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• Pork Processing Plant Workers Contract Illness After Inhaling Pig Brain Particles

  Sheila Chavis | February 08, 2008 4:56 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  A cluster of workers at a pork processing plant in Minnesota have contracted an illness that has been connected with the workers' exposure to particles of pig brains. The workers were found to be exposed by inhaling the bits of pig brain during a process where the brains are blown out of the skull of the pig using compressed air. The brains are harvested packaged and sold primarily to Japan...

• Manufacturer of deer stand pays penalty for late reporting after recalling deer stands

  Brent Adams | January 19, 2008 9:28 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  Manufacturer of tree stands have been fined by the U. S. Consumer Products Safety Commission for failure to report defects in a timely manner.In North Carolina these potentially dangerous devises are commonly called "deer stands" because they are used by deer hunters to hunt deer. The hunter uses these deer stands as a seat in a tree high up it the tree. When an unsuspecting deer walks by near...

• Issue of whether an injury is covered by workers compensation law can be complex

  Brent Adams | January 17, 2008 10:25 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  Employees are entitled to benefits from workers' compensation whenever they receive a personal injury "arising out of and in the course of employment. For example, a machinist received an injury to his eye from flying glass from a cola bottle while on his lunch break that caused blindness in that eye. As he was placing the bottle in the cooler, it exploded. He would be entitled to receive...

• Dangerous dog attacks provoke stronger legislation

  Brent Adams | January 14, 2008 10:54 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  As a result of two recent dog attacks, one of which resulted in a personal injury, the other resulting in a fatality, Ivan Harmon, a County Commissioner of Knox County in Tennessee, has proposed an ordinance which would allow for the control of dangerous animals in the county.Under the proposed ordinance, if an officer from either animal control or law enforcement finds that an immediate threat...

• Brent Adams Firm To Challenge RIF Law

  Michael Byrne | January 11, 2008 2:57 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  For many years, career state employees separated from employment under a Reduction-In-Force, or "RIF," could bring an action in the Office of Administrative Hearings appealing such separations. These RIF appeal rights were a necessary protection for state employees. In the past, supervisors at some agencies allegedly used the RIF process, intended to rid the public payroll of redundant...

• JURY RETURNS $1.8 MILLION FOR BACK INJURY

  Brent Adams | January 11, 2008 12:00 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  A Craven County jury deliberated thirty minutes before returning a verdict of $1,875,000.00 for the exacerbation of a pre-existing back injury.It is always difficult for an injured victim of negligence to receive adequate compensation for their injuries when they have a pre-existing injury.A Craven County jury deliberated thirty minutes before returning a verdict of $1,875,000.00 for the...

• Home Shopping Network Pays Fine For Failure To Report Defective Pressure Cookers

  Brent Adams | January 10, 2008 12:14 AM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), cable network Home Shopping Network (HSN) has agreed to pay $875,000 as a settlement for charges that it failed to report serious personal injuries from pressure cookers sold on its shopping channel in a timely manner. From September of 2001 until approximately October of 2004, at least 25 incidents were reported to HSN by...

• Court Of Appeals Rules For Brent Adams Client

  Michael Byrne | January 08, 2008 5:39 PM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  When longtime State employee Peggy Anderson applied for a promotion at Whitaker School, she thought she'd get promotional priority - a hiring preference over non-state employees - as the law requires. Instead, a non-state employee got the job. Peggy Anderson decided to fight back. Ms. Anderson hired Brent Adams attorney Michael Byrne, who argued in court that the State failed to give Ms....

• Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Law Which Takes Away Basic Rights Of Citizens

  Brent Adams | January 08, 2008 3:02 AM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  In a decision issued on Thursday, December 27, the Supreme Court of Ohio upheld limits on the verdicts that jurors in Ohio can return for damages in personal injury lawsuits.This Ohio law takes away the basic right to a trial by jury that Ohio citizens have relied on for hundreds of years of years. The legislation was passed when the Ohio legislature caved in to big money interests of big...

• Store Owners Liable For Wrongdoing Of Security Firms Hired As Independent Contractors

  Brent Adams | January 07, 2008 12:38 AM | 0 CommentsRaleigh, NC

  As announced in a recent ruling by the Arizona Court of Appeals, retailers who hire security firms in to patrol their premises can be held liable for the wrongful conduct of the security firm. This is true even if the security firm is an independent contractor.The judges acknowledged that firms who hire independent contractors for such jobs generally cannot be sued for the activities of the...