Massachusetts Injury Lawyer Blog

Some 800 guests were forced to evacuate Boston's Intercontinental Hotel this morning after a 2:00 a.m. electrical fire was reported in the electrical room of the hotel garage. According to the Boston Herald, guests were forced to stay outside of the hotel for hours, while workers shut down the power in the hotel to deal with the fire. No one was hurt.

Outside of the city in Malden, two teenage girls were injured this morning when their house caught on fire. The Boston Herald reported that when police responded to the 911 call, they found that flames surrounded the house. The officers rushed into the burning house and were able to rescue a teenage girl on the first floor while another teenage girl, who was on the second floor, jumped from the burning building. Both girls were taken the Massachusetts General Hospital, and one of the police officers was taken to Melrose Wakefield Hospital.

Residential and building fires account for only 25% of fires nationwide according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), yet these fires account for 83% of deaths and 77% of injuries from fires across the nation. Cooking, heating and smoking are common causes of residential and building fires.

NFPA recommends that you check your smoke alarms regularly to make sure they are working and develop and practice a home fire escape plan.

Continue reading "Two Fires, Three Hospitalized. Are You Ready? " »

The Boston Globe reported yesterday that cases of Lyme disease had dramatically increased in Metrowest communities like Framingham and Natick. Lyme disease cases have more than quadrupled in Middlesex, Norfolk, and Worcester Counties since 2000. In Middlesex County, the numbers went from 136 cases in 2000 to 767 cases in 2008. The cause appears to be the rise in the deer population in these areas, and the development of new housing in areas where deer live. Lyme disease is caused by tiny deer ticks which are hard to spot because they are the size of a poppy seed.

Often Lyme disease is misdiagnosed. The early symptoms are not unlike the flu: fever, headache, fatigue, and sometimes, but not always, a rash. If untreated, the disease can progress to include severe arthritis, neurological problems including numbness, weakness, paralysis, and memory loss, meningitis, and heart problems. Commonly, doctors misdiagnose chronic Lyme disease sufferers as having multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, or fibromyalgia. There is also a controversy about treatment of Lyme disease, with the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and insurance companies advocating a short term treatment, and others, like the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) arguing for a longer term treatment. Within the last two months, a statute was passed providing patients and doctors the right to choose which treatment regime to follow.

If you have Lyme disease and have been misdiagnosed or not treated effectively, you should consult a lawyer who specializes in medical negligence law.

Continue reading "Lyme Disease is Dangerous, Often Misdiagnosed, and Spreading" »

When it comes to discrimination, people often talk in code. Rarely do we hear the classic hateful epithets for races, gender, or sexual orientation, at least not from employers when they are making decisions about employees. A few recent articles point out the subtle, or sometimes not so subtle, code words and phrases that have now taken the place of overt discrimination.

A Cleveland, Ohio, TV station reports that a local temp agency was sued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) because when they sent the applicants' resumes to employers, they attached a notecard with a code phrase on it. "Chocolate cupcake" was a young African-American woman. "Hockey player" was a young white man. "Small hands" was for women in general. "Ballerina" and "basketball player" were two other codes, which the article does not translate, but we might guess what they mean.

A Boston Globe article reports that the Acton-Boxboro School District is being sued after it fired a lesbian softball coach. She says that some parents complained that she set a bad example because she was a single mother, though she and her female partner were raising five children together, and in fact three of their children attended the school where she worked. Other parents complained because she brought her partner with her on a team trip. The biggest complaint seemed to be that she swore too much, and that the students were uncomfortable with her vulgar language. She says that if she were a heterosexual man, these actions would not result in complaints or dismissal.

Finally, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that Google, Inc. is being sued by a 54 year old manager who was fired after co-workers called him "fuddy-duddy" and an "old man." Management was more subtle when they let him go -- they said he was a bad "cultural fit" in the youth oriented company.

Discrimination in employment is far more subtle today than years ago. Code words, stereotypes, and an acceptance of the way the "majority" -- usually meaning white men -- view the world can lead to treating people of other races, women, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people badly. But if that happens in the employment context, it is still illegal.

Continue reading "Insidious Discrimination" »

The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and Department of Public Health want to remind you that summertime carries special dangers for children. In a press release, they highlight three areas: windows, water, and cars.

In the summertime, we open our windows up, and children fall from open windows, sometimes to their death. A window screen creates a visual barrier that makes us feel like the window is safe, but a window screen is not strong enough to keep a child, even a toddler or a crawling baby from falling out. There are window guards you or your landlord can install, or you can open windows from the top, not the bottom.

Drowning is a leading cause of death for children in Massachusetts and nationwide. Kids can drown in shallow water as well as deep, in bathtubs, swimming pools, lakes and ponds, or the ocean. You must have your eye on small children in or near the water at all times, and even larger children should be supervised. If you have a swimming pool on your property, make sure there is a fence at least four feet high around it, with self-latching gates that are above the reach of children.

Cars are always dangerous, and you should always make sure children are not around moving vehicles or left unsupervised in cars that are running or have the keys in them. But summertime poses a special risk: overheated vehicles. Children should never be left alone in a car in the summertime. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that a car with the windows down 2" in 80 degree weather can reach deadly heat levels in ten minutes.

We hope these tips will help you to do what you can to protect your children from harm. At KJC Law Firm, we are dedicated to making your life safer. By holding landlords, property owners, drivers or manufacturers responsible for the injuries they cause, we give them good reasons to act more responsibly and safely. And if you or your children are injured, we will help you to get proper compensation.

Continue reading "Summertime Can be Dangerous for Children" »

The U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission announced today that Fisher-Price has initiated a voluntary recall of its Little People Play 'n Go Campsite, a seven-piece plastic play toy which includes a figure called "Sonya Lee." Only Sonya Lee figures that bend at the waist and bear the product number R6935 are part of the recall.

Although no injuries have yet been reported, there have been a number of reports that the Sonya Lee figure in the play set can break at the waist and expose small parts that are a choking hazard. The public is advised to stop using the Sonya Lee figure immediately.

You can get more information on the recall at Mattel Consumer Relations Answer Center.

Continue reading "Fisher-Price Recalls Toy Due to Choking Hazard" »