Georgia Trial Lawyer Blog

The Senior Care Center in Brunswick, Georgia has been cited for serious federal violations. The nursing home, which is owned by Southeast Georgia Health Systems, is one of the largest nursing homes in Brunswick.

Georgia Public Broadcasting has the story.

Georgia’s Department of Health and Human Services found that the Senior Care Center did not address pressure sores and failed to monitor bowel movements. Moreover, investigators found that the Center was managing patient funds without ever receiving permission to do so. The state agency has recommended a fine of $550 per day until the violations have been brought into compliance with federal law.

The 200-bed nursing home was originally shut down by the state in 2007 for safety reasons. Southeast Georgia Health System then bought the nursing home in 2008.

Our personal injury attorneys have been fighting on behalf of abused nursing home patients for years. Georgia law provides nursing home residents with a Bill of Rights that entitles every resident to adequate and appropriate treatment and care. Residents are also entitled to treatment and care that is in compliance with all laws and regulations. When a resident is injured, suffers or dies because a nursing home failed to provide adequate care, the resident or resident’s family may bring a civil suit against the home for damages. By filing a civil suit, an abused resident can often recover a significant sum of money as well as prevent the abuse of future residents.

On Monday, the Supreme Court of Georgia made it easier for insurance customers to sue their insurance companies when the company has acted in bad faith during settlement negotiations. The Court ruled that an insurer that offers the full amount of its policy in a settlement involving multiple insurers is not automatically immunized from a bad faith claim, because an insurer must still act reasonably in regards to any conditions it attaches to the offer.

A bad faith settlement claim essentially alleges that an insurance company has not fulfilled its duties to its customer, because it wrongfully exposed the customer to a verdict at trial which goes beyond policy coverage instead of settling the case before trial.

In the case before the Court, the plaintiff, Fortner, was injured by the defendant in an auto wreck. The defendant had two insurers: the first, Grange Mutual Casualty, with a policy of $50,000 and the second with a policy of $1,000,000. Fortner offered to settle the case with Grange for $50,000 if the second insurer paid $750,000. Grange responded by offering $50,000 if Fortner would sign a full release with indemnification language and dismiss his claim against the defendant with prejudice. No settlement occurred and Fortner won $7,000,000 at trial. After trial, the defendant assigned Fortner any cause of action he may have against Grange for bad faith in failing to settle.

Fortner sued Grange for bad faith but lost in a jury trial. The instructions the jury received basically stated that an insurer only needs to offer the maximum amount of its policy limits to fulfill its duty to its customer. Fortner’s attorney, Robert B. Turner of the Savannah firm Savage, Turner, Pinson & Karsman, argued the instructions were erroneous, since they didn’t say that Grange had to act reasonably. The Supreme Court agreed. Georgia law requires that an insurance company act reasonably. When a plaintiff makes an offer with a condition beyond the control of an insurer, an insurer can avoid bad faith liability by offering the portion of the demand over which it has control. Grange would have escaped liability if it had responded to Fortner’s offer by offering its policy limits. Instead, Grange put conditions on its offer by demanding that Fortner sign a full release of his claims with indemnification language and dismiss his suit against the defendant. Accepting such an offer would have prevented the $7,000,000 verdict against the defendant. The Court ruled that the settlement conditions were within Grange’s control, and as a result, the jury should be able to decide if the settlement conditions were reasonable.

Our personal injury attorneys have successfully represented clients that were the victims of an insurance company’s bad faith refusal to settle a claim. In our experience, bad faith practices by insurance companies are unfortunately common, and customers must be ever vigilant to ensure that they are not being taken advantage of. While this case highlights and corrects some of the abuses which occurred during settlement negotiations, it is important to understand that insurance customers may also have bad faith claims against their insurance companies for other unfair practices such as refusing to pay benefits that are owed or causing payments to be unreasonably delayed.

Pate & Brody is an accomplished Georgia law firm with offices in Atlanta, Macon and Madison. Our lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for crime victims, people who have been defrauded by deceptive business practices, or injured through the fault of others. Our lawyers have been recognized on the list of Georgia's "Super Lawyers", and included among Georgia's "Legal Elite" by Georgia Trend Magazine.

David Brasington suffered numerous broken bones and a lacerated liver when a tractor trailer pulled in front of his van last year. A Statesboro jury recently awarded him nearly $1.4 million for the incident after he refused to settle the case for $350,000.

The wreck occurred while Brasington was driving a commercial van towards an intersection in Douglas on October 17. Brasington’s attorneys, I. Gregory Hodges and William J. Hunter of Oliver Maner, argued that a Horizon Tank Lines truck suddenly pulled onto the roadway causing the crash. The defense argued that Brasington had moved over into a right-hand turn lane after the tractor trailer began to enter the roadway. A truck driver who witnessed the crash agreed that Brasington was in the right-hand turn lane. However, a police investigation concluded that Brasington was not in the turn lane.

The injuries Brasington sustained were significant and included a fractured femur, broken pelvis, broken ribs, fractured elbow and a lacerated liver. Moreover, he was out of work for more than half a year and may require additional surgeries. The jury also witnessed him having difficulty walking.

The trial took three days and deliberations lasted two hours. In total, the jury awarded Brasington $1,733,184 which included $1.16 million for pain and suffering. However, the jury also found that Brasington was 20% at fault for the crash thereby reducing his award to $1,386,548. Horizon’s attorney said that the case will not be appealed.

Our personal injury lawyers have also successfully handled serious truck accident cases. In most tractor trailer cases, it is important for an attorney to move quickly to preserve evidence that may otherwise be lost or destroyed by the trucking company. One of the ways evidence can be preserved is by sending the trucking company a detailed spoliation letter demanding that it maintain evidence related to a crash. This will help ensure that investigators and industry experts will be able to dissect and utilize critical pieces of evidence including the truck driver’s qualification file, maintenance records, crash data from onboard computers and numerous other pieces of evidence vital to winning tractor trailer cases.

Pate & Brody is an accomplished Georgia law firm with offices in Atlanta, Macon and Madison. Our lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for crime victims, people who have been defrauded by deceptive business practices, or injured through the fault of others. Our lawyers have been recognized on the list of Georgia's "Super Lawyers", and included among Georgia's "Legal Elite" by Georgia Trend Magazine.

In February 2008, an Imperial Sugar Co. refinery exploded in Port Wentworth which resulted in 14 deaths. The director of human resources for Imperial has testified that the CEO instructed her shortly after the explosion to downplay the role she played in safety procedures.

The Savannah Morning News has the story.

Deborah Haban, Imperial’s director of human resources, testified in a federal investigation that shortly after the explosion she told the company’s CEO, John Sheptor, that OSHA was likely to interview her. Haban was concerned, because she had been given the task of coordinating safety programs before the explosion but lacked experience in the field of manufacturing safety. According to Haban, Sheptor told her to minimize the role she had played in safety programs to only an administrative role. Haban stated that Sheptor told her this meant “nothing more than an administrator to . . . administer the paperwork.”

When Haban was hired in 2003, she believed her job description entailed training and development. Haban testified that the company’s senior Vice President of human resources, Kay Hastings, soon informed her that her duties would expand to include safety. At that time, Imperial had shifted safety management from operations to human resources. Hastings also told Haban that she did not need to be a safety expert, but that she had to give the corporate safety director guidance and “hold him accountable to the paperwork process of creating action plans and following through.” Other sworn statements reveal that Haban participated in safety meetings with top officials and supervised the corporate safety director.

Hastings confirmed much of the testimony that Haban offered regarding her job duties. Hastings noted that Haban would deal with plant managers on safety issues and that the corporate safety director answered directly to Haban. Hastings also reaffirmed the fact that Haban had no experience or expertise in the safety field.

Since the explosions and fires, numerous lawsuits have been filed against Imperial by the victims and their families. In addition, OSHA has not decided whether to seek criminal charges against Sheptor or any other actors; however, it has sought an $8.8 million fine against Imperial for safety violations.

Pate & Brody is an accomplished Georgia law firm with offices in Atlanta, Macon and Madison. Our lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for crime victims, people who have been defrauded by deceptive business practices, or injured through the fault of others. Our lawyers have been recognized on the list of Georgia's "Super Lawyers", and included among Georgia's "Legal Elite" by Georgia Trend Magazine.

Chatham County State Court Judge Hermann Coolidge has scheduled hearings for September 10 in two lawsuits filed against Imperial Sugar.

The Savannah Morning News has the story.

The suits stem from a February 2008 fire at Imperial’s Port Wentworth plant which left fourteen dead and many more injured. Around 40 lawsuits have been filed against Imperial due to the fire.

The cases of Paul Seckinger and Shelathia Harvey are expected to test the waters of litigation before the other suits go forward. Judge Coolidge has scheduled trials to begin May 10 if they are needed.

Pate & Brody is an accomplished Georgia law firm with offices in Atlanta, Macon and Madison. Our lawyers are dedicated to pursuing justice for crime victims, people who have been defrauded by deceptive business practices, or injured through the fault of others. Our lawyers have been recognized on the list of Georgia's "Super Lawyers", and included among Georgia's "Legal Elite" by Georgia Trend Magazine.