The owner of a California farm was charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of a worker who was killed while servicing an unsafe spinach harvester. Willoughby Farms and its owner, David Willoughby, were charged for causing the death of employee Carlos Jimenez Cruz. On Oct. 15, 2020, Cruz was strangled to death when the […]
Can a construction worker in New York get summary judgment on his Labor Law case for a fall from a grimy ladder? The New York Appellate Division, First Department overturned a lower court’s denial of summary judgment, finding that the worker’s testimony and photographic evidence was sufficient to prove his case. Slipped, fell from third […]
An elementary school teacher’s gunshot injury doesn’t fall under workers’ compensation exclusivity provisions, according to a circuit court judge, so her $40 million lawsuit against the school district can proceed. The judge ruled that the shooting by a six-year-old student at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia was personal and didn’t arise out of […]
A New York construction worker injured by an unknown object was awarded summary judgment on his Labor Law claim despite being unable to identify the object that struck him. The New York Appellate Division, First Department ruled that summary judgment was appropriate because the worker’s testimony and a photo of a hole in protective netting […]
An injured New York worker should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim because he proved that the scaffold he fell from lacked required safety equipment. The New York Appellate Division, First Department ruled that a lower court erred by granting summary judgment to the general contractor and owner of the worksite. […]
A California construction company owner is getting jail time for felony workers’ compensation fraud and tax evasion as well as being ordered to pay back $176,000 to the State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF). Marko Lukic pleaded no contest Oct. 19, 2023 to the charges against him, leading to 210 days in county jail and two […]
The owner and operators of three poultry processing facilities in Los Angeles are in hot water with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for employing teen workers to use sharp knives to debone poultry. A preliminary injunction filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California forbids the three facilities owned and […]
A car detailer was injured when he fell from a garage roof while performing work that was outside of his normal job duties. Despite collecting workers’ compensation, he sued his employer. Can his suit succeed? The Texas Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that the employee’s lawsuit couldn’t proceed because workers’ compensation was […]
A federal judge ordered a Colorado mining company to ban its owner from the worksite until he completes safety training required by the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Fred Duckels, 84, the owner of Duckels Construction Inc., posed safety hazards to workers at the Steamboat Springs mining site and caused one miner to […]
