »

A wrong-way, head on collision with a DUI driver on Tampa’s Crosstown Expressway took the life of Summer Moll’s mother and almost cost the young girl her life as well. A year-and-a-half later, Moll has made remarkable progress in so many areas. The drunk driving accident left the child with broken legs and arms that were held together by pins. Moll still has one major problem stemming from the car accident and that is a head wound that just won’t seem to heal.

Moll will head to Cincinnati Shriner’s Hospital today hoping to find some answers as to why her head will not heal. The young girl’s medical care has eaten all of her grandmother’s savings as bandages for Moll cost $100 a week according to a story on MyFoxTampaBay.com. On top of it all, the girl’s father is now seeking custody and her grandmother is fighting that battle as well. Summer’s father has been arrested on DUI charges himself in the past and has arrest warrants out for him in Florida.

A 911 operator who ignored a call reporting a injured man lying in a street has lost her job following an internal investigation. The injured man eventually died after lying on the side of a road for 16 hours. There has been no determination as of yet if his death could have been averted if the 911 operator had sent emergency personnel to the scene immediately after the call was placed. Charlotte County is currently facing a lawsuit over the way 911 operators handled the abduction of Denise Lee.

The most recent incident took place December 11 in North Port when a man reported seeing someone lying on the side of a road to the 911 operator. The caller was unsure of the street name but gave detailed directions to the location of the injured party. The 911 operator reportedly felt the caller was intoxicated and that he would call back. He never did and no help was ever sent. A medical examiner’s report is expected to determine time of death, which will also determine if a response from 911 could have saved the man’s life.

Continue reading "911 Operator Fired After Ignoring Call That May Have Cost Port Charlotte Man His Life" »

The Charlotte County Sheriff’s office is battling a major lawsuit from the husband of Denise Lee following her horrific murder. We understand that the county is going to do what it has to in order to protect itself from the lawsuit but filing a motion that says “the agency gave no specific promises that it would protect Denise Lee” doesn’t seem like it would be a winning argument in front of a jury. Whatever happened to the idea of “To Protect And Serve”?

The lawyers for Charlotte County used the argument that there was no specific relationship with Denise Lee compared with the general public according to a story on the Sarasota Herald Tribune. The county’s lawyer hopes the motion will result in the lawsuit being dismissed before a sympathetic jury hears the story of how a 911 operator botched a call that may have saved the young mother’s life.

Continue reading "Good News Charlotte County Residents, Sheriff Gives No Specific Promise To Protect You" »

Just two months after the husband of murder victim Denise Lee filed a lawsuit over a botched 911 call that may have saved the young mother’s life, the North Port and Charlotte County 911 systems are under fire once again. According to a column by Eric Ernst in the Sarasota Herald Tribune, a 911 operator in North Port basically dismissed a call that may have helped save the life of 55-year-old Brian Woods.

Mark Minisci, Jr. called 911 to report a man lying on the ground next to his pick-up truck. Minisci couldn’t remember the name of the street where he saw the man but gave detailed directions to the location. The 911 operator who handled the call did nothing with the information saying her ‘system doesn’t work like that’. Sixteen hours after the call Woods was still lying in the exact same spot in the street dead. We don’t know yet whether the man was alive when Minisci did his civic duty and made the call, but it is sure to once again cast a spotlight on the state of 911 operators in this part of Florida and could lead to yet another wrongful death lawsuit.

Continue reading "More Problems With 911 Operators In North Port And Charlotte County" »

The parents of a special-needs student are set to sue Hillsborough County over repeated sexual abuse according to a story on TampaBay.com. The parents of the 13-year-old girl claim she was repeatedly molested on a bus by other students despite a bus driver and adult aide being present. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies said they questioned the male students and they admitted to being involved in the sexual acts.

While the parents agreed at the time not to press charges, according to the family’s attorney they felt pressured at the time not to pursue the criminal investigation. The family filed an intent to sue and the school district has six months to investigate before the lawsuit can be filed according to the story. The parents also claim they told officials their daughter was being molested but nothing came of their complaints.

If you or a loved one has suffered due to someone else’s negligence and are in need of aggressive legal representation in your case, please contact Personal Injury Attorney Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) or online at FightYourInjury.com to discuss the matter. You can also contact Darren via email.

There have been no charges filed as of yet in a tragic boating accident that left 17-year-old Paige Davison dead but that hasn’t stopped Davison’s parents from filing a lawsuit against two teens, one of those teen’s parents and a drive-thru liquor store owner they believe all played a role in their daughter’s death. The St. Petersburg High School senior lost her life when the boat she was on slammed into a jetty.

According to a story on TampaBay.com the lawsuit claims that two 18-year-old boys, who had already been drinking, bought beer without being asked for ID at Quick Thru Mini Mart. Despite being assured the teens were licensed to operate the boat, it turns out neither of the boys had a boating safety education card, which is required for any boater under 21. Once they got out on the water, the young man who was the most experienced boater was so drunk he passed out and his friends were so concerned they called 911. At that point the less-experienced 18-year-old took over driving the boat and crashed it into the jetty at a high-rate of speed injuring two other passengers and killing Davison.

If you have a loved one that has suffered an untimely death due to someone else’s negligence and are in need of agressive legal representation in your case, please contact Personal Injury Attorney Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) or online at FightYourInjury.com to discuss the matter. You can also contact Darren via email.

Rosa Matos is going to get apology letters from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and the Clearwater Police Department on top of nearly $20,000 in a settlement of a lawsuit she filed following her arrest in January of 2008. According to TampaBay.com Matos was charged on a warrant for issuing bad checks but she was not the woman sheriff’s were looking for and they later acknowledged that.

Matos shared a name with the woman who was wanted on the bad check charge but that was all the two had in common. When Rosa Matos applied for a job with the Clearwater Police Department the warrant showed up during her background check and she was arrested. She filed a lawsuit due to the wrongful arrest that left her embarrassed and having a difficult time finding a job.

If you or a loved one has suffered due to someone else’s negligence and are in need of qualified legal representation in your case, please contact Personal Injury Attorney Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) or online at FightYourInjury.com to discuss the matter. You can also contact Darren via email.

Nine stroller models sold at Target and Babies R Us are being recalled after 12 reports of children having their fingertips amputated in the stroller’s hinge mechanism. The strollers are manufactured in China and distributed in the U.S. by Maclaren. According to an Associated Press story on the TBO website, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the recall after an investigation into the strollers.

The children’s fingers are at risk when placed in the hinge mechanism as the stroller is unfolded. When the hinge locks into place it can cut off the fingertips of a child. The company is offering hinge covers to stop future accidents from happening at no cost. The CPSC is warning owners of these strollers to stop using them until they receive the hinge covers.

If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury due to a company’s negligence and are in need of qualified legal representation in your case, please contact Personal Injury Attorney Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) or online at FightYourInjury.com to discuss the matter. You can also contact Darren via email.