Announcements | 
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Share with your FB friends: Perils of ‘Bounce Houses’ |
| NY accident, other mishaps illuminate perils of inconsistently regulated ‘bounce houses’, AP 6-7-11. They look like harmless fun — fluffy, inflated castles, ships and slides filled with children jumping around carelessly, their parents letting their guard down a bit during playtime. But an accident that sent three of the huge toys aloft on a breezy afternoon on New York’s Long Island, left a woman seriously injured and hurt 12 other people is drawing attention to the little-known hazards of the inflatable playthings sometimes called “bounce houses” and the inconsistent regulations covering them. |
Products |
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Volvo Recalls Cars to Fix Fuel Pump Problem |
| Automaker Volvo has issued a recall of 7,558 S60 sport sedans to fix problems with the fuel pumps and fuel pump software. The company reported that "the fuel pump software may not be compatible with all the fuel pumps in some cars and may not deliver fuel properly." This may cause the engine to stall as if it had run out of gas. Jonathan Welsh, WSJ Blogs 06/08/2011 | Read Article: WSJ Blogs |
Laws/Cases |
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Suit Filed Against Texas CPS by Employees |
| A lawsuit has been filed against the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services by 800 current and former employees that claims the department forced them to work off the clock without overtime pay. The lawsuit claims the department owes the employees over $1 million in back wages. According to the suit, "supervisors instruct employees not to record all hours they work" and "payroll records are not kept." L.M. Sixel, Houston Chronicle 06/08/2011 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
Drugmaker to pay $34M for Off-Label Marketing |
| The maker of epilepsy treatment Keppra agreed Thursday to pay more than $34 million for marketing the medication to treat migraine headaches in violation of U.S. drug laws. The U.S. subsidiary of Belgian manufacturer UCB pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington to a misdemeanor in connection with the misbranding. Associated Press, The Washington Post 06/10/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
Toyota Owners Can’t Use CA Law in Economic Loss Suit |
| Toyota Motor Corp. vehicle owners outside California can’t pursue under that state’s laws their claims that unintended acceleration problems lowered the value of their cars, a judge ruled. Toyota owners say the company drove down the value of their vehicles by failing to disclose or fix defects related to sudden acceleration. Their lawyers asked U.S. District Judge James V. Selna in Santa Ana, California, to allow them to pursue their claims under California law, which gives plaintiffs a better chance than most states of recovering damages. Margaret Cronin Fisk & Bill Callahan, Bloomberg 06/10/2011 | Read Article: Bloomberg |
Mass. Family Files Lawsuit Over Death of 4-Year-Old in Fall from Escalator |
| The family of a 4-year-old Massachusetts boy who died after falling from a mall escalator says in a lawsuit that the escalator was in a “dangerous and defective” condition that directly led to the child’s death. The escalator’s condition was in violation of state building codes, escalator safety standards and the industry standards established by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the parents of Mark DiBona of Dudley said in their suit filed Wednesday in Worcester Superior Court. Associated Press, The Washington Post 06/10/2011 | Read Article: The Washington Post |
Federal Safety Agency Takes City Case to State |
| A federal agency has appealed to the state after the city of Houston declined to adopt standards the agency believes would have prevented a 2004 explosion at a Houston chemical plant. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board sent a letter to Gov. Rick Perry encouraging him to pursue statewide adoption of industry standards on pressure vessels. "Texas has several highly industrialized areas that have a number of large pressure vessels that are currently not required to be in compliance with these codes," CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso wrote in a letter Wednesday. SIMONE SEBASTIAN, Houston Chronicle 06/10/2011 | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
Suit: Firefighters Sexually Assaulted Volunteer |
| A lawsuit has been filed against members of the Piermont, Ny., fire department that claims they sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy during a hazing ritual last summer. According to the suit, the boy, a volunteer for the department, was "held against [his] will and forced to place [his] hand upon and fondle the genitals of other firefighters." The lawsuit is seeking unspecified damages. Jane Lerner and James O'Rourke , Rochester Democrat & Chronicle 06/10/2011 | Read Article: Rochester Democrat & Chronicle |
Largest Single-Victim Harassment Suit Settled |
| A woman in St. Louis has been awarded $95 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit against The Aaron's Inc., believed to be the largest harassment verdict for a single individual in the country. The lawsuit claimed the woman was subjected to increasingly violent and damaging forms of sexual assault by her supervisor over the year or so after she was hired in October 2005. The jury found Aaron's liable for "negligent supervision, sexual harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress." Robert Patrick , St. Louis Post Dispatch 06/10/2011 | Read Article: St. Louis Post Dispatch |
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