Toyota Motor Corp. is once again issuing a recall, this time announcing the recall of more than 420,000 vehicles in the United States in connection with potential steering problems. The problem is involved with the “crankshaft pulley on the V6 engine” and affects over 550,000 vehicles worldwide – 283,200 Toyota and 137,000 Lexus vehicles. According…
Read More
On October 18, 2011, a Michigan jury awarded $144 million against Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. According to The Detroit News, Kimberly VanSlembrouck, the mother of Markell VanSlembrouck, sued the hospital and the delivering doctor for medical negligence and for causing permanent and life-changing injuries to her daughter, including severe brain damage and a…
Read More
On October 13, 2011, a Massachusetts jury hit Toys ‘R’ Us with a $20.6 million verdict in a wrongful death case involving a swimming pool slide. According to the AP, the Salem Superior Court verdict was awarded to the family of Robin Aleo, who was fatally injured when an inflatable pool slide partially collapsed at…
Read More
A Dallas County Court-at-Law No. 1 jury announced a $9.3 million verdict against Episcopal School of Dallas on September 21, 2011. According to press releases distributed by PR Newswire, the trial lasted a grueling nine weeks and focused on evidence that officials from the private school improperly expelled a female minor student after learning that…
Read More
Topamax is a prescription drug used to treat patients with epilepsy and prescribed to adults to prevent migraines. On March 4, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identified Topamax as a Pregnancy Category D drug, which means there has been evidence of human fetal risk. It specifically increases the risk of cleft birth defects…
Read More
Alliteration aside, Barron Hilton, an heir to the Hilton Hotel fortune, was recently ordered to pay $4.9 million to Fernando Tellez, a gas station employee in Malibu. According to the Los Angeles Times, Barron Hilton struck Tellez with his Mercedes Benz back in 2008 after witnesses said Hilton drove the wrong way for miles down…
Read More
On Friday, July 8, 2011, a Houston jury returned its verdict in Jamie Leigh Jones’ case against KBR, Inc., Halliburton Co., and Charles Bortz. Jones is the former KBR employee that was allegedly drugged and raped by fellow employees while working in Iraq. The companies and Bortz denied all allegations of rape and a subsequent…
Read More
According to a lawsuit filed on May 17, 2011, CenterPoint Energy has overbilled Houston for the past twenty years. Noting a similar lawsuit settled by New Orleans for $12 million, City Attorney, David Feldman, said the claim could be for “tens of millions of dollars.” CenterPoint distributes electricity to Houston residents regardless of which provider…
Read More