Since the late 1990′s, a growing number of corporations have insisted that their customers and employees sign mandatory arbitration clauses. Most of these clauses ban individuals from bringing or participating in class actions.  While not all cases should be class actions (by a long shot), there are some cases where the only way people can receive a remedy is through a class action.  In those cases, enforcing class action bans can work enormous injustice on consumers and employees.

Mandatory arbitration clauses are widespread throughout the U.S. economy.  Tens of millions of employees are bound by such clauses in the workplace.  They are widely used by most lenders,most cell phone and land line carriers, nearly all car dealers, computer manufacturers, most on-line businesses, cable TV carriers, nursing homes, and many other sectors of the economy.

Prior to April of 2011, more than a dozen state supreme courts and large number of federal courts had considered challenges to class action bans in arbitration clauses and had held them to be unenforceable in many circumstances.  Several Ohio courts had reached this same conclusion.  In Schwartz v. Alltell Corp., 2006 WL 2243649 (Ohio Ct. App. June 29, 2006), for example, the court struck down an arbitration clause where its ban on class actions would undercut the purposes of the state’s consumer protection law… SEE COMPLETE ARTICLE

Jack Landskroner, President of Public Justice speaks with American Work Force Radio, Dave Johnson. To listen to this PodCast Please follow this link:

http://www.awfradio.com/november12/AWF11-30-12.mp3

In June 2012, Governor John Kasich signed into law yet another provision to further limit consumers’ rights and access to justice in Ohio.  The law reduces the statute of limitations (the time frame in which a legal claim for written breach of a contract or of an agreement can be pursued) from 15 years to 8 years.   The effective date of this new anti-consumer legislation is September 28, 2012.  Claims for breach of oral contract must still be brought within 6 years of the date of the breach.

Moreland Hills resident Jack Landskroner was recently elected president of the Public Justice Foundation, one of the largest public interest law firms in the United States, Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the organization works to secure court access for ordinary people and justice in civil rights and civil liberties, enviornmental  protection, consumers’ rights, food health and safety, and workers’ rights cases… READ MORE

The task was steep: argue damages to the tune of four million dollars for a child-client who was blinded by his doctor’s negligence. Scott and Jamies’ passionate advocacy and reverent activism secured the top two spots in the competition making Case Western Reserve University School of Law victorious and proud. The competition was held at the Justice Center in down-town Cleveland and along with Case Western University of Law Competitors: ….

Public Justice Foundation: Jack Landskroner, managing partner of Landskroner Grieco Merriman LLC in Cleveland, was elected national president of the Public Justice Foundation. The organization works to secure court access for ordinary people and justice in civil rights and civil liberties, environmental protection, consumers’ rights, food health and safety, and workers’ rights cases.

SEE PRESS RELEASE – Plain Dealer

It is well known in the furnace installation industry that gas-fired furnaces like that at issue be properly installed or the combustion dynamics can be upset, resulting in incomplete combustion and the production of abnormally high levels of carbon monoxide, which can be released anywhere there is a perforation or leak in the furnace combustion chamber or flue-gas pathway.

The furnace’s manufacturer, Lennox, issued an installation and service manual to Andreson with specific installation procedures to follow in order to prevent the release of carbon on oxide from the combustion chamber and/or flue-gas pathways. Lennox’s manual warned Anderson that failure to follow the installation procedures could create a carbon monoxide hazard and a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning to residents.

In this instance, Anderson did not properly install the furnace and the combustion dynamics were upset, resulting in the production of high levels of carbon monoxide which were leaked through the combustion chamber and/or flue-gas pathway….

In the weeks following the installation of the furnace, Denise Eustace began to suffer sever headaches, nausea, loss of balance and coordination, fatigue, memory loss, confusion, and twitching of her facial muscles – all on a daily basis…..

On March 31, 2011, Anderson inspected the furnace yet again in order to try once more to resolve the fluctuating gas pressure problem it had found during the March 9 service call, and which it had failed to resolve during the March 29 repair call. During this inspection, Anderson confirmed for a third time that the carbon monoxide level in the furnace flue was still at a dangerously high level.  Anderson assured the Eustace family, however, that there was no carbon monoxide in their home.

That day, Denise Eustace sought medical attention for the neurological symptoms she had been suffering since the new furnace had been installed.  After laboratory tests were conducted at Lake Health Medical Center, Denise was diagnosed with carbon monoxide poisoning….

To read the full complaint

Recently, University Hospitals of Cleveland – Zeeba Surgery Center has sent letters out to patients that have undergone colonoscopy and upper endoscopy to warn them of the potential risk of infection due to inadequate and substandard cleaning and sterilization of their flexible scopes used in these procedures. The letters are a brash and indifferent means of providing notice to unsuspecting patients to inform them that they may have been exposed to an infectious disease due to the surgery center’s omissions. Worse yet, the letters are silent as to the types of infections that patients might have been exposed to including HIV and/or HEP B and C, and this failure to adequately warn could result in further delay in proper screening and follow up.

At a bare minimum, the treating physician owes the patient a call to discuss and reduce the patients anxiety arising from this situation and certainly to explain how this happened. An apology via the mail, when a patient could have developed HIV from a medical procedure, is a inadequate and may in fact increase the trauma caused by such disclosure as it diminishes the necessary urgency with which patients need to follow up.

At bottom, where a surgery center reprocesses flexible endoscopes, there are specific requirements for cleaning,disinfection and sterilization. Where these standards are not met, and where an injury results, the legal remedies are clear and the medical providers are responsibile for the harm that results.

We are relieved to report that Johnson & Johnson subsidiary and pelvic mesh manufacturer, Ethicon, Inc., advised the FDA last week that it is recalling four of its Pelvic Floor Repair Systems and is asking for 120 days to “cease commercialization” of its products, notify customers and allow physicians and hospitals time to choose different treatments for patients. Ethicon has indicated it plans to discontinue or change its marketing materials as needed and revise product labeling limiting the use of certain products to abdominal procedures. Needless to say, this is an important step forward for the thousands of women who have suffered and continue to suffer because of these products, as well as an action that will likely save many other women from receiving these products in the future for conditions such as pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.

Read the letter notifying the court of Ethicon’s decision to recall its products.

Read coverage of the news issued by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.

Landskroner Grieco Merriman, is assisting clients along with our co-counsel in pelvic mesh lawsuits against manufacturers that include American Medical Systems, Inc. (AMS), C.R. Bard, Inc., and Johnson & Johnson, in the litigation.  Some of these cases are consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. There are also cases filed against Bard in New Jersey State Court, in Federal Court in Delaware and in State Courts in Massachusetts.

If you have questions about the current stages of the pelvic mesh litigation, I invite you to reach out to our office.   As always, we are happy to discuss this litigation with you, as well as concerns about what to do if you have had experience with these products and what to do if you believe you have a claim.
Sincerely,

Jack Landskroner

The employment law attorneys at Landskroner Grieco Merriman recently filed a lawsuit against Panther on behalf of owner-operator truck drivers who were systematically underpaid for milage, fuel surcharges, layover charges, and detention pay.  The lawsuit alleges Panther concealed these fraudulent practices from owner-operators, and kept the additional money.  The firm is currently looking for current and past owner-operators and other witnesses who can provide additional information. If you or someone you know have information about these practices, we as you to please contact our law firm today. CONTACT US SECURELY HERE