Pneumo Abex LLC, Asbestos, and Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Lawsuits

The latest blog post from Frank Azar:

The latest blog post from Frank Azar:

Gordon Bankhead worked for Pneumo Abex LLC, successor of Abex Corporation, from 1965-1999. Bankhead was a parts man in the service and repair of heavy duty vehicles, and was exposed to asbestos throughout his career. His duties included, “inspecting, replacing grinding and blowing out dust from the asbestos-containing brakes.”

Bankhead was diagnosed with mesothelioma in January of 2010, and filed for his asbestos injury complaint in March of 2010. In October of 2010, his personal injury lawsuit went to trial.

Damages collected for the personal injury lawsuit included $1.47 million for Gordon Bankhead’s past and future economic loss and $1.5 million for his pain and suffering. They awarded Emily Bankhead $1 million for her loss of her husband’s support and companionship.

His death in October of 2011 led to the wrongful death lawsuit against Pneumo Abex LLC. This lawsuit was intended to compensate his family for the loss of his companionship. The jury was to determine correct compensation the family for losing a loved one 17 years prior to life-expectancy.

The 10-count complaint stated the Pneumo Abex LLC knew the dangers associated with asbestos disorder, but failed to relay the message to their employees.

“Each of the foregoing acts, suggestions, assertions and forebearances to act when a duty existed to act, the said defendants, and each of them, having such knowledge, knowing the decedent did not have such knowledge and would breathe such material innocently, was done falsely and fraudulently and with full intent to induce decedent to work in a dangerous environment and to cause decedent to remain unaware of the true facts,” the complaint says.

The jury described the defendants actions as malicious, fraudulent and oppressive.

This wrongful death lawsuit awarded Bankhead’s wife, Emily Bankhead, $6 million, and his two daughters, Tammy Bankhead and Debbie Bankhead-Meiers, $2.5 million each.

Joseph Satterley and Justin Bosl of Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood represented the Bankheads throughout both trials. Former partner Leigh Kirmsse assisted on the personal injury lawsuit.

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The Rat Pack

The latest blog post from Frank Azar:

The latest post from Frank Azar:

Frank Azar is a big fan of old movies, and more specifically, a group of actors commonly referred to as “the Rat Pack,” who often starred in iconic Hollywood classics that are still enjoyed today. This blog post will give you a little background on the Rat Pack so that you understand the context when they are discussed in other blog posts.

The Rat Pack was a group of actors that centered mainly around Humphrey Bogart. The name of the group was encouraged by the media and press in order to easily describe the group of stars, which also consisted of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. Famous starlets such as Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, and Shirley MacLaine were also known to have spent a lot of time with the Rat Pack.

After the death of Humphrey Bogart in 1957, the members of the group referred to themselves as “the Summit” or “the Clan,” but the media had already coined the name for the iconic group, and they were never able to shake their original name.

It was common that members of the Rat Pack would show up when one of the members was scheduled for an appearance. This built the Rat Pack fan base tremendously. Although the Rat Pack is unlike any pop culture phenomenon of the day, a similar comradery is exhibited amongst the past and current cast members of Saturday Night Live, where individuals show up to perform on SNL and affiliated shows like 30 Rock and Parks & Recreation to show support for one another. it is usually expected that when one member shows up, another is following closely behind.

Although the crew appeared in many films together, one of Frank Azar’s favorite happens to be the 1960 film Ocean’s 11. The film was later re-made, but nothing compares to the first!

Below is a recent video of an interview with Shirley MacLaine, who recalls her many experiences with the Rat Pack. Enjoy!

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Frank Azar Wins Case Against Helmet Maker Riddell

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The latest blog post from Frank Azar:

This past April, Frank Azar and his team at Franklin D. Azar & Associates won a huge case against prominent football helmet manufacturer Riddell Sports Inc. This case is significant because it could present opportunities for individuals injured over the past few decades to receive compensation for their medical expenses and injuries. Frank Azar, a Trinidad native, served as co-counsel on the case with Denver based attorney Randy Barnhart.

Franklin D. Azar & Associates became involved in the suit against Riddell after Rhett Ridolfi, a student on the Trinidad High School football team, suffered serious head trauma during a football drill, which resulted in total paralysis of his left side. A jury in Las Animas County District Court decided that Riddell was accountable for a percentage of the 11.5 million restitution Ridolfi will receive.

A representative from Riddell said the company plans to appeal on the grounds that the court excluded a testimony by a defense expert. This means Rhett Ridolfi is not likely to see any sort of compensation from Riddell for quite sometime, and the exact number they owe him is not yet worked out.

In response to the case, Frank Azar stated that because Riddell failed to adequately warn about the dangers of concussions while wearing their helmets, this verdict could affect “thousands of pending individual cases.” Azar further stated, “Riddell set this phony-baloney standard about concussion risk…If they had told the truth, ‘You have a 50 percent change of getting a concussion with this helmet,’ what mother or father would let their kid play football in a Riddell helmet? And you can still buy this helmet today.”

This case is particularly poignant because Riddell is the official helmet supplier to the NFL (National Football League), and countless numbers of retired players have sustained life-altering brain injuries while playing football in Riddell helmets that they are steal dealing with today.

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Class Action Suit against McDonald’s Franchise Owner in Albany, NY

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The latest blog post from Frank Azar:

A class action lawsuit was filed against an owner of a McDonalds Corporation franchise in Albany, New York on May 6^th, 2013. The owner of the franchise is being charged with violations of State and Federal wage and hour laws. It is alleged that Ralph Crawford, franchise owner, and the McDonald’s Corporation participated in “time-shaving,” an illegal practice in which supervisors cut payroll costs by deleting hours logged by workers to save money for the major company.

This is very common for large corporations and franchises, and something we have seen before with the company Wal-Mart (mentioned in previous post). Like Wal-Mart, the franchise owner, along with the McDonalds Corporation, are accused of depriving their employees a 30 minute uninterrupted lunch break. They also failed to provide employees disclosures ensuring their rate of pay, failed to compensate employees for total hours worked, and deprived their employees of overtime pay.

Jeffrey Schuyler has come forward as the lead plaintiff in this class action case. He is a former McDonald’s employee terminated after he rightfully reported the wage violations to his company supervisors.

The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of all non-exempt employees having worked for Ralph Crawford at the McDonald’s franchise over the course of the past 6 years, and the estimated class size is over 500 members.

Hacker Murphy, LLP, an Albany based litigation firm, is acting as the prosecutor.

This class action case against McDonald’s for time-shaving, etc. is a very common practice, and something that should not be ignored. If you are deserving of more pay of have been mistreated by your employer, call Frank Azar, and receive the compensation you rightfully deserve.

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