When she was five years old, the girl was molested on numerous occasions by the thirteen-year-old son of the day care center’s director (who no longer works there). The abuse apparently occurred during naptime, though even then the day care center’s staff should have been supervising the children. Though the boy denied the allegations, three therapists who had treated him testified at trial that he admitted to inappropriately touching the young girl. Before the civil trial, he plead no contest to sexual assault charges in the juvenile justice system and was sentenced to undergo counseling.

Attorneys for the young girl, now nine years old, claimed that she was traumatized by the experience. She is now afraid to look in mirrors because she sees monsters, including the perpetrator, and her mother has to cover them up. The day care’s lawyers, on the other hand, argued that $3 million was excessive because she had not proven that she suffered substantial pain and injuries from the abuse.Two other lawsuits against Discovery Day Care are pending, one brought by a child who witnessed sexual abuse and the other by second victim.

While sexual abuse is a particularly offensive crime, it just one of the many possible results of negligence by day care employees and management. When those entrusted with the care of children abandon their duties, children may be injured while playing, wander away, or, as in this case, be abused by other children or employees. If your child has been harmed at day care as a result of negligence, you are entitled to compensation for medical expenses as well as pain and suffering. An experienced personal injury law firm can help protect your rights and make sure that you are not forced to pay for consequences of others’ mistakes.

According to the complaint, Davis was in good health when he entered the jail on June 18, 2011, but after being denied his prescription Sotalol his condition became worse. Davis says she repeatedly complained to numerous people in the jail, including medical staff, and told them that he needed his medication. Moreover, not only did the jail personnel refuse to get his medication, they also refused to let her bring the medication to her son.

Davis died a week later on June 25.

Jail records show that Davis had been evaluated early that morning and that the mental health workers in the jail claimed that he was “manipulating the system.” The records, which have since been partially redacted, also show that his mother called the jail on the 25th and was “distraught.” At one point, jail officials claimed Davis was acting “erratically” and moved him to an a separate united for refusing to follow directions, instead of putting him in the medical unit. He was finally moved to the medical unit in the evening but was found without a pulse two hours later.

This is not the first time inmates have died from lack of medical care at the FCDC, a privately-run, for-profit jail. In 2010, Dean Ferguson died of a pulmonary embolism while in FCDC custody while nurses refused to examine him after he complained of leg pain and shortness of breath. The nurses were later put on probation by the private company that provides medical care to the jail under a contract. Dead had been serving a weekend-long DUI sentence. In 1997, an inmate died while going through detoxification after he  was booked for prescription forgery. In 2005, Gerald Cornett died at the jail after being refused medical care for injuries he received there, and in 2004, Dong Zhang committed suicide while left unsupervised, shortly after he was told he was being charged with murder. Most egregiously,  Timothy Wayne Jackson died in FCDC custody after being tightly strapped, face down, to a mattress for two days. Davis was a paranoid schizophrenic who had been in the jail for a month with no treatment for his condition. Medical records showed that his health had been progressively deteriorating for days.

Jail and prison administrators and personnel have a duty to care for the people that are in their custody—people who are prevented from caring for themselves. More and more, prisons and jails are being transferred to private control and being run for a profit. Inmate medical and mental health care is often a low priority. When jail and prison officials neglect the health of their inmates, the act negligently and can be sued in court for the injuries or deaths they cause. While incarceration has a legitimate purpose, when time in jail turns into a death sentence, an enormous wrong has been done, and those responsible should be held accountable. If you or a family member have been injured by negligence or mistreatment in a prison or jail, an experienced attorneycan help you get the compensation you deserve.

After Walters slipped on some crushed fruit and fell onto his back, he was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries and had to have surgery, including having rods and screws inserted into his spine. Because his medical bills came to $135,000 and he was no longer able to work as a landscaper, Walters sued Kroger for compensation.

Kroger initially claimed that the security camera footage from the day of the accident had since been taped over, because recordings are only held for 17 days. They also claimed that the security cameras did not point in the direction of the deli area where Walters slipped. During preparation for trial, Walters’ lawyer, Lloyd Bell,  asked for a demonstration of the store’s security cameras and saw that a camera pointed directly at the area where Walters fell.

The judge in the case agreed and found that the company had spoliated evidence by destroying the tapes. He then held the company had been negligent and was liable for Walters’ injuries. A trial was then held, but the only issue for the jury was how much Kroger owed Walters. After three days, they awarded Walters $2.3 million.

Spoliation often affects victims of products that have injured them. If they cannot produce the evidence for experts to examine, they will often have a hard time convincing a jury that the manufacturer was negligent. But spoliation also means that when property owners know someone has been injured on their property, they have a duty to make sure the evidence of the accident is preserved. When they fail to do so—or actively try to destroy the evidence—they can be found automatically liable for the victim’s injuries.

Even mundane oversights—like fruit left on the floor for an unreasonable time—can have catastrophic consequences resulting in severe injury, enormous bills, unemployment, pain, and even death. Lawsuits for personal injuries ensure that innocent victims of negligence are not made to shoulder such extreme consequences by themselves and that the parties who actually caused an injury compensate those they have harmed. It is important in all personal injury cases to make sure that evidence is preserved so that negligence can be proven later. If you or a family member have been injured by product or on another’s property, do not wait to find an who can ensure that the evidence you’ll eventually need is kept safe.

Abiola Bankolemoh’s parents, Kemi Green and Gbolohan Bankolemoh, thought that they had investigated their two young children’s day care sufficiently and believed that it was safe. Though it was run out of a home, they were shown a CPR license and were assured that the owner was licensed, as any paid child care provider must be if caring for three or more children, and that the center was periodically inspected by the state. However, not only was Tanya Moon not licensed to provide child care services, the state has no record that she ever applied for a license. Moreover, the house could not have been approved by the state in its current state because of unobstructed access to an above-ground swimming pool in the back yard.

In March 2009, on a day when Moon was caring for four children, 23-month-old Abiola got out the home’s back door while unattended. He wandered into the backyard and went to the family’s above-ground pool, where he was later found dead. Abiola’s three-year-old brother was also in the home that day. Abiola’s parents sued Moon, along with her husband and father-in-law, who owned the home. Criminal charges were initially filed against both Moon and her husband, though the charges against him were later dropped. Moon still faces criminal charges stemming from the death.

The verdict for Green and Bankolemoh included $50,000 for their pain and suffering in addition to $9.8 million for Abiola’s death. Attorneys for the parents, Jeff Harris and Alan Cleveland, told the press that they expected to collect the entire amount from the three defendants’ insurance providers.

Day care centers are regulated by the state to ensure that the provide safe environments for the children in their care. Sadly, serious violations of state safety regulations occur frequently. Both home-based and commercial day care centers are guilty of neglecting safety rules and procedures, and as a result a significant number of children are seriously injured or die in Georgia day cares each year. Our Atlanta trial lawyers have successfully represented numerous victims of negligence throughout Georgia, recently including a few parents whose children were harmed by day care center negligence. We hope that by filing suit, we can punish those responsible for our clients’ injuries and help them and their families get the compensation they need and deserve.

The young man, Jade Holder, was in his jail cell when a group of inmates entered his cell and savagely beat him. Jade’s mother, Evangeline Holder, was initially told by jail officials that her son had sustained broken bones and some lacerations. When she arrived at the hospital, however, she learned that her son had died from his injuries. She was told by the Department of Juvenile Justice that five to eight inmates along with a guard have been arrested in connection with the attack.

Ms. Holder was also told by authorities that they do not know if her son left his cell door open or if a guard left the door open. Ms. Holder claims that Jade’s door was always locked and that she doesn’t believe her son would have left his cell door open. The GBI has initiated an investigation into Jade’s death to determine all of the parties that should be held responsible.

Our firm is currently investigating another serious incident at a Georgia YDC that caused an inmate to be paralyzed. It is important to insure that state detention facilities for juveniles are as safe as possible. Most of these kids are in custody for minor drug offenses and (as in this case) non-violent theft offenses. While they may deserve to serve some time for their conduct, they do not deserve to be brutally attacked and beaten. If the detention officers were aware of the threat of violence to these kids and deliberately ignored it, then they may be liable for their injuries.

Since 2006, nine children have died in Georgia day care centers and five of those fit the profile of SIDS, where an infant dies unexpectedly and without any other explanation while sleeping. Of those five infants, four had been put to bed on their stomachs and all five child care providers had violated some regulation related to the infants’ sleeping, including two who were caring for more children than permitted by law. Scientists and physicians have known since the early 1990’s that infants who sleep on their stomachs are at increased risk of death from SIDS. Nationwide, SIDS deaths have since been cut by half since then, but Georgia lags behind and has not had consistent improvements in the past decade.

Part of the reason for Georgia’s relatively poor performance may be that state authorities have not vigorously enforced state regulations governing how infants are put to sleep. Fines are not issued where violations have been found but no death has occurred. This practice gives child care providers in the state less incentive to comply with best practices. As the article points out, infants have traditionally been placed to sleep on their stomachs because they will usually sleep more soundly and cry less, and it can be difficult to persuade adults to change tried-and-true practices. This is especially true for home-based child care providers—where most recent SIDS cases have occurred—who are not subject to internal regulation as in a corporate facility. In one SIDS case discussed in the article, authorities found dog excrement in the room where the baby had died unsupervised, lying on its stomach. In that extreme case, the child care provider faced criminal charges for reckless conduct. She plead guilty and was fined and sentenced to a year probation.

While injuries do occur no matter how much care is taken, all too often children are injured while at day care due to unsafe practices and lack of supervision. When child care providers fail to follow basic safety guidelines, they commit negligence and can be held accountable for the harm they cause. Our Atlanta trial lawyers have successfully represented numerous victims of negligence throughout Georgia, including those injured by schools, foster homes, and nursing homes. Recently, our firm has accepted a few clients whose children have been harmed by the negligence of day care owners and employees. We hope that by filing suit, we can punish those responsible for our clients’ injuries and help them and their families get the compensation they need and deserve.

Sean Venegas and Brian Kidd were driving in the early evening in Southwest Atlanta, bringing pizza to the apartment of Kidd’s girlfriend, when three officers from the APD’s paramilitary-style Red Dog Unit encountered them and began to follow them. The officers followed the two men and eventually pulled them over. Later, the officers would cite Venegas for running a stop sign, but there was no stop sign at the intersection.

After pulling the men over, officers ordered Venegas and Kidd out of the car without explaining why they had stopped them. The officers searched the car without explanation and slammed the men against the car. On officer strip searched Venegas on the side of the street while it was still light out. He removed Venegas’ pants and underwear, groped his genitals, and performed a cavity search on him while forcing him to spread his buttocks. Another officer reached into Kidd’s pants and groped his genitals. No drugs or contraband were ever found.

The APD’s infamous Red Dog Unit has now been disbanded under public pressure following a string of claims of officer brutality and lawlessness. This summer the city settled a case brought by a group of men for civil rights violations for over $1 million. Red Dog Unit officer—two of whom were involved in the stop of Venegas and Kidd—illegally detained and assaulted patrons of the Eagle, an Atlanta gay bar, insulting the men with gay slurs, forcing some to lay on the floor in broken glass, and destroying evidence by erasing the contents of cell phones.

Lawsuits are an effective tool not only for getting compensation for illegal arrests and police brutality, but also for forcing cities and states to respect the civil rights of their residents. Police brutality is shocking and gives rise to public outrage when it is made public. And while it is generally difficult to prove police misconduct, in those cases where sufficient evidence exists, juries often award significant damages.

Examining the last five years of data, the AJC determined that since 2005 almost 500 severe penalties had been issued following serious incidents occurring at 1 out of every 15 of Georgia’s 6,686 day care centers. The horror stories told by parents include a 7-year old who climbed over a day care fence and was later found wandering the street 2 1/2 miles away, a 2-year old found at the bottom of a day care pool, the wrong child sent home with another child’s blind relative, and two children kidnapped by a day care worker’s deranged boyfriend.

These incidents included dozens of broken bones and burns, 50 children who wandered away, 7 children whose fingers were amputated, and 8 children who died. 90% of these reported serious incidents only resulted in fines, often less than $300. In five years, only 44 licenses were suspended, the vast majority of which were those of small, in-home providers.

According to the report, 85% of penalties over the past five years were issued to larger day care centers. And 50 out of 52 of the day care centers who had multiple serious violations were large operations. Of those 50, the state only revoked four licenses.

85 percent of all the major penalties involved child care centers that care for 19 or more children. 52 child care providers had two or three major penalties during the past five years. All but two were larger commercial centers, but only four had their licenses revoked. According to one expert, this is a sign that the state’s day care regulators are targeting smaller, more vulnerable day care providers rather than picking fights with larger companies, even though the larger centers are responsible for more injuries.

A national non-profit child care group ranked Georgia’s day care oversight 49th out of 50 states in 2009, though in 2010 it rose to 36th. In the Southeast, Georgia ranks behind only Alabama in the total number of day care license revocations. But of the six states studied, only Kentucky issued more fines than Georgia. One children’s advocate suggested that this shows the state has not devoted enough resources to oversight. Instead, Georgia issues relatively small fines after injuries have already occurred.

The Commissioner of Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) said that the state’s oversight policies may need to be reviewed soon. The last time outsiders examined the system was 1987.

Our lawyers have successfully represented numerous victims of negligence throughout Georgia, including those injured by schools, foster homes, and nursing homes. Recently, our firm has accepted a few clients whose children have been harmed by the negligence of day care owners and employees. We hope that by filing suit, we can punish those responsible for our clients’ injuries and help them and their families get the compensation they need and deserve.

Christine Garland—then an executive for Auto Trader—was attending a sales conference at the Crowne Plaza Ravinia Hotel in Dunwoody in early January 2007 when she was injured. Because a lobby area where conference attendees were arriving was too hot, staff of the hotel decided to open multiple outside doors, even though it was raining. Garland was stationed at one of many tables positioned throughout the lobby to serve the 200 conference attendees. As the wind outside picked up, items were blown off the tables in the lobby and Garland asked hotel staff to close the doors. According to Garland, a hotel staff member refused as immediately turned away. After seeing a co-worker attempting to shut a door, Garland attempted to help him and slipped as she stepped off a carpeted area and onto the lobby’s marble floor.

Garland hit the ground with great force, injuring her right wrist and shoulder. Garland was later diagnosed with a torn tendon in her wrist and thumb and had to undergo orthopedic surgery. She later required separate surgeries for a torn pectoral muscle and for nerve damage in her shoulder and elbow. Because of her injuries and inability to use her right arm, Garland eventually had to give up her job and could no longer participate in physical activities she had previously enjoyed. At the time of trial, Garland had undergone six surgeries so far and possibly needed more in the future.

At trial, the insurance company’s defense team argued that Garland had been contributorily negligent—that is, that her own negligence was a factor in the fall—and that she had assumed the risk of her injury by choosing to walk on the wet marble floor in high heels. They claimed that hotel employees had posted warning signs about the wet floor and placed mats near the doors to prevent slips. Garland and plaintiff’s witnesses disputed those claims.

The jury’s award to Garland was significantly more than she had requested. Garland asked for three years at an $80,000 salary, $2.3 million for past and future pain and suffering, and over $225,000 in past and future medical expenses. The jury instead gave her four years worth of lost salary and $3.1 million for pain and suffering.

Though slips and falls often cause very minor injuries—or even none at all—they have the potential to cause catastrophic damage. Property owners and managers who hold their premises open to the public have a duty to make sure that dangerous conditions are corrected and that visitors are adequately warned of dangers that may not be obvious. When people suffer serious injuries caused by others’ negligently maintained premises or failure to warn, it is their responsibility to compensate anyone whose injuries they caused. If you or a loved one have been injured due to another person’s negligence, an experienced personal injury attorney can help ensure that you do not have to shoulder the burden of medical bills and other expenses on your own.

After a two-week jury trial and a total of six-and-a-half hours of deliberation, the jury announced that the Landstar Ranger, Inc. was liable for nearly $40.2 million in damages to Theresa Foster, who was injured and whose husband was killed in the collision.

On the evening of February 11, 2007, William Foster’s Ford F-150 was struck by a tractor-trailer on Highway 27 in Early County. Foster, his wife Theresa, and his friend Jerry DeMott, were returning to Blakely following a hunting trip and were towing a Jeep containing their hunting dogs.

For reasons never determined, a tractor-trailer leased to Landstar Ranger, Inc. and driven by Stephen Collins ran a stop sign at the intersection of Highways 27 and 62 in Blakely, slamming into Foster’s truck. Foster died at the scene of the wreck. DeMott died later at a local hospital and Theresa Foster sustained numerous serious injuries, including fractured vertebrae. Collins was charged with misdemeanor counts of vehicular homicide and failure to stop at a stop sign.

The jury’s $40 million verdict included over $11 million for Theresa Foster’s injuries, medical expenses, and pain and suffering. $29 million was the jury’s award for William Foster’s wrongful death and for his mental suffering in the short time before he died. Foster owned Dixie Shooters Supply, a guns and ammunition distributor in Blakely. At trial, Theresa Foster’s attorneys (led by Bill Stone) argued that upcoming business deals would have increased his annual income substantially.

The most extraordinary aspect of this record-setting verdict is that the large award did not include punitive damages intended to punish the defendant. It is usually only through punitive damages that damages awards for wrongful death reach over seven digits.

After the verdict was read, attorneys for Landstar argued that the jury had improperly speculated as to Foster’s future income and that they would appeal.

Given their large size, tractor-trailers pose a special danger to other drivers on the road. In addition to the basic rules that all drivers must follow, special regulations govern the hiring of truck drivers, inspection of their trucks, and the amount of time drivers may work in a single day or week. Failure by a trucking company to follow these regulations may be proof of negligence. When that negligence results in injury or death to others, the owners of the trucks or employers of the drivers must compensate the people they have injured. An experienced attorney can you are fairly compensated if you or your loved ones have been injured through the negligence of tractor-trailer drivers.