For California product liability class action lawyers, it's almost like a revisit to the Ford Pinto exploding gas tank crisis of the 70s.  This week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it would soon begin investigating thousands of Grand Jeep Cherokees for a possible defective gas tank design that could increase the risks of a fire and explosion.

The NHTSA investigation has been triggered by efforts by consumer safety group, Center for Auto Safety.  The group has called on the NHTSA to investigate whether the gas tank design in the Grand Jeep Cherokee - below the rear bumper and behind the rear axle-could cause a fuel leak if it is involved in a rear end collision.  The group also wants the NHTSA to determine whether the plastic tank could puncture during a rollover because of a lack of protective shielding for it.  The group also has concerns about whether the neck of the tank could wear off.  According to the Center for Auto Safety, the design and placement of the gas tank in the Grand Jeep Cherokee is “terrible” and increases the risks of a gas tank explosion during impact.

The NHTSA is not making any commitments at this point in time.  The agency says it has not found any additional instances of gas tank fires in rear end collisions involving the Grand Jeep Cherokees, compared to other sports utility vehicles.  However, the agency has reports of 44 accidents involving the Grand Jeep Cherokee since 1992.  These accidents have ended in 55 deaths.  In all of these accidents, fire was listed as the most harmful factor.  Out of these accidents, at least 10 crashes and three deaths were associated with rear ender collisions.

The Jeep Cherokees in the investigation includes models manufactured between 1993 and 2004.  An estimated 3 million vehicles are involved in the investigation.

The Census Bureau's practice of rejecting applications from applicants who have even one arrest on their record, is coming under fire in the form of a racial discrimination class-action lawsuit.  The agency is being accused of using an applicant screening process that promotes racial discrimination.

Last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission wrote a letter to the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department stating that rejecting applicants on the basis of a single arrest was not right.  The Commerce Department and the Census Bureau have not yet responded to the lawsuit.  The Justice Department wants the lawsuit dismissed. 

According to the lawsuit, the law is quite clear that no person shall be discriminated against during hiring only on the basis of an arrest, unless there are pending charges.  But when the agency uses these discriminatory practices, it promotes discrimination on the basis of race, because certain ethnicities like African-Americans, are much more likely to be arrested even for minor offenses, than other racial groups. 

That means that when a person has an arrest on his record, even for the most minor offense, and with no criminal charges or convictions resulting, he would still be rejected if he applied for employment at the Census Bureau.  According to lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the class-action, practices that prevent applicants with an arrest record from being employed, take the same discrimination on the basis of race that exists in the criminal justice system, and transfer it to the employment process. 

According to figures by the Justice Department, 13% of black youths are involved in selling drugs, compared to 17% of whites.  However in 2003, African Americans were arrested for drug violations at rates that were almost twice that for whites.

California employment lawyers believe that policies like the Census Bureau's ensure that the racial discrimination that plagues African-Americans, will follow them even as they seek to find jobs at the agency.

A nationwide outbreak of salmonella poisoning has once again left the Food and Drug Administration with egg on its face.  With the sheer size of the recall - more than 550 million eggs - and the fact that thousands of people have been sickened, we will likely find that more members of the public will step up to join food safety groups, and California food poisoning class action lawyers to call for a sweeping overhaul of American food safety laws.

More than 2,000 people are believed to have fallen sick from eating the salmonella-tainted eggs.  The source of the contamination has been traced to two farms in Iowa.  Interestingly enough, both the farms have common ties.  They are connected to DeCoster Farms, and the founder of the firm, Austin “Jack” DeCoster, reportedly has a history of environmental law violations.  DeCoster has also been cited for several health and employment violations over the years.  He owns Wright County Egg, one of the farms linked to the contaminated eggs.  He also owns another farm called Quality Egg, which supplies young chickens to the other Iowa farm, Hillendale Farm, which also recalled 170 million eggs. 

The Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg has confirmed that both the farms were not “behaving responsibly” before the recall.  FDA staff has conducted on-site inspections of both farms, and findings are expected next week.

The FDA says it could not have prevented the epidemic because as of July 9, it did not have the power to inspect farms.  Oversight of farms is among those gray areas where the duties and responsibilities of the Food and Drug Administration overlap with those of the US Department of Agriculture.  While the Department of Agriculture is responsible for the hens, the FDA is responsible for the feed and the eggs.  That surreal explanation is also the reason why food safety in the US is such a challenging area, and also why strong legislation is needed to give the FDA the power it sorely needs.  

It’s no secret to California workplace discrimination lawyers that the barriers between the genders are falling it comes to discrimination and harassment in the workplace.  Even just a decade ago, it would've been relatively rare to have a man filing a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment in the workplace.  These lawsuits are actually on the rise.  According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the number of sexual harassment claims filed by men, doubled between 1990 and 2009.

However, it's not just sexual harassment lawsuits filed by men that are on the increase.  More numbers of men are coming forward to claim that they were passed over for promotions and other advancements in the workplace when their employers gave preference to women.  A workplace discrimination lawsuit filed this week by a man employed by comedian Jimmy Fallon, is an example of this.  The man, Paul Tarascio, a stagehand at NBC, claims that he lost his job because Fallon preferred a woman over him. 

Such incidences are becoming more and more common.  According to the EEOC, the number of male employees coming in to file complaints about preferential treatment for women is also on the increase.  Men seem to particularly complain about being passed over for certain jobs in favor of women, or not being able to land certain kinds of jobs, like secretarial jobs.

There is a range of discriminating practices in the workplace if these complaints are any indication.  For instance, more men are coming in to complain about getting lesser time off from work in order to care for a sick family member or child.  Men, who complain about harassment or any other form of discrimination in the workplace, also don't seem to have too many willing ears to listen to them.  A common complaint seems to be that harassment or discrimination complaints made by men in the workplace don't seem to be taken seriously by employers in the way that complaints filed by women are.

According to estimates by the federal government, approximately 1,000 people are injured every year in accidents involving carnival amusement rides.  It’s important to remember that fact this summer, as thousands of Californians head to carnivals in their area.

Most carnival accidents occur because of three reasons - malfunctioning equipment, inadequate state regulations and human error.  There have been a number of carnival accidents in California recently.  In July, several people at a carnival in Pleasanton were injured when a chain came loose from an amusement ride and struck several persons.  At least seven people were injured.  The accident came just a few days after a ride operator was severely injured on a roller coaster at another carnival in Petaluma.

The biggest problem with preventing these accidents and injuries is that there is little regulation, and even lesser oversight.  Unfortunately, in several states, carnival rides are only inspected about once a year.  It doesn't help that the federal administration has no rules that apply to all 50 states.  For instance, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has standards in place for equipment, but has no oversight over carnival operators or companies.  With no oversight or enforcement, it's easy for carnival operators to simply pack up their unsafe equipment and move to a new location.

In a situation like this, California premises liability lawyers would advise that riders keep their own safety in mind before they get on a ride. 

Ultimately, you're the best inspector of a ride.  If a ride looks or sounds bad, assume it is, and stay away.

Try visiting a carnival on a weekday, when it's quiet and when accidents are less likely to occur.

Avoid wearing clothing with hanging straps and cords that can get entangled in ride equipment.

Keep your hands and limbs inside the car.

Wait for the ride to come to a stop before you exit.

Midas, a nationwide auto-repair chain specializing in mufflers and brakes, sells Midas-brand brake pads and shoes (sometimes described as "Midas VSD" [vehicle specific design]) to its customers. However, although customers pay for the Midas-brand brake and believe they are receiving that specific, premium brake pad or shoe with a lifetime guarantee, Midas franchises actually install an undisclosed, unapproved brake pad or shoe. While Midas prohibits its franchisees from selling non-Midas brakes without explicit, written authorization, Midas nevertheless knowingly permits its franchisees to sell non-Midas brake pads and shoes but describe them as Midas-brand brake pads and shoes. The proposed putative class consists of all California consumers who purchased what were described as Midas-brand brakes but were, in fact, an undisclosed substitute. Relief sought includes injunctive relief aimed at ending Midas’ fraudulent practices and the return of all monies paid to Midas and its franchisees for the falsely designated, non-Midas brake pads.

We are in the process of identifying new individuals to serve as lead plaintiffs and proposed class representatives. The Court granted Plaintiff's request to issue Letter Notices to a sample subset of the putative class for that purpose.

Between 2004 and 2005, there were nearly 144,800 children who were injured from the use of medical devices. These injuries were serious enough for the children to be taken to an emergency room. Many of these injuries involved the use of contact lenses, but a number of other injuries were caused because of malfunctioning cardiac and gynecology devices, needless shunts and other devices.

Those facts come from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration, into the prevalence of medical device-related injuries among children.  This is the first study conducted into injuries from the use of medical devices among children. California product liability lawyers  believe there was  a need for a study like this, because of the higher number of children with chronic illnesses and conditions who now receive the treatment they need right at home.  Home care has numerous benefits for a sick child, but it may also cause complications when devices malfunction, or parents and caregivers are unable to use these properly.  There are also other challenges, because many sophisticated medical devices that were meant to be used on adults are also currently being used for children.

Most injuries include infections and abrasions from contact lenses that have not been cleaned properly.  There are other common issues, include tears during gynecological examinations, infections in children with ear tubes, and puncture wounds from needles breaking.  There are also injuries caused from pediatric infusion pumps, brain shunts and chest catheters.

More facts and figures from study:

• The researchers found approximately 34,000 contact lens-related injuries in the children.
• The data came from hospital ER figures and included around 100 hospitals.
• These medical device-related injuries resulted in 6% of the children having to be hospitalized.

The researchers are planning further study into how and why these injuries occurred.  If they come up with strong explanations, they may even place restrictions on the use of certain medical devices in children and teenagers.

If you are a current or former Greyhound bus driver and you worked overtime or you were on-call or had a layover, we want to talk to you. Please call us to discuss.

Did you or someone you know used metered parking in Los Angeles County and paid with a credit card and felt that you had some credit that you did not receive. If so, please contact us to discuss.  

If you or someone you know in California bought a battery from Wal-Mart, Pep Boys or any other retailer and paid $9.00 (more or less) extra for battery core, please contact us.  Make sure you have the receipt.