California Personal Injury & Product Liability Blog

A lawsuit filed in New York in July claims the plaintiff was sexually abused by Monsignor Antoine Attea when he was about 12 years old because of the negligence of St. James Parish in Jamestown, NY. The lawsuit states that the abuse occurred when the plaintiff attended the parish where Attea was a minister. The …

Phone apps based on artificial intelligence can now provide car insurance claim estimates in seconds, reducing the need for policyholder/adjuster interaction at the scene of car accidents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The phone apps aren’t widely used yet in the United States, but “their time is coming,” according to the New York Times. The best …

Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bills on Thursday intended to protect California workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, AB 685 and SB 1159. “Protecting workers is critical to slowing the spread of this virus,” said Newsom. “These two laws will help California workers stay safe at work and get the support they need if they are …

A lawsuit filed in federal court on September 4 claims that a North Carolina patient developed vision loss after receiving the shingles vaccine Zostavax. The patient was inoculated with Zostavax in 2016 and was treated for zoster related vision loss afterwards, according to the lawsuit, which names Merck & Co., Merck Sharp and Dohme Corp. …

A retired priest who has been sued by at least six men over alleged child sex abuse was allowed to participate in a summer music camp for high school students in Minnesota, according to Isaac Henson, who attended the camp as a high school student from 2015 to 2017. “I distinctly remember [him] at morning …

Over 2.8 million intersection accidents occurred in the United States in 2018, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as well as an additional 2.8 million intersection-related accidents. This represented an almost nine percent increase in accidents involving intersections when compared to the previous year. NHTSA data shows that over 47 percent of …

Rev. Ed Reading, a priest of the Diocese of Paterson in Clifton, New Jersey, said he reported Newark Archbishop Theodore McCarrick’s sexual misconduct to his bishop in the 1980’s, who said he’d contact the Vatican’s U.S. representatives. Reading reported the misconduct after seminary students told him they felt pressured into sharing a bed with McCarrick …

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a pair of complaints on August 21 in state and federal court over contamination with firefighting foam containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The lawsuits seek to protect Michigan’s environment and recover costs and damages related to firefighting foam contamination. PFOA and aqueous film forming …

U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Bough for the Western District of Missouri ruled on August 12 that plaintiff insureds can pursue COVID-19 related business income loss claims under standard casualty and property policies. Many U.S. insurers have, so far, taken a firm stance that COVID-19 related losses aren’t covered by property policies because the virus …

AB 1286 passed the California Senate Judiciary Committee on August 18 with a 7-2 vote. The bill would establish safety rules and minimum liability insurance requirements relating to bicycle and

A bill currently going through the California legislature seeks to halt the manufacturing, selling and distributing of firefighting foam containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The bill also seeks to mandate that anyone who sells firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE) containing intentionally added PFAS to provide a written notice to the purchaser stating …

A July appellants’ opening brief claims that Bakersfield priest Monsignor Craig Harrison is engaged “in a pattern of rank intimidation against those who speak against him.” Harrison faces multiple accusations of child sex abuse, and while no criminal charges have been filed against him, he remains suspended from ministry. The brief is part of an …