Wrongful Death

San Bruno to CPUC: Stop Dragging Your Feet on Disclosure of Public Records

February 7, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

gas%20meters%201405198-m.jpg
It has been three years and five months since the catastrophic gas line explosion in San Bruno that killed eight people, injured 66 others and devastated a neighborhood. Bay Area personal injury attorney Gregory J. Brod is among those people who would hope that the government agencies responsible for oversight of the disaster and Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the company that caused it, would be forthcoming with sharing germane public records. But judging by a lawsuit that was filed this week, the key agency in question, the California Public Utilities Commission, is not moving fast enough for the city at the center of the Sept. 9, 2010, conflagration.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the city of San Bruno filed a lawsuit in San Mateo Superior Court on Tuesday against the CPUC seeking to force the agency to release public records on the explosion. The city is demanding that the CPUC release the documents in order to comply with the California Public Records Act as well as four separate requests that it has made for documents pertaining to the CPUC’s deliberations on the fine it contemplated against PG&E.

San Bruno officials believe that the documents will detail improper conduct at the CPUC regarding the fine, which has not yet been imposed, as well as a too-cozy relationship between the agency and the utility it is supposed to regulate.

“We believe the PUC is deliberately withholding information that would embarrass the agency,” said San Bruno City Manager Connie Jackson. “This is an issue of accountability and transparency.”

San Bruno Mayor Jim Ruane was particularly concerned about the relationship between the CPUC and PG&E.

“We are concerned the leadership of the CPUC is in the pocket of the utility company it is supposed to regulate,” Ruane said Tuesday at a news conference on the steps of the courthouse after the lawsuit was filed. “Our lawsuit calls for full transparency so that the people of San Bruno and the citizens of California can be confident about the integrity of this penalty process against PG&E.

And San Bruno City Attorney Marc Zafferano posed this interesting question when he complained, “Ten months after making a series of public records requests, the CPUC has refused to comply, leading us to question what the agency is trying to hide.”
The CPUC’s response as to why it has not released the records: It’s been “very busy” and would respond “when it had free time.”

More specifically, according to the San Francisco Examiner, the CPUC says that it has the right to withhold the documents under the deliberative process privilege exemption of the state Public Records Act, which was imposed by the California Supreme Court in 1991. The Supreme Court ruled that “the key question in every case is whether disclosure of the materials would expose an agency’s decision-making process in such a way as to discourage candid discussion with the agency and thereby undermine the agency’s ability to perform its functions.”
Continue Reading ›

California Special Needs Lawyer Comments on Autistic Wandering & Elopement

January 27, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

There are few things more terrifying to a parent than the loss of a child. Perhaps one of those “few things” is a preventable loss, a loss that should never have happened. Even when it was someone other than the parent who made the deadly error, the parent is left wondering if there were warning signs and often spends a lifetime in self-doubt. At our San Francisco child death law firm, we believe that it is important to identify those truly at fault, to hold them responsible and to send a message that may prevent future tragedies. One such form of preventable death is the loss of a child due to autistic wandering, an issue similar to the threat of dementia-related wandering that we previously discussed in this blog.

Remains Identified as Autistic Boy Who Wandered Away from School

Last week, CNN reported on the tragic end to the story of a missing autistic boy. Fourteen year old Avonte Oquendo disappeared from his school last fall. Avonte was autistic, had the mentally capacity of a typical 7- or 8-year old child, and was unable to communicate verbally. Hopes for his safe return were dashed last Tuesday when DNA conclusively identified the boy’s remains.

Utility Pole Collisions

January 22, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

Utility poles — their name alone points to their usefulness. From carrying electrical wires and communications cables to serving as home to street lights, traffic signals, trolley wires, and more, they are an essential part of the modern landscape. Despite their “utility,” the poles can prove dangerous. Utility pole accidents can cause serious, catastrophic injuries and the collisions carry a high risk of occupant death. When another driver’s actions lead to a utility pole collision, our Oakland car crash lawyer can help victims recover critically needed money damages.

Hayward Man Killed in Light Pole Crash

On Monday, the Alameda County Coroner’s office identified the victim of a fatal single-car accident that occurred in Hayward on Sunday evening. As reported by The Oakland Tribune, 21 year-old Omar Alimi of Hayward died in the collision along the 30000 block of Industrial Parkway SW. Witnesses told police that Alimi had been driving erratically, moving across lanes, and possibly speeding before crashing into a light pole. Police said Alimi was not wearing a seatbelt.

Remembering a Child Lost: Bullying in California

January 9, 2014 | Gregory J. Brod

Many of us can recall being bullied at some point in our youth. The bullying might have been an isolate incident or a pattern that followed you through your school days and made school a lonely and sometimes frightening place. In 2014, bullying follows children and teens home and can become a 24/7 terror as technology allows the bullies to reach into what used to be a safe zone. In 2014, bullying can also be deadly, driving tormented young people to feel the only way out is by taking their own life. When bullying is extreme, a bullying lawsuit against the bullies, school, or others who turned a blind eye to the situation may be appropriate. Our California bullying lawyer can help victim’s families bring a civil claim seeking justice and sending a clear message that extreme bullying is not tolerable and cannot be brushed off as “kids being kids.”

Civil Litigation & Prevention Efforts Follow Death of Bullied California Teen

In September 2012, Audrie Potts took her own life. The fifteen year old hung herself in her mother’s home, a week after she got drunk at a party, was sexually assaulted, and pictures of her naked body covered in crude messages were taken and passed around her school. Her death has led to a legal dispute discussed in this week’s San Jose Mercury News, with the Pott family placing blame on three boys who attended Saratoga High School with Audrie. They filed a wrongful death suit against the boys and added a fourth defendant, a female classmate accused of being present during the alleged assault and encourage the boys to take the intimate photos, in September. In response to the claims, the boys’ representatives have made suggestions that Audrie’s home life was at least partially responsible for the tragic early end to her life. A professor at Golden Gate Law School, Peter Keane, calls the allegations, including claims that the man who raised Audrie was not her biological father, an “irrelevant smoke screen [and] attempt to get away from the main issue of whether or not the people being sued are responsible in any way for the loss of this child.” Lawyers for the defendants disagree, pointing to issues in Audrie’s family and a dispute with former friends as the primary factors leading to her suicide.

Oil Train Derailment on Prairie Yet Another Example of Perilous Freight Traffic

December 31, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

A small town in eastern North Dakota experienced fireworks in a spectacular and potentially deadly way one day before New Year’s Eve when an oil train derailed Monday afternoon and exploded into a fiery display of flames and black smoke near Casselton, N.D. And while incidents such as the train derailment in North Dakota are rare, San Francisco train accident attorney Gregory J. Brod would remind us that the consequences of the few derailments that do occur can be devastating.

Fortunately, no one was injured when a BNSF Railway train left the tracks near Casselton, but out of an abundance of caution the town’s 2,400 residents temporarily evacuated in the wake of the derailment of the mile-long train, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The train included oil tankers which, upon overturning, exploded and unleashed voluminous flames and black smoke for more than 24 hours.

As Oil Industry Expands Production, Shipments by Rail Become More Common
Casselton Mayor Ed McConnell expressed the fears and anger of many in the town and elsewhere in the state when he called for federal officials to implement more concrete safety measures. With the booming oil sector in North Dakota producing ever larger amounts of petroleum and train companies hauling the bulk of the industry’s output, it’s not hard to see why the mayor would be so concerned.

“This is too close for comfort,” McConnell said Tuesday. “There have been numerous derailments in this area. It’s almost gotten to the point that it looks like not if we’re going to have an accident, it’s when.”

The mayor does not have to rely on a guessing game to back up his grim forecast, as there has been a sharp increase in the number of oil train releases over the last few years, even as less than 0.1 percent of oil tank cars have experienced accidental releases this year. But that has translated into spillage of crude oil from 137 rail cars in 2013, compared with only one release in all of 2009.

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched a probe into the Casselton derailment, but preliminary statements from one NTSB member included the observation that the overturned tankers in question were older model DOT-111 tankers, which have been prone to rupture in previous accidents.

A Toxic, Deadly Trail of Derailments Before Disaster in North Dakota
Prior to the derailment in North Dakota, the most recent major incident involving crude-carrying train cars occurred Nov. 8 when more than two dozen oil tankers derailed into an Alabama swamp, unloading almost 750,000 gallons of crude and sparking another conflagration.

While there were also no injuries in the Alabama derailment, residents of the Quebec town of Lac Megantic were not so lucky in July, when a train carrying crude from North Dakota derailed, killing 47 people.

July also marked the 22nd anniversary of the biggest railway chemical spill in California history. On the fateful morning of July 14, 1991, a Southern Pacific Railroad tank car derailed on the tricky section of track along the Sacramento River called the Cantara Loop. The resulting spillage of 19,000 gallons of the soil fumigant metam sodium destroyed all life in a 41-mile stretch of the river, including more than one million fish and thousands of trees, according to the state Department of Toxic Substance Control. Southern Pacific ultimately paid $38 million for damages, cleanup and river restoration.
Continue Reading ›

Theatre Collapses Injures Dozens, Investigator Say No Criminal Liability

December 20, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

Part of the domed ceiling at the historic Apollo Theater in Central London crashed down onto onlookers during a packed performance. The collapse occurred during an evening performance of the hugely popular play called, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. In the middle of the performance debris from the century old building showered the 700 theatergoers. “We heard a creak, somebody screamed, somebody from over there said, ‘Look out!’ and then the ceiling kind of creased in the middle and then just collapsed,” a witness reports. A 10-meter-by-10-meter square section of the ceiling fell, and a portion of the balcony was taken out by the force of the square. Onlookers initially thought the dramatics were a part of the play, or even sound effects. A cloud of thick dust came down making it hard to see. And, the reality of the situation immediately set in on the theatergoers.

Firefighters and rescue personnel were able to remove all 720 people from inside the West End of the theater. Approximately 80 people were injured with head trauma, broken bones, cuts and contusions. Many of the injured were able to be treated at the scene, while dozens were taken to nearby hospitals. Nine people were seriously hurt in the collapse, and three injured people had to be rescued by firefighters because they were trapped under debris. Fortunately none of the injuries were life-threatening.

No Criminal Liability

Black Friday Caps Off Grim Week for Pedestrians Hit by Motorists in Bay Area

November 29, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

Holiday weeks are supposed to be times when people can, among other things, relax and enjoy the company of their family and friends. Thanksgiving probably is the iconic holiday for such pleasant pursuits, but as Bay Area personal injury attorney Gregory J. Brod has pointed out, holiday weeks can also be a deadly time for people on our roadways. In that respect, sadly, this Thanksgiving week has been notable for several tragic deaths of pedestrians struck by motorists on Bay Area streets and highways.

During the week from Friday, Nov. 22 through Friday, Nov. 29, it has been particularly perilous for pedestrians to cross the streets of San Jose. According to ABC7 News, there were three separate roadway incidents involving pedestrian fatalities in the Bay Area’s largest city since the holiday week commenced last weekend, and all tragic deaths occurred within a 48-hour time span.

Toddler Killed While Riding in Stroller
The first of the pedestrian fatalities was an especially heart-breaking one Sunday afternoon, as a 3-year-old boy riding in a stroller his mother was pushing at the intersection of Vine and Oak and was struck and killed by a motorist making a left turn. Two other pedestrians in the group were also hit while crossing the street, but they suffered minor injuries and were released from the hospital Sunday.

According to KTVU News, the boy was killed while his mother was taking him to a nearby playground from an intersection where neighbors have complained that a lack of a left-turn signal has set up a dangerous zone for pedestrians and motorists to cross paths. Now, at that same intersection, a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers has been created for the toddler.

On Sunday night, a ninth-grade student at James Lick High School in East San Jose was struck and killed by a car after she left her boyfriend’s house and attempted to cross White Road. The 14-year-old girl was taken to the hospital, where she later died, and her classmates were left mourning the teen as the school closed for Thanksgiving vacation.

San Jose Reaches Unenviable Milestone
On Monday just before 11 p.m., a 50-year-old woman was attempting to cross Monterey Road in San Jose when she was struck and killed by a motorist. With that victim’s passing, the 24th pedestrian death in San Jose this year, the city’s pedestrian fatalities hit an eight-year high.

On Friday, a man was pronounced dead on Interstate 80 after his body was found on a stretch of the highway west of Solano Avenue in Richmond at around 12:25 a.m., according to KTVU News. The California Highway Patrol said that the 32-year-old man was apparently hit and killed by a car after he got out of his own disabled automobile that was involved in a solo-vehicle crash and tried to walk to the highway’s right shoulder. Witnesses told the CHP that the man was struck several times by other vehicles that did not stop.

Finally, on Friday at about 5:30 a.m., a woman crossing Interstate 80 near 7th Street in San Francisco was struck and killed by an eastbound truck, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The woman was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where she died from her injuries. Police said that it was not clear what the pedestrian was doing on the freeway.
Continue Reading ›

Tragic Death of Sonoma County Teenager Spurs Litigation

November 5, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

One of the more tragic cases of mistaken assumptions occurred last month in Sonoma County when a sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a 13-year-old boy whose replica gun the deputy thought was a genuine assault rifle. And now, in a development that’s not surprising to Bay Area wrongful death attorney Gregory J. Brod, the family of the teenager has filed a lawsuit against the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

Attorney: Deputy Thought Toy Gun Was Real
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the family of Andy Lopez Cruz filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claiming that Sonoma County Deputy Sheriff Erick Gelhaus should have recognized that Andy’s replica AK-47 was a toy and not the real thing when on October 22 he fired eight rounds at the teenager after ordering him to drop his gun. Gelhaus has said through his attorney that he thought the rifle was real and that his life and the life of partner were threatened. The deputy realized that the gun was an air gun that only shot plastic pellets after Andy had been mortally wounded, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

The lawsuit names both Gelhaus and Sonoma County as defendants and seeks unspecified damages. On the face of it, the case has the markers of a wrongful death lawsuit, but the attorney for the boy’s family raised another issue when he stated that the deputy made inappropriate assumptions due to the fact that he was patrolling a largely Latino neighborhood near Santa Rosa, noting, too, that the Lopez Cruz family is Mexican-American. Indeed, the FBI has launched an independent investigation to find out whether the 13-year-old’s civil rights were violated. The Santa Rosa and Petaluma police departments and the Sonoma County district attorney are all conducting their own probes into the tragedy.

State Statutes Govern Wrongful Death Cases
Insofar as wrongful death as a cause of action is concerned, the jurisdiction in which the alleged tort occurred determines which statute will apply, with every state having its own wrongful death statute. California’s wrongful death statute, beginning with the Code of Civil Procedure Sec. 377.60, spells out who would have standing to bring a lawsuit for “the death of a person caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another…”

Typically, the factual pattern of a wrongful death action follows from the tortfeasor committing the tort against the victim, which results in the death of the victim as a result of the tortfeasor’s actions. As a result, the victim’s survivors sue the tortfeasor for wrongfully causing the victim’s death. The deceased party’s claim passes on to his or her family, with a state’s survivor statute permitting the victim’s relatives to seek damages based on the wrongful death cause of action.
Continue Reading ›

D.A.’s Decision on Firefighters in Asiana Crash Puts Focus on Good Samaritan Law

October 18, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

When one surviving passenger from an ill-fated Asiana Airlines jumbo jet attempting a landing at San Francisco International Airport ended up on the tarmac and then was struck and killed by a San Francisco Fire Department fire truck on July 6, the tragedy ranked as one of the more bizarre developments of the crash landing that claimed three lives. And now San Mateo County’s district attorney has announced that the firefighters involved in the response to the airplane crash will not be criminally charged in connection with the death of the person who was run over and killed, but San Francisco airplane accident attorney Gregory J. Brod would caution that the decision does not address the question of any potential civil litigation.

Factors Included First Responder Reports, Videos and Autopsy
As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe on Friday declared that his office would not file criminal charges against the SFFD firefighters whose fire truck hit and killed Chinese student Ye Meng Yuan, 16. Ye somehow ended up on the tarmac after the crash landing of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 and was still alive but under a foot-deep layer of fire-retardant foam when she was struck by the fire truck. Wagstaffe said that his office had opted not to file charges against the firefighters after considering reports from police, firefighters and other first responders, footage from numerous video recordings, as well as the findings of San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault. The coroner’s autopsy found that Ye died of multiple blunt-force injuries that were consistent with being struck by at least one motor vehicle.

Wagstaffe’s office had jurisdiction concerning the accident because of SFO’s location in San Mateo County, and Wagstaffe said that Ye’s death “was a tragic accident that did not involve any violation of our criminal laws.”

Civil Litigation Still Being Considered
While the SFFD firefighters are now out of jeopardy when it comes to criminal charges, the Ye family attorney is considering filing a civil lawsuit under the claim that the girl’s death was “completely avoidable,” and that the firefighters allegedly knew that she was outside the airplane and in the midst of the firefighters before they sprayed the foam on the ground and basically neglected her.

Any defense of the firefighters involved in the first-response mission surrounding the Asiana Airlines crash against a civil lawsuit will largely rest on California’s version of what are known as Good Samaritan laws. And that relevant code, California Health and Safety Code Section 1799.102, will offer solid immunity grounds for the firefighters:

No person who in good faith, and not for compensation, renders emergency medical or nonmedical care at the scene of an emergency shall be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission.

However, while the firefighters may be in the clear legally, the doctrine of sovereign immunity would have to apply to remove their employer – in this case, the SFFD – from legal crosshairs. A key authority on the matter of sovereign immunity – whether private parties can sue the government for torts committed by its officers or agents – is California Government Code Sec. 815.2:

(a) A public entity is liable for injury proximately caused by an act or omission of an employee of the public entity within the scope of his employment if the act or omission would, apart from this section, have given rise to a cause of action against that employee or his personal representative.
(b) Except as otherwise provided by statute, a public entity is not liable for an injury resulting from an act or omission of an employee of the public entity where the employee is immune from liability.
Continue Reading ›

Construction at 49ers Stadium Claims Life of Second Worker

October 14, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

Accidents are not uncommon at construction sites, and the resulting injuries construction workers sustain call for competent legal representation from an experienced construction accident attorney such as Gregory J. Brod to secure rightful compensation for medical bills, loss of earnings and other related expenses. In extreme cases, workers even lose their lives while performing their jobs at a construction site, and the San Francisco Bay Area saw an example of the latter unfortunate event Monday when a truck driver died at the San Francisco 49ers new stadium under construction in Santa Clara.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Edward Lake II, 60, died when steel rebar he was unloading from a delivery truck he had driven tumbled upon him and crushed him. State and local agencies have already begun the process of investigating the death of Lake, who was employed by Gerdau, a multinational steel company. The Chronicle found that a division of Gerdau, Gerdau Reinforcing Steel West of San Diego, was cited for an unspecified violation involving a job site in Rohnert Park this year by regulators.
The tragic death of Lake was the second time a worker has died in the last four months at the new facility under construction of the reigning NFC champion 49ers. On June 11, Donald White, 63, was struck and killed by an elevator counterweight while on a ladder at the bottom of a shaft. The death of Lake came just three days after state regulators concluded that White’s fatality was an unexplained accident and that the companies involved did not merit sanctions.

While California regulators may have concluded that White’s death may have been as the result of an inexplicable accident, White’s son, Cody White, has stated that his father told him that the blue-collar employees at the new Levi’s Stadium were working hard to meet construction deadlines. The younger White suggested that the push to get the new facility ready for its 2014 season unveiling may have been been a factor in his father’s death.

“When you are trying to rush a stadium so quick, accidents will happen,” Cody White told the Chronicle. “When you rush out there, of course, somebody is going to get hurt.”

Unfortunately, the workplace deaths of Lake and White are not particularly isolated incidents in the United States, as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 4,609 workers were killed on the job in 2011. In addition, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that in the same year, of the 4,188 worker fatalities in private industry, 738 were in construction.

OSHA has pointed to four leading causes of worker deaths on construction sites it has dubbed the “Fatal Four” that have been responsible for 419, or 56 percent, of 738 construction worker deaths in 2011 and carry the following specific grim statistics:

Falls – 259, or 35 percent, of the total.
Electrocutions – 69, or 9 percent, of the total.
Struck by object – 73, or 10 percent, of the total.
Caught in or between objects – 18, or 2 percent, of the total.