California

A recent article in Lawyers and Settlements gives a vivid account of the serious complications suffered by women who have used Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills. Yasmin initially was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2001 with Yaz getting the agency’s blessing five years later. What sets Yaz and Yasmin apart from other birth control pills in the market is that they contain the man made hormone drospirenone. Some of the most serious side effects of Yaz and Yasmin are linked to the presence of drospirenone. Read the rest »

Steven Langstaff, a former employee with the Oceano Community Services District, has filed a federal employment lawsuit against the district alleging discrimination based on age and disability. According to a news report in the San Luis Obispo Tribune, Langstaff alleges in the lawsuit that he was wrongfully terminated and denied his due process rights.

Langstaff started working for the district in June 2006. However, he says he had to take time off for surgery and other medical issues. Langstaff says his manager disparaged him for taking time off and not being “on board” with the district’s operations. He also alleges that supervisors assigned him more demanding physical jobs and kept lighter work for younger staff members.

Langstaff was fired from his job on December 13, 2011 at age 52. He says in the lawsuit that the termination has caused him significant financial loss and emotional distress. He is seeking compensation for lost earnings, benefits, employment opportunities, pain and suffering, attorney fees and court costs. District officials have disputed these allegations. Read the rest »

Sean “Diddy” Combs was injured in a Los Angeles car accident after the vehicle in which he was a passenger T-boned a sedan in Beverly Hills on October 24, 2012. According to a news report in the Los Angeles Times, Combs was in a black Escalade SUV that struck a Lexus sedan, which made a left turn in front of the SUV. The accident occurred on Sunset Boulevard in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Photos taken after the accident showed Combs shaken up and lying on the ground, the Times report said. Everyone involved in the accident complained of pain, but no one was transported to the hospital. Combs reportedly said that he would get his own medical attention. His representative later told the Associated Press that Combs had hurt his neck, ribs and collarbone.

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Lawyers and Settlements reports that numerous transvaginal mesh lawsuits are being filed, with many resulting in awards for the victims and their partners who suffer with them. According to the news article, another couple recently filed a product liability lawsuit. In that case, the woman and her husband allege that they have not been able to have sex since she was implanted with the Bard Avaulta transvaginal mesh because it is “too painful for her” and her husband could “feel the mesh.”

Bard, the maker of Avaulta transvaginal mesh implants, lost its first personal injury lawsuit when a California jury awarded $5 million to Christine Scott. She had suffered major complications due to Bard’s Avaulta Plus device including incontinence, severe pain, and inability to be intimate. Scott later required eight surgeries to remove the mesh. Her husband was awarded $500,000 for loss of consortium in that case. Read the rest »

A pedestrian who attempted to help motorists involved in a multi-car collision on state Route 78 was struck and seriously injured by a driver, who fled the scene. According to a U-T San Diego news article, the major injury crash occurred the night of October 15, 2012. California Highway Patrol officials say the 20-year-old female pedestrian may have entered the freeway from a street that runs parallel to Route 78. She had just checked on a woman whose Nissan Altima had crashed while trying to avoid a mattress on the freeway.

A Toyota pickup driven by a 30-year-old Encinitas man then hit the mattress and struck the Nissan. In addition, three other vehicles collided as they attempted to avoid the initial accident. The driver of the Nissan suffered moderate injuries and one other person suffered minor injuries. The car that struck the good Samaritan did not stop. Anyone with information about the hit-and-run driver or vehicle is asked to call CHP officials at 858-637-3800. Read the rest »

A home nursing agency in Los Angeles has agreed to pay $654,082 to settle a complaint that employees were not properly compensated for overtime worked. According to a news report in the Business Management Daily, Extended Health Care Private Duty Nursing was the subject of a federal probe. A U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division investigation showed that the company paid some of its employees “straight time” although their hours exceeded the regular 40 hours a week schedule.

The probe revealed that even the company’s longest-tenured employees got only time and one-quarter for their overtime hours. Although some of the employees received the overtime mandated by federal labor laws, they were required to work more than 80 hours in a biweekly payroll period. In addition, the investigation revealed that some of employees were misclassified as independent contractors. Under the settlement agreement, 108 nurses will recover back pay. Read the rest »