As the number of high rise buildings throughout Tampa Bay increase each year we may see more construction workers falling to their deaths. New York City, where every new building is likely to be a high rise, may be the national leader in these tragic accidents.Construction Worker Falling Deaths RiseA construction contractor in Union Square yesterday became the latest casualty of the city's...
You may work for a hip-hop music magazine, but you can still complain about a lewd work environment.Jury Slaps Rap Mag With $15.5M VerdictMusic magazine The Source and two former co-owners have been hit with a $15.5 million verdict after a federal jury in Manhattan found that former Source editor and plaintiff Kimberly Osorio was fired in retaliation for complaining about the lewd work...
Over at Insurance Journal we are told Florida is providing a significant boost to Florida businesses in the form of a 15.7% reduction in the workers' compensation insurance rates. The reduction is supposed to produce a savings of $400 Million for Florida employers. I would join the cheering and applause if the entire savings had not been built on the backs of injured workers whose benefits and...
The laws concerning wages and hours of employment can sometimes create interesting lawsuit captions. This particular lawsuit is actually Sharks vs. Greyhound. Honest.Greyhound Employee Demands Overtime, Lunch PayA former ticket agent has filed a wage lawsuit against Greyhound Lines Inc., accusing the passenger transportation company of failing to pay overtime and docking her pay for lunches she...
I have investigated an "accident" at a large industrial facility in Florida that happened because the company had intentionally by-passed the safety interlock system on six giant machines. Why had the safety systems been by-passed? To increase the production of the machines and avoid shutdowns.In my mind, the terrible injury sustained by my client was no "accident" - it was an inevitable...
Newspapers get the word out. They keep us informed. They alert us to important events. They serve as a watchdog when our legal rights are violated.How could a newspaper fail to pay its reporters overtime required by law? Surely, the publisher and managing supervisors of a paper would have read many reports of other employers who did not comply with the law. Yet, here is the proof that a...
You can cover your tracks in the woods but not when you plan to fire a high level corporate executive. Judge: Paper Trail Suspicious In Motorola Sex Bias SuitPortfolio Media, New York (October 12, 2006)--A sex discrimination suit against Motorola Inc. took a peculiar twist on Tuesday, when a federal judge wrote in his ruling that top executives at the cell phone company may have constructed a...
My Workplace Safety headlines the serious injuries and deaths which are related to forklifts on work sites. Forklifts and Warehouses: a dangerous combination in the WorkplaceEach year in the United States, nearly 100 workers are killed and another 20,000 are seriously injured in forklift-related incidents.Most forklift related fatalities occur when a worker is crushed by a forklift that has...
I am an attorney old enough to know that for more than 30 years the rights and benefits of workers under workers' compensation in the State of Florida have steadily declined. The question is, how long can we continue to call the system fair? Now we have a report brought to our attention by Confined Space which details the failure of workers' compensation throughout the entire country.Workers...
How many times do construction workers have to fall to their deaths before proper guardrails or other barriers are put in place? The St. Petersburg Times reports another worker has died after a fall of some 10 stories.Construction worker dies in 10-story fall off liftA construction worker fell to his death Monday morning from the 10th floor of a condominium complex.Howard Theriot, 31, of St....
