After surgery, a patient suffered an infection. The bacteria that infected the patient’s knee apparently survived the sterilization process at the surgical facility. The bacteria was found on a surgical sponge. The doctor paid the patient $4,118.23 for the medical expenses he incurred for treatment of the infection. Fifteen months later, the patient sued the […]
Statute Of Limitations In Medical Setting.
Plaintiff alleged a doctor committed battery and inflicted IIED. The trial court dismissed plaintiff’s action, after concluding the CCP § 340’s one-year statute of limitations, and not the general personal injury two-year limitations period, applies. In affirming, the appellate court explained: “We must look past the labels [plaintiff] uses and examine the specific conduct [plaintiff] […]
Discrimination Allegations In Health Care To Deaf Woman.
Both husband and wife communicated through American Sign Language. The wife first went to a medical clinic in Nevada in 2007 and was told no sign language interpreter would be provided to interpret her communications with health care personnel. Each time she went to the clinic, she requested and was denied an interpreter. In late […]
Copyright Action Over The Film “Raging Bull” Timely Filed.
In 1980, MGM released and registered a copyright in the film “Raging Bull,” and continues to market the film today. The owner of the screenplay copyrighted in 1963 filed a copyright infringement action against MGM in 2009. A federal district court granted summary judgment to MGM under the doctrine of laches, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. The […]
Claim Of Equitable Tolling Of Statute Of Limitations While Plaintiff Pursued Her Work Comp Case.
Plaintiff fell from an outdoor balcony at the offices of her employer. Immediately she began receiving workers’ compensation benefits and later filed a claim with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board seeking additional benefits. More than two years after the fall, she filed a superior court action for premises liability against the building owners. She alleged […]
Appellate Courts Split On Which Statute Of Limitations Applies For Malicious Prosecution Against Attorneys.
When attorneys were sued for malicious prosecution 13 months after resolution of the underlying action, they brought a motion to strike, citing the one-year statute of limitations under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.6 and Vafi v. McCloskey (2011) 193 Cal.App. 4th 874, [122 Cal.Rptr.3d 608], which held that the one-year statute applied in a […]
Everyone’s Worst Wrongful Death Nightmare
Survivors of a woman brought an action contending their wife and mother’s remains were disfigured. In two causes of action, plaintiffs alleged decedent was prematurely declared dead, after which she was placed in a compartment in the hospital morgue while still alive, and that the disfigurement to her face happened while trying to escape until […]
No Equitable Tolling For Parents That Abduct Children.
When a parent abducts a child and flees to another country, the Hague Convention requires that country to return the child immediately if the parent requests return of the child within one year. In this case, the mother and child disappeared from the United Kingdom in 2008, and the father did not locate them in […]
Read The Contract Under ERISA!
The plaintiff filed a claim for long term disability benefits with an insurance company in a plan covered by ERISA [Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974; 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B)]. ERISA does not specify a statute of limitations for filing suit, but a cause of action does not accrue until the plan issues a final […]
Still Pursuing Art Stolen By Nazis.
Plaintiffs allege their ancestors “were a well-known Jewish family that played a prominent role in Germany’s economic and cultural life” and purchased a painting of artist Camille Pissarro in 1898. As a condition to leaving Germany in 1939, the family was required to surrender the painting to the Nazis. In 1943, the painting was sold to an […]