Articles Posted in Personal Injury

A confidential Miami personal injury settlement has been reached between Dallas Cowboys football player Michael Irvin and a woman accusing him of sexual battery. The woman sued Irvin in Broward County Circuit Court last year for unspecified damages.

She contends that the Pro Football Hall of Famer assaulted her at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida in 2007. The woman also claims that Irvin was drunk when he took her to a hotel room and raped her and that another man, who was also in the room, forced her to give him oral sex.

Seminole tribal police were notified about the alleged incident, but the woman went on to sign a waiver of prosecution. The case has no physical evidence because, according to the Broward State Attorney’s office, the alleged victim did not report the incident until more than two weeks later. As part of the terms of the Miami sex assault lawsuit, Irvine is dropping his $100 million defamation countersuit against the woman.

In South Florida, Arturo Carvajal is suing Hillstone Restaurant Group Inc. for Miami personal injury. Carvajal, who is a doctor, says he was hospitalized after he ate a house special of grilled artichokes at a Houston’s Restaurant.

Carvajal says that at the time, he was not familiar with how to eat an artichoke and that the waiter failed to warn him that the outside part of the leaf was indigestible. After eating the artichoke, Carvajel says that he experienced “severe abdominal pain and discomfort.” Medical tests showed that the artichoke leaves had gotten stuck in his small bowel.

In his Miami-Dade injury lawsuit, Carvajel blames the restaurant and its manager for failing to properly train the waiters. He contends that the servers should have directed the patrons on how to safely eat an artichoke.

A Loxahatchee man who was injured after a stripper kicked him in the face with her high heel has reached a $650,000 Florida injury settlement with the Cheetah Palm Beach nightclub and dancer Sakeena “Suki” Shager. Michael Ireland was getting a lap dance in 2008 when the incident happened.

Ireland contends that while dancing, Suki poked him in the eye with the stiletto heel of her spiked shoe. The Palm Beach injury incident punctured his eye socket and broke the bones around his nose and eye. Ireland reportedly has had to undergo several surgeries but will continue to have double vision for life. Gather.com reports that the Cheetah Club opted to settle rather than going to court because it was concerned that a jury would order it to pay Ireland a larger amount.

Florida Personal Injury
In Florida, if negligence, wrongful conduct, or inappropriate actions were a factor, you can file a personal injury lawsuit against the party or parties responsible for your injuries or the death of a loved one. It is important that you are represented by an experienced Palm Beach personal injury law firm that knows how to properly pursue your case, deal with the other parties and their insurers, and do all that is necessary to help you obtain the maximum recovery allowed.

Lap Dance Injury Settlement – Michael Ireland Gets $650K for Eye Injury, Gather.com, October 14, 2010
Loxahatchee Man Gets $650,000 In Stripper Kick Lawsuit, WPBF West Palm Beach, October 14, 2010 Continue reading

Earlier this year, the Orange County Health Department in Florida cited 100 neighborhood hotels and apartments for having deficient pool drains. A list of the properties cited can be found below this article in the Related Web Resources section of the page.

Pool Drains
Pool drains can pose a hazard to swimmers, especially to children, if the drains are not properly covered and do not have the proper shut-off valves. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, there have been numerous accidents in which people have become trapped by the drain at the bottom of a pool or a spa tub. Many of these victims have been children.

A pool drain can create suction that a person can easily get caught in if it is too strong. This can prevent him or her from being able to resurface from the water and may lead to drowning accidents and other serious injuries. Drowning deaths can result when a person’s hair gets stuck in a hot tub drain. Earlier this year, a 6-year-old girl died from injuries she sustained when a swimming pool drain sucked out her intestines.

In December, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act will go into effect. This new law will make it mandatory for all public pools to install the proper drain safety covers and shut-off valves that will prevent people from getting trapped underwater by the suction of a powerful pool or hot tub drain.

The legislation is named after former Secretary of State James Baker’s 7-year-old granddaughter who drowned after getting trapped by the drain of a friend’s hot tub. The suction of the drain was so powerful that efforts to pull her out of the water before she died proved impossible.

Despite the dangers that deficient pool drains pose, an ABC News undercover team reported in July that they discovered that many public pools and hotels across the US have failed to take action to remedy this unsafe condition.

Injuries or death caused by a defective pool drain can be grounds for a products liability or wrongful death lawsuit.

Dangerous Pool Drains Could Trap And Kill Children, WFTV.com, July 28, 2008
ABC News Investigation Finds Dangerous Drains Across the Country, ABC News, July 23, 2008

Related Web Resources:
Disemboweled In Pool, Minn. Girl Dies, Local10.com, March 21, 2008
List of Florida Properties (PDF)
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