Boston Wrongful Death Attorneys For Wrongful Death Cases

The circumstances leading to wrongful death are numerous and varied, and can include:

• Car, aircraft and other transportation accidents;
• Medical malpractice involving negligent medical care and treatment by doctors and hospitals;
• Gas and electrical explosions or fires;
• Construction and workplace accidents;
• Nursing home abuse;
• Product liability involving defective consumer or commercial products;
• and more…

Wrongful death causes are often complex and result in significant damages. If a loved one in your family has been killed as a result of third-party negligence or wrongful acts, you need to get legal help to manage your case and understand your rights.

A Massachusetts lawyer at Swartz & Swartz, P.C. will ensure that your family’s rights are protected if you have lost a loved one due to the negligence of others. If your family has experienced such a tragedy, please contact us.If you want to speak directly with one of our wrongful death attorneys, we can be contacted at (617) 742-1900, or toll free at 1-800-545-3732. We are ready to answer your questions and discuss how you can protect your legal rights.

Punitive Damages in a Personal Injury Case — David Faraci

 

Often times personal injury cases have settlements or awards that are given to the plaintiff, after there have been findings of wrongdoing by the defendant. However, there can additional punishments that are handed down towards the defendant if they plaintiff can provide convincing and clear evidence of neglect or malice by the defendant.

Punitive damages are rare in the state of Massachusetts but can still be applied if the plaintiff has strong evidence.The plaintiff would need to prove “malicious, willful, wanton or reckless conduct… or gross negligence” by the defendant in the case of a personal injury or a wrongful death.

Punitive damages can also be applied in employment discrimination cases as well. If an employer is found to be discriminatory towards their employee, the court can award punitive damages to punish the employer for their discrimination.

Personal Injury Lawyer

It is important to work with an experienced attorney that has experience in dealing with a potential personal injury lawsuit or even an employment litigation case. If you have any questions about what potential punitive damages you can receive in your particular case, we have the team here to help. At Swartz & Swartz, P.C., we have a team of attorneys and professionals dedicated to personal injury and employment litigation cases. We work closely with some of the most knowledgeable and renowned experts in the country, and have a proven track record of successful recoveries on behalf of victims of negligence and discrimination.

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What is a wrongful death claim?

When someone dies due to the fault of another person or entity, survivors may have the option of bringing a wrongful death lawsuit. This legal action seeks damages, otherwise known as compensation, for the survivors’ loss.

This may include but is not limited to lost wages that would have been earned by the deceased, lost companionship, and the cost of funeral expenses. Of course, there is no way of adequately replacing the victim, but providing compensation for the victim’s loved ones can offset some of the challenges associated with their absence.

While the right to file a claim for wrongful death is relatively new, every state in the United States now has some form of wrongful death law. Wrongful death claims arise from a wide variety of fatal accidents. This may range from an unexpected car accident or a more complicated case of medical malpractice. Other cases include issues like product liability, where a defect or malfunction resulted in death. Under wrongful death law, persons, companies, and government entities can be at fault for negligence or intentional harm done.

A wrongful death claim differs from a criminal case in that it involves civil matters and disputes over rights relating to duties of individuals or entities. Criminal cases are pursued when the government seeks to hold an individual responsible for an act that is deemed a crime. The burden of proof is more stringent in a criminal case, and the penalty results in a consequence like incarceration. With civil matters, the result is more often financial compensation based on a monetary judgment entered against the individual or entity.

Elements of a wrongful death suit

• Death of an individual caused by negligence or an intent to inflict harm
• Survival of an individual or multiple family member(s) who are experiencing hardship because of the death
• Appointment of an estate representative on behalf of the deceased person

Who can sue for wrongful death?

Along with actions for personal injury, conscious pain and suffering, or expenses incurred before the deceased’s passing, a suit for wrongful death can only be brought by a personal representative or estate administrator of the deceased.

Life partners & dependents

In some states, a partner has a right to recovery for the death of their loved one. This includes cases where the survivor was financially dependent on the person who died.

Immediate family

In all states, immediate family like spouses and children can recover under wrongful death statutes. This includes adopted children and parents of deceased unmarried children.

Distant family

Some states also allow more distal family members like siblings or grandparents to file a wrongful death lawsuit. One example of this might include a grandmother who was raising her granddaughter.

Those with substantial financial need

Select states allow persons suffering financial consequences from death to bring a case for lost care or support. Individuals in these instances do not need to be a blood relative or married to the person who has passed away.

Parents of a deceased fetus

In some states, the death of a fetus can be grounds for pursuing a right to recovery. In those states, parents are only able to file a suit in the event the child was born alive and passed away thereafter, or if it can be shown that the fetus was viable pre-birth.

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Laura Daly — Discusses the Growing Number of Hernia Mesh Cases in the U.S.

 EXAMPLES OF CASES INVOLVING MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE INCLUDE:

Surgery Errors and Surgical Negligence 

These errors include carelessness by a surgeon during the procedure itself; the decision to proceed with surgery despite signs in the patient’s presentation or medical history that the procedure should not move forward; the improper choice of medical tools or equipment; negligence in the failure to be responsive to patient symptoms during and after surgery; or failing to remove a medical instrument, device or other surgical implement from a patient after surgery.

Birth Injuries

These include injuries to both the mother and child, and may include negligent care provided prior to birth, during the birthing process, or after the baby is delivered. For example, the decision not to perform a cesarean section (C-section) can constitute negligence under certain medical circumstances. Also, medical negligence can cause significant trauma at birth, leading to death and catastrophic injuries, such as neurological injury, developmental delays and related impairments, brain damage, shoulder dystocia, and cerebral palsy.

Failure to Diagnose or Treat Medical Conditions 

Such conditions include cancer, and a physician’s negligence not only in failing to timely diagnose the disease, but also in failing to provide proper treatment; negligent failure to timely recognize and properly test and treat heart disease, including a heart attack; the failure to diagnose an aneurysm, or to provide prompt and appropriate treatment; or negligence in diagnosing or treating other conditions, diseases or symptoms which directly damages the functioning of one’s organs, or leads to future bodily dysfunction.

Medication Errors

Physicians may negligently prescribe medications which are unsafe at certain dosages, have been recalled, or are prescribed for unapproved “off label” uses. Sometimes medications are ordered which are dangerous to take with other prescription or over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, or are otherwise not be used in light of a patient’s known medical conditions, including high blood pressure, as well as liver, kidney, heart or circulation ailments.

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5 Signs You’ve Been Sexually Harassed in the Workplace

Sexual harassment is a gray area for many workers. What seems like harmless workplace behavior one minute can turn uncomfortable and even dangerous the next. Some employees don’t recognize they’re being sexually harassed until long after the incident happens because they don’t know what constitutes sexual harassment or how to know if that’s what they’re experiencing.

The problem is that sexual harassment can come in many forms, so it’s difficult to have a one-size-fits-all definition of it. It can also happen to anyone, regardless of sex, gender, or sexual orientation. The generally agreed-upon criteria, though, includes sexualized verbal or physical harassment, unwanted sexual advances, and requests for sexual favors- often in exchange for something else.

But sexual harassment can also refer to jokes or comments about a person’s sex, gender, or sexuality. This is something a lot of victims and perpetrators don’t realize.

Harassment must also be frequent or severe enough to create a hostile work environment before it is considered to be unlawful. But to know whether harassment is frequent, one has to know what to look for.

That’s why we’ve compiled these 5 signs you’ve been sexually harassed in the workplace. Some of them are obvious, others more subtle, but all of them can contribute to a hostile or offensive work environment.

1. Unwanted Attention or Physical Contact of a Sexual Nature

One of the most identifiable signs of sexual harassment is sexually charged behavior that is unwanted by the recipient. It can manifest in small ways, like a passing comment, or in glaring ways, such as a coworker touching a sexual part of your body, such as the butt or crotch.

Some specific scenarios of unwanted attention include, but are not limited to, a client, coworker, or employer:

• Looking at your body in a way that makes you uncomfortable, such as staring at your breasts or bottom
• Making sexualized comments or remarks on how you look, such as a catcall
• Stands too close to you and/or speaks suggestively to you
• Persistently tries to meet with you alone, especially outside of work
• Tells you about their sexual experiences and/or asks you about yours
• Tries to show or discuss with you pornographic or sexually charged media, such as images, videos, songs, or movies

Instances of unwanted sexual contact include, but are not limited to, a client, coworker, or employer kissing, hugging, grabbing, pinching, patting, or touching you. This can be tricky, as some people express platonic affection through hugging or touching the arm, back, shoulder, etc., and other people are not comfortable with physical contact of any kind.

Sometimes, it can be hard to distinguish between innocent behaviors and sexualized ones. The best way to determine if someone’s behavior constitutes harassment is if you consistently feel uncomfortable when they are around or speaking to you and if you think the other person is aware of your discomfort. The person may even like having some sort of power over you and continue their behavior to exert that power.

2. Jokes or Comments About Your Sexuality or Gender

Even if someone isn’t directly sexualizing or pursuing you, they can still sexually harass you in the form of jokes or comments about your sexual experience, sexuality, gender expression, or gender identity. Comments about sexual activity or whether a person conforms to gender “norms” fall under this category of sexual harassment.

This behavior can be in person, online, over the phone, or any other method of communication. If you are receiving unwanted messages, images, or videos of this nature from a colleague, even outside of the workplace, it’s a sign you’re being sexually harassed.

3. Quid Pro Quo

In instances of sexual harassment between two people with an imbalance in power (such as an employee and a supervisor), there can sometimes be a scenario known as quid pro quo, which is Latin for “something in return for something.” It’s an exchange of services, and in this context, it usually constitutes a person requesting sexual favors from someone they have power over, like a subordinate.

These requests are unwelcome, and favors can range from going on a date to having sexual relations. The conditions include something done in return, such as a promotion or other work-related favor. Sometimes, the situation will arise after a “favor” has already been given to the employee, such as allowing them to leave work early for a doctor’s appointment. The employee is then expected to “repay” the favor by doing something of a sexual nature for their “superior.”

The request may also be accompanied by a threat that, should the favor be refused, the employee’s job could be at risk. This creates fear that often prevents the victim from reporting this harassment.

4. Explicit or Implicit Pressure to “Just Go Along”

Sexual harassment is not always intentional, but if you ask someone to stop a behavior and they don’t, or they pressure you to accept it as just “messing around,” they have crossed a line. The biggest factor in sexual harassment is whether the behavior or attention is unwanted. As soon as you make it clear it’s unwanted, it becomes harassment for that person to continue that behavior. It should not be your responsibility to avoid someone you’ve asked to stop.

If you feel you can’t even ask the person to stop or change their behavior, that’s an indication your work environment is hostile.

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How to help your lawyer protect your legal rights as an employee — David Angueira

 

There are many simple things that you can do to protect your legal rights, if you get involved in an uncomfortable situation with your employer. These actions apply to all situations ranging from wrongful conduct, racial discrimination, sexual harassment, criminal activity and so forth. Taking these actions will assist your attorney in fortifying your case and get you the proper justice you deserve.

1. Preserve all and any evidence you have.

Save any emails, text messages, documents that prove your employers wrongdoing. Make copies of them and place them in a personal folder for your attorney.

2. Don’t communicate or provide evidence to anybody.

Unless you are required by company guidelines to report to HR. it is imperative that all information should be delivered to your attorney. This is key because this creates attorney-client communication privileges and no one will ever find out what was because your lawyer is legally there to protect you.

3. Get a copy of your personnel file.

All employers in Massachusetts are legally obligated to provide that personnel file within 5 days. Not doing so is a violation of the Attorney General’s regulations and that misconduct by your employer can be reported.

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Massachusetts has one of the best wage and commission laws in the country. These laws are enforced by the Attorney General’s office and are designed to protect your rights as an employee. If you have worked for a company that owes you wages and/or commissions and that employer doesn’t pay you wages or commissions in the time period that you are required to be paid. Then you can file a claim against the employer alleging that they violated these wage and commission laws.

Why is that so important?

There are many employers that will fire an employee and will not pay them their final paycheck. Conversely, they will pay them late, make excuses like they don’t have the money; or they will attest that you are not entitled to those wages or earned those commissions because you didn’t finish the job and so forth.

The bottom line is that you as an employee or former employee have the absolute right to talk to lawyer and report the information directly to the Attorney General’s office for this type of misconduct.

If you can prove your claim and your employer did violate that claim, you just do not only get your wages that is owed, you get 3 times the original total of wages that were due. Lastly, they have to pay your attorney’s fees and all costs associated with the litigation.

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Concerned About Your Loved Ones Living in Nursing Homes?

 

We live in scary times, with rules and guidelines concerning the coronavirus pandemic changing practically every day. This is especially true for nursing homes, where there’s a greater risk of complications for residents who get COVID-19. Because older people are more vulnerable to this disease, and because many circumstances make nursing homes potential breeding grounds for viral infections, nursing homes have had to limit visitors and isolate their residents.

If you have loved ones living in a nursing home, you may be experiencing a lot of concern and anxiety for their well-being. This can be more upsetting if you’re unable to see them in any way due to travel limitations or bans on visitors. You may not know how you can support your loved one in a nursing home or what rights they have. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you navigate the rights you and your loved ones have during this time of COVID-19.

Residents’ Rights in Long-Term Care Facilities

Your loved one has certain rights as a resident of a long-term care facility. These include, but are not limited to, receiving proper medical care; being free from neglect, abuse, and discrimination; participating in activities; having a family member, legal representative, or doctor informed of changes in treatment or condition; being treated with respect and dignity; the ability to make complaints without fear of repercussions; and having family and friends visit and participate in care.

Your state may also dictate more rights beyond what the CMS protects on the federal level. Even though your loved one has a right to visitation, this is being temporarily restricted for the greater well-being of all residents and staff in these facilities.

Visitation Rights for Nursing Homes

As of the writing of this article, just over 30 states and Washington DC are allowing visitors at nursing homes with strict rules to protect everyone inside, including face coverings, sanitizing, and social distancing.

Ultimately, local and state authorities are responsible for how and when visitation can resume. Some states are requiring or recommending that nursing home visits take place outside, where the risk of spreading the coronavirus is considerably lower.

In the 20 or so states that do not allow nursing home visits yet, the long-term care facilities are still in lockdown, with only essential staff and vendors allowed inside. Some are making exceptions for “end-of-life” visits, also known as “compassionate care situations,” in which immediate family members can visit a resident who is close to death.

You can check AARP’s guide on nursing home visitation in the US to see whether your state allows visitation.

Transparency Requirements for Nursing Homes About COVID-19

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires nursing homes to tell residents and their families (or representatives) of a positive coronavirus case on-site within 12 hours of its confirmation. They are also required to report any cases to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Not every state is making the names of nursing homes with confirmed cases public.

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Depositions and Mediations in Personal Injury Cases — James Swartz

 

New clients are often curious about what type of involvement will be asked of them when pursuing a case. Aside from providing accurate details, evidence and open communication with their attorneys; there are also depositions and mediations, both of which are key parts of a personal injury case.

Deposition

Depositions typically happen early on in case either in a room or via zoom. You as the plaintiff would have your attorney attend the deposition with you, the defense attorney will be asking questions and also a stenographer who is there to document the deposition in writing. Depositions are usually sworn testimony and the transcript that is formed from the deposition now becomes part of the evidence for the case.

The defense attorney has a couple of things that s/he is trying to achieve when executing a deposition. They will work to unearth facts that they may not have known about yourself and the case itself. Another thing that they work to do is try to get a liability record, which may mean getting an admission of how the accident or other unique details that they feel may assist their client. An important tip that we  always advise our clients is to listen carefully and only answer the question that is asked.

For example, a defense attorney may ask you, ‘Do you know what  time it is?’;  the correct answer is ‘Yes’ not ‘Yes, it’s 3:47pm’. Leave it to the defense to ask a follow up question after you answer ‘Yes’, they may ask you, ‘Well, what time is it?’, then you may proceed to answer with actual time.

That is just a small example of what the deposition process looks like. However, this does not mean that you are hiding anything, it just means that the opposition’s attorney has a job to do to get the answers they need for their client.

Mediation

Mediations are a very different event, they are not binding, there is no arbitrator involved and there is no judge involved. They usually occur further along in the litigation process after depositions have been made, after there has been written discovery, after medical records have been produced and shared. So essentially, each side has all the information they need to really assess the true liability and value of the claim.

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Secrets Insurance Companies Don’t Want You to Know When You Have a Personal Injury Case — James Swartz

When injuries happen, corporations work hard with insurance companies to minimize the financial obligations of the event due to their negligence. They bombard victims with calls, legal jargon and a lack of urgency in the hopes to tire victims out and make them settle. There are a few secrets they don’t want you to know especially when you have been a victim of personal injury; it can be from a car accident, slip & fall, defective product, construction site accident and more. James Swartz discusses briefly a few things to look out for when you hear from these insurance companies and corporations.

1. Don’t Accept the First Offer.

Initial Communications and offers by insurance companies are almost always lowball numbers. That “offer” may be a financial number that you have never seen before, can look very appealing and its done with the hopes of you not pursuing the case any further. Nevertheless, you still have to consider the lifetime effects that the claim will have on you such as medical costs, personal care, emotional distress, day to day life costs especially if you are unable to work and so forth.

2. Insurance Companies Only Care About Themselves.

The only real interest of an insurance company is their own bottomline. So when you’re dealing with an adjuster that seems friendly and appears to be on your side, don’t buy it! They only care about keeping as much money as possible in their pockets, despite your obvious needs and expenditures from your case.

3. Be Knowledgeable of All Deadlines.

There are important deadlines that have to be met in any claim that is going to be pursued. For example, there are certain notice requirements that have to be provided to the defendant within a 2 year period. There are certain statute of limitations that have to be met for certain personal injury cases within 3 years. Missing any of these deadlines can have a devastating effect on the potential success of your case or you won’t be able to pursue your case at all.

In addition to your substantive rights within a personal injury case i.e; what happened in the accident, what your injuries are and so forth, you have procedural issues that must be addressed in any personal injury case.

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8 Things to Know About Your Employment Rights During the Pandemic

The world has changed a lot this year, and the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented circumstances that have left many businesses reeling. Right now, many people are returning to work or looking for work, and they are facing a lot of new rules and guidelines from their employers.

If you’re working during the pandemic, you’re likely worried about exposure to COVID - 19 and wondering about your rights when it comes to pandemic procedures. What can your employer require? What can’t they? We’re here to give you 8 things you need to know about working during the 2020 global pandemic.

1. Your company can require you to return to the office, but you may have options

If you’ve been working from home while your business offices were closed, you may be called to return to the workplace when they reopen. Employees generally have few legal rights when it comes to refusing to go to work if they want to keep their jobs. Even if you consider the workplace to be hazardous to your health, your employer has the right to fire you for not showing up.

In certain circumstances, though, you could be exempt from going to work. These circumstances include certain health conditions or being immunocompromised, which make you more susceptible to severe illness and possible death from COVID-19. If that’s the case, you could be entitled to continue working remotely under the ADA, which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for their workers.

You could also qualify for paid sick or family medical leave under the Families First stimulus legislation, which was passed explicitly for the 2020 pandemic.

2. Your company can require you to get tested for COVID-19 before returning to work

The EEOC has determined that coronavirus testing is a necessary measure to track and prevent the spread of this illness in the workplace. If your employer feels the same way, they can require workers to take a test to check for active COVID-19 cases.

They cannot, however, require you to take a coronavirus antibody test, which shows whether you have had and fought the virus in your immune system in the past. The EEOC ruled that requiring antibody tests is a violation of the ADA’s protection against medical examinations that are unrelated to your job or unnecessary for business practices.

3. Your employer has the right to ask you to disclose locations you’ve visited

The CDC has advised that all people traveling to COVID-19 hot spots should self-isolate for at least a few days (sometimes up to two weeks) upon returning. This means your employer can ask where you went on a personal trip to determine if it’s safe for you to be at work. Some state guidelines may also require your employer to enforce quarantine guidelines for workers who recently traveled in high-risk areas or outside the country.

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Getting Help From a Massachusetts Lawyer in a Wrongful Death Claim

Wrongful death refers to a lawsuit which alleges that the victim was killed as a consequence of negligence or misdeed of another. Usually, wrongful death occurs as a result of personal injury accidents, medical malpractice, auto accidents, workplace accidents, dangerous or defective products,and other accidents. When the proximate cause of the wrongful death of the decedent roots from reckless, careless or negligent acts of another, his actions are often subject to personal injury and/or wrongful death suits. A Massachusetts lawyer at Swartz & Swartz, P.C. will ensure that your family’s rights are protected if you have lost a loved one due to the negligence of others. If your family has experienced such a tragedy, please contact us.

Employment Rights Lawyer - Protect Your Employee Rights Today

If you have experienced discrimination, sexual harassment or another type of employment law matter, it is important to protect your rights by seeking the assistance of a skilled employment law attorney.Hiring an employment litigation lawyer to help you to get through a legal problem can save you time and frustration. Get the legal support you need now to prevent troubles in the future.To learn more about what we can do for you, arrange an appointment with one of the employment litigation attorneys in our Boston office by calling (617) 742-1900, or toll-free at 1-800-545-3732.