San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

Heat Is on Tesla Motors After Company Linked to Yet Another Fire-Related Accident

November 13, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

If autumn is typically considered the height of the fire season in California, this fall has been a veritable tinderbox of pyro-related problems for Tesla Motors, especially after the electric-car maker experienced a fire at its plant in Fremont on Wednesday. The incident is an example of where Bay Area personal injury attorney Gregory J. Brod stands ready to represent anyone who has suffered a burn injury or harmed in an industrial accident or defective products case.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, on Wednesday three employees at Tesla’s plant in Fremont suffered moderate to serious burns or other possible injuries – one worker’s condition is still being evaluated – while they were working with pressurized equipment after an aluminum casting press failed, causing hot metal from the press to injure the employees.

Model S Troubles on Highways
The Wednesday blaze is the latest in a series of fire-related woes to befall the Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors. On Nov. 9, the driver of a Model S struck a tow hitch on Interstate 24 near Murfreesboro, Tenn., which damaged the automobile’s undercarriage and sparked a fire. That incident prompted a call from Clarence Ditlow, the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to launch an investigation. The NHTSA had declined to investigate an earlier fire involving a Tesla sedan that occurred Oct. 1 in Washington state.
In the Washington state incident last month, a Model S burst into flames while it was traveling on Route 167 near Seattle when, according to the driver, the vehicle hit some debris on the road. The automotive blaze prompted concern over Tesla’s battery technology and sent the company’s stock plunging after a YouTube video quickly surfaced that recorded the incident.

Between the incidents in Washington state and Tennessee, another accident involving a Tesla Model S occurred in Mexico. With three crashes in six weeks, it stands to reason that there would be sentiment for investigations and even a recall, but Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk stated on Monday that media coverage of fires involving cars manufactured by his company were overblown and that Tesla will not implement a product recall for the Model S.

The Severe Consequences of Burns to the Skin
While automobile company executives may feel that media coverage of fires that start in their products may be overblown, it’s hard to exaggerate the injuries that result from serious burns, suffered either in an industrial setting or while one is a motorist or passenger of a vehicle that catches fire. The skin acts as the body’s first line of defense against bacteria and viruses, and it is a complex structure that helps to regulate its temperature as well as the amount of fluid it contains. Within the skin one also finds a complex network of blood vessels and nerves. So when the body suffers a burn – anywhere from a first-degree burn to, most seriously, a third-degree burn – essentially a breach has occurred in the body’s defenses, opening the way for serious complications as well as scars, both physical and emotional.
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Distracted Driving, Old and New

November 12, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

An AP report, carried by The San Francisco Chronicle and detailing two crashes that occurred on a New Hampshire highway on Tuesday caught the attention of the distracted driving accident team at our San Francisco injury law firm. Shortly after 5 A.M., a tractor trailer travelling on Interstate 89 in Grantham, New Hampshire jack-knifed and proceeded to slide down an embankment. As heavy duty tow trucks worked to remove the vehicle from the side of the road, a passing vehicle swerved to avoid colliding with slowed traffic, became airborne, and hurtled down the embankment towards the first accident scene. The driver was injured and hospitalized, along with a trooper who was hit after he pushed the tow truck driver out of harm’s way. Reports suggest the vehicle’s driver had been looking at the initial accident scene rather than focusing on the traffic in front of her.

Applying Cognitive Science to Behind-the-Wheel Distractions

The New Hampshire crash served as a reminder that distracted driving can take many forms, including those involving new technologies and those involving more “old-fashioned” distractions. In a piece published by AAA this summer, Professor David Strayer recalls a time when he was just about to chastise his children for making faces at passing drivers. The professor of cognition and neural science planned to remind his children that they should never distracted a driver when he realized the driver hadn’t seen his children; the driver was already distracted by a cellphone conversation.

Scrap Metal Fire Extinguished, But Noxious Effects May Linger

November 12, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

The smoke billowing from a fire Sunday at a scrap metal recycling plant in Redwood City was so big that a health advisory was issued urging residents of three counties to shelter in place. But while the blaze has now been brought under control and authorities have canceled the health advisory, toxic tort attorney Gregory J. Brod suspects that those who live in the zone impacted by the conflagration’s fallout may very well have reason to be concerned about their health.

Foul Air From Fire Detected Through Much of Bay Area
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the fire began in a pile of scrap metal at the Sims Metal Management yard, which is close to the Port of Redwood City, at approximately 1 p.m. Sunday. At least 50 firefighters were called upon to subdue the blaze until it was declared officially extinguished just after 7 a.m. Monday. In the interim, though, due to the voluminous plumes of smoke and foul air fire officials advised residents of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties to remain indoors overnight with their windows shut. The smoke was so bad that people from as far away as San Francisco and Oakland reported smelling it. Even though some residents of the area still reported lingering smoke and bad air quality on Monday, the shelter-in-place precaution has been deemed to be no longer necessary.

To put the fallout from the blaze in a more disturbingly comparative context, air quality officials recorded the release into the air of as much as 114 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter during the fire; the federal standard for unhealthy air is a maximum of 35 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter.

Numerous Complaints Filed Over Malodorous Smoke
Not surprisingly, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has already received 30 complaints Monday stemming from the fire – even though the blaze has been contained – according to KTVU. As one would expect, people with respiratory and other health problems would be among those most severely impacted by the noxious smoke.

Officials are conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire, and Sims could be facing fines of up to $10,000 per violation, per day. It’s worth noting that the company has been in trouble before over a fire, as in 2007 Sims was slapped with a $20,000 fine for a blaze at its Redwood City plant, and the firm has had fires at facilities in Hayward and San Jose. In addition, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has investigated the company for polluting San Francisco Bay.
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Defective Food Products: Lack of Food Safety

November 12, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

Consumers expect a certain level of safety when they purchase food products. However, many Americans suffer adverse effects to food that is improperly manufactured, packaged, transported and/or stored. The Brod Law Firm believes California residents should be able to trust the safety of products sold and used by residents of The Golden State. As a products liability law firm, we help consumers injured by defective products recover compensation through individual lawsuits.

Baby Food Recalled Due to Manufacturing Defect

ABC7 News covered a story on the recall of baby food products due to a manufacturing defect. Plum Organics, an organic baby food manufacturer and supplier, recalled the products once Plum Organics determined that potential spoilage associated with a manufacturing defect may cause some containers to swell. A manufacturing defect is an irregularity created during the assembly of the product that differs from the product’s specification. Plum Organics stated products with a “Best Buy” date ranging from August 5 to December 8, 2014 have been recalled. The company warned parents to not feed their child any of these products. Consumers who consume the product may experience gastrointestinal issues, including nausea and diarrhea. So what should you do if your child has already consumed the baby food and was injured? Is it possible for you to sue and seek damages? Well, you may be able to bring a defective products claim.

Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite: A Rising Problem in the Bay Area

November 11, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

In recent years, bed bugs have become a serious public health concern. In 2011 and 2012, some of the most severe outbreaks occurred in New York City, Philadelphia and Detroit. What is most notable about these outbreaks is that they occured in unexpected placeslike the New York City office of the United Nations and the Lincoln Center . Many of the high profile locations deny accusations of bed bugs, while others acknowledge that although there are bed bugs on their premises, it does not indicate uncleanliness. Along this line of thought, the fear that bed bugs are a sign of personal untidiness complicates resolving the issue further. In fact, many people either delay their reports of bed bugs for fear it may suggest their homes are unclean. This begs the question: do bed bugs truly arise from uncleanliness?

The belief that unclean environments cause bed bug infestations is inaccurate. Bed bugs are attracted not to dirt, but rather to warm spaces, carbon dioxide, and blood. The barely macroscopic creatures (1mm-7mm) thrive in such environments, especially when there are a given space offers many hiding spaces such as those found in homes. Often, these bugs will enter the home by attaching themselves to an item of clothing while an individual is outdoors, such as in a school or theater. Once they have entered the home, it may take some time to immediately realize the presence of an infestation.

Although bed bugs feed on blood during the night, they are not shy-they can be visible during all hours of the day. One of the most visible indications of a bed bug infestation is seeing the creatures in various parts of the house as tiny, dark brown/reddish bugs along with their dark excrement in beds, sofas, and enclosed spaces round the home. In addition to seeing them, many people experience their nightly bites. However, not everyone shows signs of bed bug bites—some people will have minor to no symptoms, while others may exhibit more visible, sometimes allergic reactions. Particularly in the latter case, it is essential to seek medical attention to manage the health issues presented by the infestation. Despite their parasitic presence, and aside from the potential to cause an allergic reaction in some individuals, bed bugs do not transfer disease while they feed on their host.

Of course, the instinct of every resident has is to identify the means of removing the intruders from the home. As it happens, bed bugs removal efforts benefit greatly from an expert hand. They are resistant to many pesticides, including DDT. The treatment process can include the application of a high heat treatment, which would involve heating the area in question as high as, but not limited to 117 degrees for one hour . In some cases, using insect spray can help, although as previously mentioned, they have acquired resistance to many pesticides. This is one among other treatments used to treat bed bugs. To identify the best method of treating bed bugs in a specific situation, get in touch with a professional who handles bed bug extermination.

In 2012, San Francisco passed rigorous measures identifying bed bugs as a public health problem, and establishing guidelines for managing infestations. The guidelines require that tenants inform their landlords of a bed bug problem. Next, landlords are required to hire a pest control company to perform an inspection verifying the infestation, and proceed with an extermination procedure of the bed bugs. Six weeks following, the San Francisco Health Inspectors are then required to verify that there has been no resurgence of the infestation. In addition to actively removing an infestation, San Francisco’s measures address preemptive inspections to make sure that bed bugs are not found in residents’ units.
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Widening Nursing Home Abuse Debacle Prompts State to Intervene Again

November 8, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

Elder abuse attorney Gregory J. Brod was among the many Bay Area residents who were dismayed by the news last week that an elder care facility in Castro Valley was responsible for abandoning 19 residents for eight days, prompting the state to order the shuttering of the Valley Springs Manor. And now, Sacramento has also decided to essentially take over another assisted living facility owned by the same group that was linked to the Castro Valley scandal.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, officials with the state Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division stepped in to assume control of the Sundial Palms Assisted Living & Memory Care center in Modesto, with the state agency monitoring the facility around the clock and mandating that the owner hire a consultant from Sacramento to act as an executive director while the care home awaits a change in ownership this month.

The spokesman for the department, Michael Weston, stated that the “highly unusual” move by his agency was as a result of the incident in Castro Valley, where all but two members of the staff – a janitor and a cook, both untrained in the care of the elderly – walked away from the facility and left the 19 residents to their own devices. Unlike in the Castro Valley scandal, where the state ordered the elder care home to be closed, the state has opted to keep the Modesto elder home open while proactively intervening. The state is also in the process of revoking the license of the owner of both homes, Herminigilda “Hilda” Manuel, to operate any elder care facilities.

Unfortunately, if one thinks that elder care abuse is an isolated problem in the United States, statistics clearly show otherwise. Here are some of the disquieting statistics on elder and nursing home abuse compiled by the National Center on Elder Abuse:

Ninety-one percent of nursing homes lack adequate staff to properly care for residents.
Thirty-six percent of nursing homes have been in violation of elderly abuse laws
There were 5,961,568 documented cases of elder abuse in 2010
Fully 9.5 percent of the elderly population was abused in 2010
Neglect represents the biggest form of elder abuse, accounting for 58.5 percent of all reported cases
Physical abuse accounts for 15.7 percent of all reported elder abuse cases
Financial exploitation is involved in 12.3 percent of all reported elder abuse cases
Emotional abuse is involved in 7.3 percent of all reported elder abuse cases

Understanding Ellis Act Evictions

November 8, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

Landlords and tenants often have a contentious relationship. In many cases, tenants feel like they have very little power when it comes to changes in rent, inadequate repair work, or other lingering problems. With the ever-increasing price of real estate and resulting rise in rents, tenants may feel even more at the mercy of their landlords and may live in fear of an eviction notice. As a San Francisco tenants’ rights law firm, we want tenants to know that they do have rights and that evictions, including Ellis Act evictions, must be done in a proper manner and for a valid reason.

Ellis Act Evictions on the Rise in San Francisco

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle suggests that a common hypothesis may be accurate – rising rents have been followed by a skyrocketing number of evictions, especially those in which the landlord purports to be taking the unit out of the rental market. To some, this confirms that the rise in rents is squeezing longtime residents out of certain neighborhoods in San Francisco. Supervisor David Campos requested that analysts prepare a report on Ellis Act evictions, often used by landlords who want to sell the property. The report found that between the year ending in February 2010 and the year ending in February 2013 Ellis Act evictions rose by a whopping 170%, compared to a 38% increase in evictions overall. The same time period saw a 22% increase in San Francisco home prices. There had been a sharp decline in Ellis Act evictions following the economic difficulties of 2009 and the rate has risen steadily since then, although the 116 Ellis Act evictions (of 1,716 total evictions) for the year from March 2012 to February 2013 is still much lower than the all-time high of 384 in 2000. The rate appears to be continuing to climb, with a 145% rise for September 2012 to September 2013 compared to the prior twelve months. Ellis Act evictions seem to be clustered in a few areas, with the Mission District leading with 71 Ellis Act evictions between 2009 and 2013; the same period saw a nearly 30% rise in housing prices for the neighborhood.

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.
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Unexpected Braking Leads to Second Honda Recall

November 5, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

Cars are complex machines with a multitude of parts that work together to ensure the vehicle not only functions, but does so in a safe and reliable manner. Predictability is important, especially when it comes to major elements such as the brakes. Defective brakes are a terrifying possibility, with the phrase conjuring images of a car speeding out of control as the driver frantically presses an unresponsive brake pedal. However, few consider the dangers posed by brakes engaging unexpectedly. Unexpected braking is a threat that concerns our San Francisco defective vehicle lawyer and a danger that has caused Honda to issue two distinct recalls this year.

Honda Recalls Odyssey Minivans Following Reports of Unexpected Braking

Honda recently announced that it is recalling 2007 and 2008 Honda Odyssey minivans. The recall, which involves 344,187 vehicles built between August 8, 2006 and September 8, 2008, is discussed in an article on Edmunds.com, one of the leading resources for information on automobiles and the automotive industry. Earlier this year, Honda informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) that it had received 109 warranty claims and more than 200 field reports related to unexpected braking as of June 30, 2013. In the NHTSA’s own investigation, the agency received 22 complaints claiming that the vehicles had braked unexpectedly. Reports included claims of braking occurring while the driver was pressing the accelerator, with drivers alleging a sudden drop in speed of up to 30 miles per hour.

Resident Missing from Local Assisted Care Facility

November 1, 2013 | Gregory J. Brod

It was a story that disturbed us the first time around and the story has gotten even worse as more facts are uncovered. In a recent blog post, we wrote about the Alameda County assisted-living center that “closed,” leaving residents behind when management and most of the staff left. More details have emerged since our first report, details that make the story even more disturbing. The developing story has brought in an important issue in the elder care arena – wandering by elderly individuals, particularly those with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia. Wandering is a major concern for care providers and our Northern California elder abuse law firm encourages family members to report any facility that does not actively work to prevent wandering and keep residents safe.

Assisted Care Center Residents Abandoned in Alameda County, One Missing

As officials have stepped up their probe of Valley Springs Manor in Castro Valley, it appears that residents were actually left without paid caregivers (a few staff members stayed despite being unpaid) for up to eight days, not three as originally reported. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that about 30 residents were at the home when the Department of Social Services posted a closure notice on October 21, giving the facility 72 hours to close due to health and safety concerns. However, it appears that workers began leaving on the 18th when management told them that they would no longer be paid. By the closure date, 19 residents remained, abandoned by management and most of the staff. It does appear that the state was supposed to ensure residents were transferred or picked up by family.