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A fatal accident on I-65 near Elizabethtown, Kentucky has killed three people and sent four others to the hospital with injuries. The accident involved a FedEx semi-tractor trailer truck and a SUV. The reports indicate that the semi bumped the rear end of the SUV and sent the SUV out of control, eventually flipping over. The FedEx driver was not injured, but the other people injured and killed were all in the SUV. The three people killed were ejected from the SUV. The SUV’s driver and another adult passenger were taken to University Hospital with injuries and two children were taken to Kosair Children’s Hospital.

The SUV was traveling with a family from Chicago, who was returning from a wedding in Florida. What caused the semi to bump the rear end of the SUV is still being investigated. This is a tragedy for the family involved. This family, including the Estates of the three deceased family members, will be able to make legal claims against FedEx for the injuries and deaths that resulted from this accident. Justice will require that their medical bills be paid, lost wages be reimbursed, compensation be given for their pain & suffering, and in the cases of the deceased family members, Kentucky law will allow for their Estates to recovery the lifetime of lost earning potentials, which will be substantial.
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A Jefferson County Kentucky school bus was rear ended on I-65 northbound near the Watterson Expressway. The accident injured seven children, who were transported to Kosair Children’s Hospital, and the bus driver, who was taken to Norton Hospital Downtown. Sixteen children were on the bus at the time and the nine that were not injured were transported to school on another bus.

This appears to have been a situation of stop and go traffic on the expressway, in which the driver of the semi failed to pay attention to the traffic. This sort of negligence on the part of the semi driver, will result in his, his employer and the semi’s insurance company being responsible for the children’s medical bills and compensation for other injuries the kids suffered. Inattentiveness while driving can result in tragic accidents.
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A crossover accident has occurred on Ky. 52 near the Madison and Estill County boarder. Reports specify that a 1999 Ford Taurus, driven by Roy T. Burgess of Irvine, Kentucky, crossed over the center line in the road and struck an on-coming 1998 Volkswagen, driven by Steven Skaggs of Jeffersonville, Kentucky. The crash killed Burgess, who was 63 years old. Skaggs and his passenger, Jillian Willoughby, suffered injuries and were taken to the hospital.

Additionally injured, after the accident, was a Kentucky State Police Officer who was taking pictures of the scene of the crash. He was struck by another emergency vehicle and was taken to the hospital also.

This is a case where Skaggs and Willoughby will have injury claims against the Estate of Burgess and his insurance company for the injuries Burgess caused after crossing into the lane of on-coming traffic. They will be able to make claims for lost wages, medical bills, and pain & suffering, related to the car crash. Additionally, the Police officer, who was subsequently injured will have injury claims against the driver of the vehicle that hit him.
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895905_building_on_fire.jpg An unattended cigarette has caused a fire in an apartment in Louisville, Kentucky in the Butchertown area. Other apartments suffered damages as a result of the fire. Luckily no one was injured in the blaze, which occurred on Mellwood Avenue. Tow adults and two children were able to escape the residence before firefighters arrived. The fire occurred around 11:00 p.m. and smoke detectors alerted the residents of the fire.

Apartment fires can be costly, due to fire and smoke damage, coupled with water damage from attempts to put out the fire. Many times families loose everything they own to these types of fires. Additionally lose of life can occur. Families living in apartments should have insurance to cover these types of events. Renters Insurance can be very cheap and afford a lot of coverage and protection.
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Thumbnail image for 1038828_u_s__supreme_court_2.jpg Two lawsuits have been recently filed in Oldham County Kentucky Circuit Court. One is against the former Mayor of LaGrange, Kentucky alleging that the Mayor either removed or caused to be removed, records belonging to the city and pertaining to the city’s business. The second lawsuit alleges that the City of LaGrange improperly sold a home it owned, which was assessed at $85,000.00, to a man for only $14,711.00. Both cases involve active of the former Mayor of the City.

Case which allege or involve potential abuses by government officials can be reported by government employees to proper authorities without the threat of retaliation, even if the allegations prove that no wrong doing existed. Such government employees are protected when making these reports by the Kentucky Whistleblower laws. These laws are designed to encourage people to report suspected abuses or illegal activities which involve government.
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655548_school_bus_red_light.jpgA Kentucky JCPS school bus driver has resigned after he was found in a park with a student who was also a passenger on his bus. Police found the male bus driver and the teenage girl in the park together over the weekend. The school bus driver was immediately suspended by the school system upon learning of the events, and then he subsequently resigned. It is alleged that the school bus drive had ton other occasion taken the girl to movies and out to eat.

This, at a minimum, is clearly a case of inappropriate activity with a person under the age of 18 by an adult in a position of authority. Further facts may point to this being much worse, as sexual activity may have occurred. This author and attorney believes that case like this are predatory in nature and cause much concern over the activity of these types of adults around children.
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949267_pedestrian_crossing_sign.jpgTwo Louisville, Kentucky residents were killed while trying to cross the street, after being struck by cars. Initial reports are that both incidents, which occurred separately and at different times of the day, involve the pedestrian not having the right-a-way to cross the roads. Initial reviews of these accidents would appear that fault for the accident is on the pedestrians. However, Kentucky is a comparative fault state and thus, the families of those killed in pedestrian accident should have the circumstances of such accidents fully examined by a lawyer.

Under Kentucky’s comparative, even if as person bears the majority of fault for an accident or death, the other party can still recover the percentage that they were not at fault for in the accident. In theory, under Kentucky comparative fault, even if a person were 99% at fault for an accident or death, they could still recovery 1% of the damages they have suffered from the accident. In cases where a person is killed, these are referred to as wrongful death claims, and the monetary damages can be substantial. In cases where the damages are large, percentage of fault is usually a factor and certainly not a deterrent to seeking some form of justice and compensation for the loss of life.
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On Friday, SR 37 was shut down on the south side of Indianapolis due to a motor vehicle accident. The accident occurred near the Banta Road intersection during the early morning hours.

It has been reported that the accident was caused by a wrong-way driver. The accident involved a Toyota Corolla going southbound in a northbound lane which then caused a head-on collision with a Honda traveling the proper direction.

The 24 year old driver of the Honda was taken to Wishard Hospital to be treated for injures from the accident. The driver of the Toyota, Trent Schmidt, died at the scene of the accident.

It is yet to be determined if alcohol played a role in this fatal crash. It occurred at 4:00 a.m. and involved a driver going the wrong way down the road. No matter what contributed to the accident, this is clearly a case of fault on the part of the wrong-way driver. The injured 24 year old Honda driver will be able to recover his expenses from this accident, which will include lost wages, medical bill, and compensation for pain & suffering.

In cases like this where one party is so grossly negligent to drive the wrong direction on a road, it is important to look at where the negligent driver was coming from and what had he been doing prior to the accident. Questions arise whether some other party may also bear some fault in this accident, such as a bar that over served alcohol to the negligent driver.
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The Kentucky Legislature is presently considering advancing legislation that would create new whistleblower style cases and legal claims. Both the State Senate and State House have their versions of how to address these types of claims. Both legislative bodies are proposing triple damages for various state government fraud claims. The Senate’s version allows for triple damages and fees to the private citizens, who brings the action in cases involving Medicaid frauds. The House’s version allows for triple damages and fees to private citizens, who bring these type cases for any type of fraud upon the government.

The way this would work, is in these types of cases, when a private citizen knows of a fraud against the government and government money payments, the private citizen can file a fraud suit on behalf of the State. The Kentucky Attorney General then has a right to intervene and take over the case. If the Kentucky Attorney General does take over the case, and recovers money then the person who filed the suit will be paid 15% of the judgment. If the Kentucky Attorney General does not take over the case, then the private citizen and his/her lawyer prosecute the case, and the private citizen is paid a fee of 30% of the recovered amount. Both legislative bodies’ versions of the law would allow for a triple recovery of damages, which means that whatever was determined to have been defrauded will be multiplied by 3 to determine how much is owed back to the State. This could equivocate to big money rewards for the State and for the private citizen who files the suit.
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Former Junction City Police Chief Jimmy Gipson has filed a Kentucky whistleblower lawsuit alleges he was fired by Mayor Jim Douglas in retaliation for calling another police agency after the mayor appeared to be drinking on the job. Gipson is seeking reinstatement to his former job, backpay and an unspecified amount of punitive damages for sullying his reputation. Junction City is also named as a defendant. It is alleged that Douglas fired Gipson, longtime police and fire chief in Junction City, on Dec. 29, 2011 without a public explanation. On Dec. 30, Gipson received an official letter signed by the mayor stating he was terminated for “insubordination and continual disregard for city policies.” The lawsuit alleges that Gipson was working inside the city firehouse Dec. 29 when Douglas drove up in a city vehicle and began to yell and act belligerently. Smelling alcohol on the mayor, Gipson called the Boyle County Sheriff’s Office, which passed the matter on to Kentucky State Police.

The Kentucky lawsuit claims that state police arrived and performed a portable Breathalyzer test on the Mayor and found his blood-alcohol content was .04. A person in Kentucky is guilty of a DUI if they operate a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent or higher. The suit further alleges that immediately after the incident, Gipson was called in to City Clerk Susan Music’s office and told to sign a resignation later and turn in his police gear. When Gipson refused, Douglas entered the office and fired him on the spot.

This is a classic case example of a Whistleblower lawsuit. The Kentucky Whistleblower statute is KRS 61.100 et seq. and requires that suit be filed within 90 days of the retaliatory action occurring. In cases like this, the Plaintiff is required to prove:
(1) that he was a government employee (as here a police officer);
(2) that he made a good faith report of a suspect legal violation to the proper authorities (as here he suspected drinking and driving, and reported it to law enforcement); and (3) that the report was a contributing and material factor in the decision made against him (the proximity in time between the report and the action taken against him, as is here the same day, will support such a finding).
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