While typically, people can be held liable for causing bodily harm to another individual, when the person who causes an injury is employed by a public employer, such as a city, recovering damages can be complicated. Specifically, the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act (MTCA) protects public corporations from liability in many…
It is not uncommon for people to allow other individuals to drive their cars. For example, people typically allow their spouses to operate their vehicles. If the spouse then causes an accident, the spouse and the owner could potentially be deemed liable for any harm that ensues. As shown in…
Many people who cannot work are able to obtain social security benefits. A key element to eligibility for such benefits is a disability that prevents a person from being able to remain gainfully employed. Thus, people that cannot prove they are disabled will be denied benefits. Recently, a Massachusetts court…
In its report dated November 4, 2020, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded an estimated 2.8 million non-fatal workplace injuries and illnesses in 2019 in the private industry sector. These estimates are from the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). Manufacturing accounted for 15% of all private…
In Massachusetts, a person that suffers harm due to someone else’s negligence can pursue damages from the negligent party in a civil lawsuit. Additionally, if the negligent party was working on behalf of another individual or entity, the company that employed the negligent party may be held liable as well.…
Physicians owe a duty of care to their patients, which includes the duty to provide the patient with the information needed to make intelligent and informed decisions regarding potential treatment, and a doctor that violates this duty can be held liable for medical malpractice. When the patient is a child,…
In Massachusetts, landlords generally owe a duty of care to their tenants to maintain their rental property in a reasonably safe condition, which includes ensuring that snow and ice are cleared from any common area. If a landlord fails to properly clear snow and ice from a property, and a…
Typically, a plaintiff in a Massachusetts medical malpractice lawsuit will assert a negligence claim against the defendant, but in cases in which the defendants’ acts were especially egregious, the defendant may not only be held liable for negligence, but also for gross negligence. In a recent Massachusetts case in which…
Many claims against national corporations are filed in or removed to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction. For a federal court to exercise jurisdiction over a case, though, there must be complete diversity between the plaintiff and all named defendants. Thus, in some instances, a defendant will allege that a…
In Massachusetts, if an employee suffers an injury in the workplace, the employee is typically limited to pursuing a workers’ compensation claim to recover compensation for his or her harm. If the person that suffers an injury while working is not an employee, however, he or she may be able…