A new study finds that hundreds of young children in the Washington D.C. area experienced potentially damaging amounts of lead in their blood when lead levels were rising in the city’s tap water. In some neighborhoods, the number of toddlers and infants with blood-lead concentrations that can cause irreversible IQ…
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case of a former Colleyville woman who says that a forced traumatic exorcism left her so physically bruised and emotionally scarred that she later tried to commit suicide. Attorneys for Laura Pearson filed an appeal before the court arguing that the Texas…
Workers who cooperate with their employers’ internal investigations of discrimination may not be fired in retaliation for implicating colleagues or superiors, according to a unanimous Supreme Court ruling. The court voted to reverse the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that the anti-retaliation provision of Title VII of the…
The family of a Wisconsin teenager killed on a 2007 amusement park ride will be paid $1 million in the settlement of their lawsuit against the operators. The girl aged 16, died July 14, 2007, in a fall from a giant swing ride at Lifest 2007 when her safety harness…
An Army investigation called the electrocution death of a U.S. soldier in Iraq a “negligent homicide” caused by military contractor KBR Inc. and two of its supervisors. Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, died as a result of negligent homicide because the contractor failed to ensure that “qualified electricians…
More than 125 products have been recalled in a salmonella-and-peanuts investigation that keeps getting bigger, according to federal health officials. The list ranges from goodies like cookies and ice cream to energy bars. Even food for dogs may not be entirely safe, with a national company recalling some of its…
On Dec. 8, 2008, a jury awarded $873,000 to an insurance adjuster who claimed he was fired for cooperating with an FBI investigation. In 2003, the FBI began investigating fraud allegations made against one of Fred Klecka’s co-workers. Klecka claimed that when his managers learned he was cooperating with the…
The Food and Drug Administration said that salmonella was found in a package of peanut butter sandwich crackers made by Kellogg. Kellogg said that a previously recalled peanut butter-sandwich cracker tested positive for salmonella. The outbreak has led to 474 reported illnesses and may have caused six deaths, according to…
On Dec. 12, 2008, a jury sided with a neurosurgeon accused of failing to perform the appropriate procedure on a patient with spinal injuries. In May 2004, Dr. Walter Loyola performed a two-level fusion on Melinda Lynch’s neck. She had a second fusion in late July, but her problems persisted.…
On Dec. 4, 2008, a jury awarded $49,098 to a mother and two children injured in a rear-end collision in Dallas. In 2004, Silvia Dominguez and her children Teresita and Erick Hernandez were passengers in a vehicle struck from behind by a van driven by Raul Romero and owned by…