Category: Award - Nair Law LLC

Fire-Breather Accident Sparks OSHA Investigation

2/5/2013

The Chicago Tribune report on a fire-breathing actor who was injured during his routine provides a model lesson for employers on worker safety and potential administrative action for failing to adhere to OSHA regulations for employee safety.

Here, the employee was an actor who happened to very publicly injure himself when his face and throat caught on fire while attempting a fire breathing routine.

The media firestorm, however, quickly engulfed reality and blew the matter out of proportion. It was so widely reported that an OSHA investigator reportedly showed up at the Civic Opera House to speak to officials and investigate their compliance with OSHA regulations.

City Attempts to Limit Precedent in Bartender Beating Case

12/4/2012

After refusing to consider settlement in the case against an off-duty Chicago Police Officer who loudly used his office when threatening and eventually savagely beating Karolina Obrycka, a female bartender, the City is now willing to pay damages in exchange for limiting some very damaging precedent against the City, especially regarding tortious acts committed by its police officers.

City of Chicago Found Liable for $350k+75Cents

12/3/2012

Two Chicago police officers who arrested a man filling up his tires at a gas station air pump were found liable for violating that man's civil rights by wrongfully arresting him. The facts speak for themselves, but it must be noted that the Chicago Tribune observes that the City's Corporate Counsel failed to settle this case despite some very unsettling facts, including the fact the Chicago police officers changed their story regarding the Plaintiff and they both failed to appear at the aggravated battery hearing for the Plaintiff.

"Price is Right" Model Awarded Over $8M in Gender Discrimination Damages

12/2/2012

TMZ, courtesy of CNN, reports that a former Price is Right model has been awarded an $8.4M verdict for gender discrimination at her workplace. The award includes over $700,000 in compensatory damages and $7.7M in punitive damages. The model alleged in a 2010 complaint that the producers of the show

$2M Wine Negligence CLaim Filed by Insurer in Subrogation Action

11/28/2012

Stepping in the shoes of their injured insured, Great Northern Insurance Co. filed suit against Cellar Advisors, a wine moving company hired to move a portion of a wealthy family's wine collection from Illinois to Florida in climate controlled containers. The Chicago Tribune notes that:

In June 2012, D. Gideon Searle hired St. Louis-based Cellar to transport the couple's wine collection, held in a Des Plaines warehouse, in refrigerated carriers to a Naples, Fla., wine cellar. The wine to be transported was valued at $2 million.

$64M verdict for iron worker fall

11/16/2012

A Cook County jury awarded an iron worker, who fell at a jobsite and was left paralyzed and in need of 24 hour care for the rest of his life, $64 million in total damages. The company responsible is planning an appeal but the case is a lesson to both workers and construction companies in compliance with workplace safety procedures and policies. OSHA compliance is critical for the long term survival of both workers and companies.

Nanny cam exposes abuse, parents sue to recover damages

10/23/2012

No loving parent can stand by without acting when their child is harmed. No parent should have to tolerate that. When parents hire caregivers for their children, parents, or themselves, that caregiver is entrusted with a near sacred duty to preserve the health, dignity, and vitality of a loved one. When that duty is breached, the harm can be tremendous in both physical pain, but also emotional turmoil.

POPCORN LUNG PLAINTIFF WINS $7.2M JUDGMENT IN PRODUCT LIABILITY SUIT

9/27/2012

The Chicago Tribune reports that a Colorado resident has won a $7.2 million judgment against a Central Illinois microwavable popcorn manufacturer and distributors of the product. This product liability action resembles the litigation over mesothelioma due to asbestos from the 1960s and on. In this case, the chemical in the fake butter in microwavable popcorn has led to a serious lung issue in one user who consumed massive quantities of the product.

STUDENT AWARDED $4.5M IN DISTRESS LAWSUIT

8/17/2012

A jury awarded a University of Michigan student $4.5 million based on the actions of a former Michigan assistant attorney general who wrote negatively about the student on his personal blog.

You know the old saying, an attorney who represents himself has a fool for a client. Well, the foolish former assistant attorney general represented himself and stubbornly went down with his own ship. Relying entirely on a First Amendment defense, he refused to accept a settlement offer to apologize and retract his comments that the student used alcohol to entire minors to have sex with him.

NOTHING TO ROAR ABOUT

8/16/2012

Local auto magnate Bob Rohrman filed an Alienation of Affection lawsuit against a plastic surgeon who was having an affair with his then wife, Rhonda. Rohrman, known for his signature advertisements, decided to seek an alienation of affections lawsuit against the amorously inclined surgeon in order to recover for expenses he spent while investigating his wife’s actions.

Few Chicago litigation attorneys are aware that Illinois is one of eight states that allows for Alienation of Affection lawsuits. Alienation of Affections lawsuits are rare and they are difficult to establish because it is comprised of many elements and the defense has many avenues to challenge each element and the overall claim. However, a plaintiff does not need to establish tawdry details such as proof or extramarital sex to establish a claim.