A recent situation at the Baltimore Washington International (BWI) airport highlights the problems faced by developmentally disabled individuals and their families when seeking accommodations for air travel. A 53 year old, developmentally disabled woman who cannot read, write, or use a phone was left to wander around the terminal after landing at BWI while the…
Continue readingWhen an airline employee is injured, the insurance company or their defense lawyer will want to see medical and other records — not only from the date of the accident, but records going back many years. Why ? Dulles Airport area injury lawyer Doug Landau was in court this week on just such a case.…
Continue readingDuring test runs of the Canadian firm Bombardier Inc.’s CSeries aircraft in May of this year, a sudden loss of power and engine failure prompted the aircraft maker to suspend testing. The engine was disassembled for an in-depth review by its maker, Pratt & Whitney, and Bombardier hopes to get back on schedule soon with…
Continue readingIn airline-related on-the-job accidents, sometimes the cure can be worse than the injury itself. In cases of spinal injury, chiropractic manipulation can sometimes worsen the injury. In an extreme example, a patient can suffer a stroke while receiving treatment via cervical manipulation. Although stroke is a known risk of cervical manipulation, statistically the chances of…
Continue readingWith heightened security requirements of air travel, airline and airport employees — not to mention travelers — often must produce a copy of their birth certificate when applying for job, seeking access to “sterile areas,” or travel clearance. “While hanging on the “monkey bars” on the Dulles Airport midfield people mover busses is fun*; waiting…
Continue readingIn 2012, a partially paralyzed airline passenger was forced to crawl on and off his flights when traveling on Delta Air Lines between his home in Hawaii and Nantucket, Massachusetts. The rights of disabled passengers are protected by the Airline Carrier Access Act (ACAA). The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Hawaii earlier this…
Continue readingDisabled airline passengers are protected by the provisions of the Airline Carrier Access Act (ACAA). Enacted in 1986, the ACAA “provides that no airline carrier may discriminate against any otherwise qualified individual with a disability, by reason of such disability, in the provision of air transportation”. (Source: U.S. Department of Transportation implementing regulations, 14 CFR…
Continue readingDuty of care is a legal term referring to the obligation to comply with a certain standard of conduct to protect someone from unreasonable risk of harm. In a personal injury or negligence case, you must be able to prove the person (or entity) that did the injuring — the defendant — had a duty…
Continue readingThe “golden rule” — treat others as you yourself want to be treated — is not allowed in a damages trial in court. The golden rule argument would have jurors considering, for example, how much the loss of the use of an arm would mean to them. Virtually all courts have considered such arguments to…
Continue readingFinancial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 of its 1000 employees when a plane hit the World Trade Center in the September 11 terrorist attacks, destroying the company’s offices. The firm filed a lawsuit seeking $1 billion in damages from American Airlines, on the grounds the airline was negligent by failing to detect the hijackers,…
Continue reading