Recently in Negligence / Other Torts Category

Did you recently go on a bad cruise and want to know what your legal options are? Specifically, can you sue a cruise line for ruining your vacation?

These days, Carnival Cruises have made headlines for some unsightly and unfortunate accidents. But according to travel experts, it doesn't look like there's much hope for those who want to sue the cruise line.

A Seastreak commuter ferry collided with multiple docks this morning, leaving a hole in the ship and more than fifty passengers injured. At least 57 people were being treated, nine for serious injuries, and two in critical condition. One man was reportedly thrown down a flight of stairs by the impact. He was rushed into surgery and has been upgraded to stable condition.

One passenger described the moment before impact to Channel 7 Eyewitness News: "Once you basically pass the Statue of Liberty, you pretty much know that you're going to be there soon, so a lot of people start standing up, milling around, getting their coats and everything like that. Anybody who was standing went to the ground."

Sometimes, lawsuits are not filed for financial reasons. Instead, the lawsuit is merely a tool to get answers, to assign blame, or to put a company out of business by running up exorbitant legal fees. For the last strategy, the death by a thousand paper cuts, the plaintiff will refuse to settle and will push extraneous motions for years in order to build up the cost of the lawsuit.

Unethical? Quite possibly. Does it happen? All the time.

Litigation, with legitimate ends in mind or not, was one strategy formerly pursued by gun control advocates. Fortunately or not, they lost. They lost in legal decisions, and eventually, a federal law banned lawsuits against gun manufacturers.

Remember that peanut butter recall from about two months ago? Sunland, Inc., which is the third largest producer of organic peanut butter in the United States, voluntarily closed down after 41 people in 20 states were sickened by the tainted peanuts. Though the recall initially covered Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter, it spread to dozens of other brands produced by Sunland as well, including house brands for Target, Safeway, and Whole Foods.

Now, on the day Sunland was planning to reopen its plant, the FDA used its emergency power to shut the plant down indefinitely. This is the first time the authority, granted as part of a 2011 food safety law, has been used, reports The Associated Press.

This wasn't a lawsuit about the Twin Towers or the hijacked planes. This was a lawsuit about an airport security checkpoint in Portland, Ore., and the building next to the towers.

According to Reuters, the owners of 7 World Trade Center were suing United Airlines over the loss of the building, which collapsed after debris from the collision between American Airlines Flight 11 and 1 World Trade Center fell on the neighboring building.

It seems there are nothing but unanswered questions in the Shannan Gilbert and Long Island serial killer cases. Gilbert, a prostitute who advertised on craigslist, disappeared in May 2010. Though her remains were found late last year, the cause of death was inconclusive.

Gilbert’s disappearance led to the accidental discovery of ten victims of an unidentified serial killer, most of which are believed to have also been prostitutes. Detectives do not believe that the deaths of Gilbert and the other victims are related, reports New York Magazine.

We all love a bargain. Plus, who doesn't love scavenger hunts? For many, Black Friday is a part of their annual tradition. Eat until nauseated on Thanksgiving, pass out in a food coma, and then wake up early and fight crowds for $10 off a video game or $100 off of a television.

It seems, however, that the confluence of a bad economy and deal hunting has escalated things a bit. A few years ago, a Wal-Mart stampede killed an employee and caused a miscarriage. Last year, a woman pepper-sprayed fellow shoppers in the midst of a video game scramble.

Like nearly every auto accident, the question of who is at fault is answered differently depending on the person answering. The National Guard blames the pedestrian, who died after being hit by a personnel carrier headed to pick up relief supplies. A spokesperson told The New York Times that the pedestrian disregarded a police escort and “stepped into traffic.”

On the other hand, an eyewitness told Streetsblog that there was no police escort and that the convoy blasted through red lights, nearly running the witness over as well. There were no sirens or other warnings that it was unsafe to cross. Kwok Fu, 82, was not jaywalking or trying to beat the convoy. He was hit by the final truck, which was speeding through the red light to catch up to the other trucks.

“And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21

David Jimenez and his wife, Delia, are devout Catholics. When she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2008, he would stop between food deliveries at the St. Patrick’s Church in Newburgh, New York to pray before a large outdoor crucifix. Two years, later, Delia was declared cancer free.

David wanted to show his gratitude. He volunteered to clean up the cross, first by removing the trash from around the crucifix, then by scrubbing it clean. Unfortunately, while cleaning Christ’s face, he stood on the base of the crucifix and used the cross bar for support. The leverage of his weight snapped the 600-pound marble crucifix off of the base and onto his leg. The damage was so severe that doctors were forced to amputate that leg, reports The Associated Press.

Fans are noisy. The motors and wind-pushing blades create a constant hum. After a while though, you can tune it out. But, could you tune out thirty-seven fans, each standing four hundred and seventy six feet high?

Neighbors of the Hardscrabble Wind Power Project are suing because the wind-farming renewable energy project is simply too loud, too large, and too close to their homes, reports the Courthouse News Service. Sixty plaintiffs have signed on to the lawsuit. All live within a mile of the renewable energy project.