The easy answer is “no.” You are not covered by workers’ compensation insurance if you have not yet reported for work. However, Virginia workers’ compensation lawyer Doug Landau says that there are exceptions to this rule. For example, under what is known as the “personal comfort doctrine,” the employee may clock out of work and…
Unlike cars, trucks, vans and other vehicles we see on the highways, many of the vehicles on or around the runways of our major international airports do not have the safety features we take for granted. For example, the small, metal Cushman industrial carts that maintenance workers use around Dulles International Airport (IAD) and Reagan…
“Not if you are struck by a co-worker operating a luggage tug or tripped by another member of the flight crew. The Virginia Workers Compensation Act does not allow lawsuits between co-workers for accidental injuries,” notes experienced comp attorney Doug Landau of the Herndon law firm ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd. “However, if the person causing the…
You would think that airport workers and airline employees who drive vans, cards and other vehicles around the busy gates, runways and the Air Operations Areas (AOA) would require special licensure. However, there is not class X, Y or Z license for airport drivers. Yes, all airline personnel on the AOA are subject to random…
With the increase in the number of flights, terminals, and international routes out of Dulles International Airport (“IAD”), there comes increased vehicle traffic, foot traffic, and aircraft traffic on the runways and around the gates of the Washington DC area airports. Airport workers must be extra careful when working on the “Air Operations Area,” the…
When Doug Landau takes the podium on the national program to teach other top trial lawyers about the special rules and regulations at airport runways, he will start by defining what is meant by the “AOA.” According to the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) the Air Operations Area (AOA) “consists of airport areas where aircraft can…
The trial team at Abrams Landau, Ltd. was contacted by an out-of-state lawyer earlier this month for assistance in a case in which a traveler was struck by a rental car company employee on the airport premises. Herndon injury lawyer Doug Landau explained to his colleague that an open and shut airport accident case has…
Just weeks after Doug Landau warned of the dangers of “Rogue Drones” and gave a presentation on “Drone Law” at the convention of American Trial Lawyers, a suspected drone struck a British Airways airliner. The international jet was beginning its landing at Heathrow Airport when it was hit. The aircraft’s pilot reported to police that the…
Airline ground crew and airport personnel are vulnerable on the air operations area (“AOA”) because of the numerous vehicles that are maneuvering — sometimes in very tight spaces. In addition, most of these workers are wearing ear protection which limits their ability to hear danger coming from behind. With jet engines running, it is sometimes…
Despite being in a crash that left his vehicle inoperable, Doug Landau plans on going forward with tomorrow’s case in the District of Columbia for a client with severe cardiac impairment. To read more about the accident, in which Landau held onto the steering wheel while flying upside down, and to see pictures of the…