Recently a report came out about a Memphis man who attacked a coworker by biting off his ear. The assailant was arrested. But the victim still has medical bills to pay and permanent disfigurement to deal with. While the situation is extreme and very rare, it brought up an important question: What options do you have if a coworker injures you on the job? Most of the time, when an injury happens on the job, you need to use the workers’ compensation system to get payment. There are very few exceptions: 1) If a third party is involved – like another driver hits your company truck or a piece of equipment malfunctions – you can often get compensation through that
How Do You Know If You Need a Lawyer After Your Accident? Do you need a car accident lawyer? What if your accident didn’t cause any injuries? In this video, Memphis car accident attorney Darrell Castle discusses when you need a car accident lawyer to help you with your case, and when you don’t. Video Transcript: Sometimes people asked me if they need a car accident lawyer. The answer is yes. If you just have a simple fender bender with no injuries, you don’t really need an attorney to handle that, unless some complication arises. But if you have an injury—especially a serious injury—you need an attorney. Studies show time and again that people receive far higher compensation when they
A two year old and her mother were sent to the hospital in Texas this week after being attacked by a pit bull in their apartment. The mother was dog sitting the pit bull for her boyfriend. All of the sudden, the dog began to attack. It bit the mother as she tried to get it away from her child. When police arrived at the scene, the pit bull had the victims cornered in the bathroom and was still attacking. As the old saying goes, “a dog is a man’s best friend.” There’s truth behind that statement – I enjoy dogs myself. However, a dog owner always needs to be aware of their animal’s aggression, especially if the dog is
A fraternity hazing victim at Francis Marion University was awarded $1.6 million after suffering kidney damage from a brutal paddling during the fraternity’s “Hell Night” initiation. Plaintiffs argued the victim allowed himself to be hazed, however it didn’t hold up, and rightfully so. According to the report, “The lawsuit claimed that the final night of initiation was the culmination of a pattern of hazing that included [Daniel] McElveen (the victim) being forced to eat unidentified foods, being blindfolded and driven off campus, wearing the same dirty clothes each night and being deprived of sleep.” There are plenty of universities and colleges here in Memphis and the surrounding region, many of which have Greek systems. News readers around these parts are
One of the worst things about medical malpractice is you don’t always know if it’s happened until it’s too late. And that’s how the big medical institutions want to keep it. A recent investigative report by Cleveland’s ABC5 reveals most doctors and hospitals keep extensive records of their mistakes — they just don’t show those records to the public. In fact, in many cases they don’t even tell the victim or their families. People who suspect malpractice can ask about it, but hospitals aren’t required to give them any information. Even the government has access to malpractice records, but in order to convince hospitals to share the records with them, federal agencies will agree to keep the information secret. None of this surprises Professor Max Mehlman,
How the SSA Determines Disability Status If you suffer from a disability but you’re still able to do some tasks very well, you may wonder if you’re disabled enough for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). Under SSDI rules, a person must be medically unable to work to qualify. But what does that mean? Social Security Disability Insurance helps cover your expenses in case of a severe injury or disability. In order to receive help, you need to work for a certain amount of time and pay into the system. Then, if you develop a medical condition that leaves you unable to work, SSDI makes up for some of your losses. With that said, it’s still possible to earn income and qualify
Labor Day was created to pay honor to our nation’s workers and the contributions they make every day. But not all of us get a day off on Labor Day. I meet people every day who work two, even three jobs. I meet people who are unemployed and worried, looking for work. I meet people who lose their paychecks every week to wage garnishment. And I meet people who either don’t get scheduled for enough hours or don’t get paid enough to get by. Sometimes it feels like we honor workers in every way but the ones that matter most. So many people are working hard every day, but still can’t make ends meet. After the barbeques and other Labor
What to do when Medical Errors occur By: Darrell Castle We’re all humans, therefore we all make mistakes. However, some mistakes are much more costly, especially when it comes to medical professionals botching a procedure. The room for error is small, if not non-existent, when you’re a doctor, whether it be a surgeon, or one in family practice. Patients trust these professionals to fix them, and if they can’t do that, it’s one thing, but if they make things worse, then it’s another. However, medical malpractice does happen (again, we aren’t perfect), and because of this, doctors carry malpractice insurance. Knowing doctors have this insurance, people shouldn’t feel bad for suing someone who misdiagnosed their condition leading to bad
Police officer brutality can do serious damage By: Darrell Castle I have high respect for police officers and what they do. However, as with any line of profession, there are good cops and there are bad cops. Some cops truly want to keep their citizens safe and fight crime. Some cops just seem to want the authority and take advantage of possessing it, which can turn into carelessness and negligence. Let’s turn to a recent story in Chicago as an example. Allizon Brooks stopped by an Englewood convenience store to innocently buy some ice, but what he didn’t know is that a shooting had just taken place minutes before outside of that very convenience store. “It was real kind of
Hurt in a car accident and your airbag failed to deploy? As car accident attorneys in Memphis, one of the most common complaints we hear is about airbags not deploying. It makes sense: when you have a frontal collision, you expect the airbag to deploy correctly and prevent whiplash or other injury. But airbags don’t always work the way we think they will. It’s important for all of us drivers to understand why. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has specific regulations for airbags. According to the NHTSA, airbags are supposed to deploy in frontal or near-frontal collisions. They typically require hitting a solid barrier at approximately 8-14mph or a parked car at around 28 mph. That means