The legal and societal controversy over taser abuse may have reached a new level, with the revelation by a British Columbia television station that employees of Taser International had disclosed numerous safety violations, including failure to properly inspect and cull out faulty products and a practice of placing circuit boards returned as defective in new casings with new serial numbers and shipping them back out unrepaired. 

The battle about whether or not tasers are inherently dangerous and whether itheir benefits outweigh the "occasional" death rages on, but this information adds a whole new element.  If the employee statements are accurate, it means that any given taser may or may not work as anticipated, and that some may be more dangerous than others–a difference that would not be apparent to the officer using the taser until the damage was done.

In response to these safety concerns, the B.C. solicitor general announced that B.C. police would no longer use tasers acquired before 2006.  We can only hope that U.S. officials will act as responsibly.

It was a normal day for Leon Bostick. Like usual, he warmed up on an elliptical machine at Gold’s Gym in Venice, California and stretched for a while before he moved over to a Flex Equipment Co. Smith machine to do squats.

He started with about 90 pounds of weight and gradually increased it after each set. After a few sets, the bar of weights fell because it lacked a safety device and Bostick went to floor with a couple hundred of pounds crashing down on his neck.

Bostick, a former Marine and lifelong athlete, is now confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

He sued Flex and the gym. He offered to settle with Flex and its insurer, Atlantic Mutual, for its policy limit of $1 million, but the company never responded so the case went to trial.

Gold’s gym settled for $7.3 million.

A Superior Court jury found Flex liable and awarded Bostick $14.6 million. Frustrated that its insurer didn’t settle, Flex gave Bostick the right to sue Atlantic Mutual for bad faith for refusing to settle earlier in the case.

After 7 years of litigation, a U.S. District Court jury ruled against the insurance company and awarded Bostick an additional $11.3 million.

For more information on filing a personal injury lawsuit, check out our feature section, Personal Injury Case Steps.

A lawsuit was recently filed against Victoria Secret on behalf of a Florida woman who suffered itching and blistering of her skin after wearing one of the company’s undergarments.

The lawsuit alleges that Victoria Secret misrepresented the safety of its intimate apparel. It further charges that Victoria Secret knew—or should have known—that its products were defective and failed to warn consumers.

The victim who filed the defective products lawsuit is seeking compensation for physical and economic injuries related to the defective undergarments, as well as compensation for all medical expenses.

This isn’t the first time Victoria Secret has been under fire, numerous complaints have been filed alleging some undergarments have caused painful and serious rashes, hives, scarring, allergic reactions, contact dermatitis, blistering and other health problems.

Media reports have said that some Victoria Secret items have tested positive for the chemical formaldehyde, which is sometimes used in the textile industry to make fabrics crease-resistant.

If you’ve suffered any injury from defective products, talk to a personal injury lawyer today.

Jordan Gruver was 16 years old in 2006 when he was severely beaten by several KKK members who thought he was an illegal immigrant.

Gruver, an American citizen of Panamanian and Native-American descent, suffered a broken jaw, bruised ribs and permanent nerve damage in his arm because of the hate crime.

The Southern Poverty Law Center sued the country’s second-largest Klan group on behalf of the teen. The Klansmen who beat Gruver were convicted and they severed two years in prison. Edwards represented himself and denied the charges, saying the group is not generally violent.

Last week a jury ordered Imperial Klans of America “grand wizard” Ron Edwards and two former “lieutenants” to pay Gruever $1.5 million for lost wages and medical expenses and for Edwards to pay him $1 million in punitive damages. Edwards said he would appeal the verdict.

The lead personal injury lawyer in the case said he plans to seize Edwards’ property (which serves as Klan property) and any other assets that could be found. The judgment against Edwards’ is good for 15 years, so they have plenty of time to pursue assets.

A similar lawsuit bankrupt the Idaho-based white supremacist group Aryan Nations in 1999.

If you’ve been a victim of a hate crime or any other intentional injury crime, you deserve fair compensation.

Total Injury has a wide network of person injury lawyers ready to listen to you. Just call us at 1 (877) 288-7564 or fill out this quick and free case evaluation form and we’ll get you connected with a personal injury attorney in your area.

Last week Roberto Hernandez sued American Apparel Inc. and its CEO for wrongful termination after he refused to stretch the company’s books to make them look more appealing to potential investors.

Hernandez, who worked in the company’s accounts payable and IT departments, brought the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

American Apparel disputes that he was an accountant for them and calls the lawsuit “fictional”. It said that Hernandez was fired for legitimate reasons.

“The best they can come up with was ‘legitimate reasons’,” Herndandez’s personal injury attorney said. “I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist—is it tardiness, is it insubordination?—if they had a single reason, they would’ve told you that.”

In a written press statement, the company attributed the allegations to Hernandez’s personal injury lawyer trying to get “phony leverage” because he’s been “engaged with the company in other litigation for over three years”.

His personal injury attorney also represents a client in a separate sexual harassment lawsuit, which in one of several that have been filed against the clothing company.

The company just reported that a third of its profit fell 61 percent after it spent $13.2 million on stock-based compensation; however, its revenues have risen 45 percent. Shares fell 35.2 percent after the new lawsuit went public.

A Connecticut judge just quadrupled a jury award to a developer who said he was shut out of a building project due to corruption in the city of Bridgeport.

The judge added punitive damages, attorney fees and legal costs to the June jury verdict. The total award now amounts to $1.4 million owed to the man’s development company.

The man claimed his development plans were axed due to corruption in Bridgeport City Hall under former Mayor Joe Ganim’s administration. Ganim is currently in prison after being conviction on corruption charges and he must pay part of the jury award.

Corruption is a form of Intentional Injury. If you believe that you’ve been intentionally injured, consider talking to a personal injury lawyer today.

A federal judge just approved $6.5 million in lawyer fees to the personal injury attorneys who brought a class action lawsuit over a massive data breach at TJX Cos., which is estimated to have involved 100 million accounts that were compromised by hackers.

It cost the retailer an estimated $256 million to resolve the data breach when it was thought that “only” 45 million credit card and debit accounts were compromised. The company will also provide nearly $200 million of free credit monitoring, among other services, to customers who settled the case.

Read More Lawsuit Verdicts …

Two former teachers from Cedar Rapids, Iowa claimed they were illegally strip searched in 2004 after they protested President Bush’s policies. They subsequently filed a personal injury lawsuit.

A jury initially awarded the two more that $750,000 in damages; however, the award was thrown out by a U.S. district judge who said it was “excessive”. That judge reduced the award to $75,000 and told the teachers that they could either accept that injury amount or opt for a new trial.

The women opted for a new trial, which just ended. The jury in the second trial awarded the teachers about $55,000 in damages.

Related Total Injury Article: Court Finds Pain and Suffering Award Insufficient

This story highlights the influence a court decision can have on a person’s life. If you are filing an injury lawsuit, be sure to a have a personal injury lawyer on your side. Talk to a local personal injury lawyer today–for free and with no obligation–with the help of Total Injury.

A Louisiana man has filed a lawsuit against talk show titan, Oprah Winfrey, alleging that she an her lawyer made false statements that resulted in the FBI arresting him on charges that he attempted to extort Winfrey.

Keifer Bonvillain filed a federal lawsuit and is seeking $180 million in personal injury damages from Oprah, her lawyer and the FBI.

Bonvillain was arrested in December 2006 after he allegedly recorded telephone conversations with an employee of Winfrey’s production company and told another company associate that he wanted to publish a book about the recordings.

The FBI said he claimed to have offers from publishers and tabloids that ranged from $0.5 million to $3 million.

He was arrested when another company associate agreed to pay him $1.5 million, wired him $3,000 and agreed to meet with him.

Last year, charges were dismissed on the condition that Bonvillain conduct 50 hours of community service, undergo drug testing and pay $3,000 in restitution.

In the lawsuit, Bonvillain said that he did everything possible to avoid conducting illegal activity and said, “There was substantial damage done to my name and reputation on a world level … The extent of my damages is vast.”

One of Oprah’s lawyers denied the allegations in the suit.

Related Total Injury Resource: Information on Libel and Slander Lawsuits

A former high school assistant principal, who was suspended for allegedly using pepper spray to break up a fight between students, has filed a personal injury lawsuit against the county schools.

The personal injury complaint asks for $100,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages because it says the school racially discriminated against him.

The main charge is that the school system didn’t discipline white coaches for more brazen physical acts against other students.

The lawsuit says that the man tried to break up a fight between two students and that he was accused of using a “chemical agent” against the students.

More than two weeks after the fight, he was told he was being suspended without pay for about eight months and was demoted to teacher status.

The personal injury lawsuit says the school system “has allowed white teachers with duties as school coaches to assault students without similar treatment as experienced by plaintiff.”

Specifically, the suit said that a white coach was allowed to refer to students by the “N” word and that same white coach had slammed a student to the floor.

Stay tuned to Total Injury for more updates on this case as it develops.

Discrimination is a form of intentional injury. Check out our Intentional Injury section for more information about these types of personal injury lawsuits.