“Completion and Acceptance” Doctrine Nullified

In common law, there is a principle known as “completion and acceptance” doctrine. Under this principle, a design professional or contractor will not be held liable for defective work or faulty design once the project is turned over to a third party.

This was the argument that governed the decision of the Washington State Supreme Court to reverse the decision of the King County Superior Court’s decision to dismiss the wrongful death and negligence claim of Alan Davis, a Du Pont worker who was buried in several layers of pipes after inspecting a leak. He was instantly killed in the incident.

The decision of the Washington State Supreme Court to overturn the previous ruling is commendable. First, good customer service requires responsibility. Turning over haphazard work or defective products is a sign of irresponsibility and should not be tolerated.

The argument of Baugh Industrial Contractors, Inc. that they are covered by the “completion and acceptance” rule is s simple scapegoat to their obvious negligence and irresponsibility. The situation is a clear indication of general negligence.

By favoring Restatement of Torts Sec. 385 and joining 37 other states in abandoning this “inhumane” principle, the family of Alan Davis would be entitled to receive damages from the accident.

Tolerating negligence is not good for the legal system. It will only teach our contractors and product manufacturers to be irresponsible and use the “completion and acceptance” doctrine to get away from any liability. Davis was wrongfully killed while performing his duty so it is just right to give his heir the compensation that they truly deserve.

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Wrongful Death Claims: Compensation For The Surviving Family

Can you imagine the anguish and the pain of the family of an individual who was wrongfully killed in a traffic altercation? The pain would be great especially if the victim is the breadwinner of the family.

Sadly, this is the harsh reality that wrongful death claimants would have to accept. This kind of claim is extraordinary in a sense that it is the surviving relatives of the victim In a normal lawsuit, the injured person is the one who files the claim with the help of their attorney. Of course, in a wrongful death, it is impossible for the victim to sue the defendant for damages. However, the family of the deceased is not entitled to receive damages instead what they are entitled to is some form of compensation.

A wrongful death claim has four aspects namely:

1. the death was due to the action of the defendant,
2. there was negligence on the part of the defendant, which led to the death of the victim,
3. there is a surviving spouse, children, and other beneficiaries, and
4. monetary damages have resulted from the victim’s death.

The case of the young schoolboy who died because of a trash compactor system is just one of the many incidents of wrongful death. We are all responsible for our actions. If our behavior leads to the demise of another individual, then we could be held liable for whatever happens.

This is a valuable lesson in life that we must learn so that it would not happen to us.

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Damages Irrecoverable in Brain Injury Claims

Brain injury, whether caused by the natural bodily functions or accidents, steals freedom from all it touches.

Incapacitating injury like this will cause you your life. In fact, it is better not to have lived at all than to be succumbed in this kind of injury. Do you know why? It is because after the pain has subsided your life will never be the same again. It is as if you are starting from scratch.

To give you a glimpse, and try to imagine, of what it likes and how it feels, here are some common effects of brain injury:

1. Memory problems
2. Poor concentration
3. Slowed responses
4. Lack of initiative or flexibility
5. Poor planning and problem-solving

Hard to imagine but it can happen to you. Your once active and promising life may just be far from your grasp in a second. That is why those who have caused it must be held liable. They must pay!

I must stress that no amount of money can ever bring back your life in its proper perspective. What I am trying to say is that, at least, the monetary compensation due you may be used for your daily sustenance or for starting over your life.

The amount of damages from brain injury claims are the least of the victim’s concern. The feeling of continual struggle to try to cope with the day-to-day complexities of the world cannot be alleviated by it.

How frustrating can it get when you can do things physically but your mind tells you otherwise!

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Partial Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Partial Injury

Workers’ compensation is designed to award financial recovery for workers who get injured or harmed from their jobs. This is based on the principle of strict liability; therefore, an employer is obliged to pay for the damages his/her employee has sustained. He/she will be held legally responsible no matter of who was at fault.

But what if an on-the-job accident caused damages to a plastic surgery, such as breast implants? This was the case – and predicament – of a worker who was injured on a work-related car accident. Read more about this on “Asymmetry in Workers Comp” .

Her workers compensation claim was not entirely successful. Full compensation for her damaged breast implants was not awarded to her because her insurer contested that only one implant was damaged from the accident. The insurance company declined to pay for the replacement of her breast implants.

In accordance with the workers’ compensation rules which state that the injuries should be a result of an accident on the workplace, the court denied her claim on being fully-compensated for her breast surgery since the damage on the other half was from another cause.

Workers’ compensation benefits are defined by statutes. Hence, there are guidelines to follow in assessing a claim. As with the case of the worker discussed above, I agree that the insurers should not be responsible in covering for the entire costs of her breast surgery since there was only partial injury that was caused by her work-related car accident.

Workers’ compensation benefits in California are administered by the employers’ insurance companies or the employers themselves, who can afford workers’ compensation to their employees, and not by a government agency.

Thus, it is also their duty to determine whether the injury was sustained from the work or not. Prior to accepting a claim or providing provisional liability compensation, insurers require certain facts. An investigation shall be conducted on the claim. The worker, employer and the treating doctor will be asked to give their statements.

Disputes may arise out of a contention on whether the injury was indeed caused on-the-job or not; or an argument on the payment the worker is entitled to. When a dispute arises out of a worker’s compensation claim in California, the Division of Worker’s Compensation (DWC) comes in to help resolve the dispute.

On the other hand, a legal advocate may also assist individuals in earning their workers’ compensation claims. If a conflict regarding a claim arises, a lawyer may help prove the extent of damage the worker is entitled to.

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Wrongful Death Claim in a Mysterious Death

Different speculations regarding the mysterious death of a New Jersey college student continue to grow as the family of the victim has filed wrongful death lawsuit against the school, the state and the operator of the school’s trash compactor.

The article, “Family of Student File Wrongful Death Lawsuit against College”, posted in March 6, 2008, reports about the disappearance of the 19-year old college student whose remains were later found in a landfill almost a month later. The young student was believed to have been killed in an accident caused by the trash compactor system.

According to the article, the victim’s parents later sued the college for its alleged failure to protect their son. To make things worse, the complaint also said that the school administration delayed the investigation into the disappearance and refuse assistance from state authorities.

Until now, authorities are still baffled at the circumstances surrounding the young man’s death. They are still trying to figure out how the victim died and ended up in the landfill.

But judging on the situation, the parents held the school responsible for their son’s death, as under the premise liability the school is highly accountable for the safety of a student who is within their care and protection during the period of schooling. The boy was last seen alive sleeping in the dorm’s room, a few days before the accident.

In regard to the liability of the state and the operator of the trash compactor system, authorities may look into possible negligence and improper maintenance of the machine as possible causes of the accident that led to the victim’s death.

If proven right, the relatives of the victim are entitled to recover damages based on their wrongful death claims.

Wrongful death laws recognize that certain people or victim’s relatives suffer their own economic and non-economic losses due to the wrongful death of persons close to them. Hence juries may award them compensation based on these losses.

As economic losses, they entitled to receive the following:

• the financial support that the wrongful death victim would have contributed to the heir during either the life expectancy of the victim or the heir, whichever is shorter
• the loss of benefits that the heir would have expected to receive from the victims
• the reasonable value of the household services that the wrongful death victim would have provided to the heir
• funeral and burial expenses

Non-economic losses include:

• the loss of the victim's love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, and society
• the loss of the training and guidance of the victim, if applicable
• the loss of the enjoyment of sexual relations, if applicable

No matter what happens to this case, may this accident serve as a lesson so that it may not happen again in the future.

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