Tennessee Injury Lawyer Blog

SEVIERVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will be pursuing criminal charges against two TN nursing home employees accused of taking pictures of residents in the nude and in degrading situations. Both female former employees of Pigeon Forge nursing home, ages 35 and 50, were arrested yesterday after each being indicted by a grand jury on four counts of health care abuse.

Tennessee Law Blog had previously reported on this nursing home sexual abuse at Pigeon Forge Care and Rehabilitation Center. Then, it was reported that in early May 2009 authorities had discovered one of the aids was using a cell phone camera to record images and video of nude or seminude nursing home residents. Even more disturbing, the nursing assistant had allegedly defended her actions by stating that residents were "my babies" and that she "I meant to delete the ones that are nude."

These two certified nursing assistants were booked yesterday into Sevier County Jail, each on $20,000 bonds. Arrests were made by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. A 55-page document released by the Tennessee Department of Health outlines alleged incidents at the Pigeon Forge Care and Rehabilitation Center and states the 12 abused residents were subject to a total of 47 still images and 27 videos taken from 2007 until May 2009.

The nursing home has since banned staff members using cell phones in resident areas.

As a nursing home attorney hearing cases of abuse in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, the most disturbing element to me about many of these sexual abuse cases is that often nursing home victims of sexual abuse do not recall the event. Many times, abusers target patients with dementia or other mental impairments on purpose, and it will take a skilled legal team with plenty of nursing home abuse experience to prove incidents of sexual abuse. If you believe your loved one has been a victim degrading activity at a nursing home, contact my Nashville, TN law offices online or by calling (615) 353-0930.

Medtronic, the medical device manufacturer, has had many of its medical products subject to a flurry of Class I recalls and warnings in recent months. These include Medtronic catheters, defibrillators, and pacemakers being issued the FDA most severe warnings for defects that may cause potentially severe injuries.

Medtronic’s Sutureless Connector intrathecal catheters (SC catheters) were recalled for labeling errors that have already negatively affected 10 patients when, per company instructions, the catheter was used with the Medtronic IsoMed Pump Model 8472, a constant-flow infusion drug pump Medtronic discontinued last year as part of a "planned product phase-out." What some might see as a minor oversight in printing--unless you’re one of the nine patients depending on the pumps’ cancer-fighting drugs whose catheters became disconnected and who required surgery to correct the problem, especially if you’re one of the nine who died two days following the procedure.

Continue reading "Dangerous Medical Device Recalls – Medtronic and the FDA" »

The Higgins firm represents people in Tennessee who have been discriminated against by their employers for protected reasons. Recently, we are seeing many more age discrimination claims. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. §621 et seq. (ADEA) was enacted to protect people from being discriminated against in the workplace solely based upon their age. The law protects against the discrimination of people over 40 years of age and broadly prohibits discriminating in hiring, retaining, paying and providing benefit programs. However, the law is not a complete ban on discrimination of all sorts and there are several clearly defined exceptions to the law. In other words, there are scenarios where it is permissible to discriminate based upon age; however, the employer must be able to show that the employment falls into one of the following specific exceptions:

1. When age is a bona fide requirement of the position. If it is a reasonable requirement that the employee be of a certain age, like a model for teen clothing, the employer has the discretion to use a young person in that position and can logically discriminate against older workers.
2. When there are reasonable requirements other than age alone. When the nature of the work is physically very demanding, the ADEA does not apply. In other words, the law will not require you to consider employees that cannot do the job.
3. State and local governments are allowed to enforce mandatory retirement ages for policemen and firefighters.
4. Seniority based retirement funds, pension plans or insurance benefits are allowed under the ADEA. The effect of these plans may be to treat some individuals differently than other same-aged employees because the individuals have worked for the company longer.
5. Generally high policy-making positions and executives can be held to a retirement age if they have worked in the same position for over two years and have a compensation plan in place that will pay them over $44,000.00 at retirement.
6. Highly skilled positions that require a significant apprenticeship program are generally exempt from the law. The law will not require a company to hire a person over forty and invest a substantial period of time in training the employee to do a job only to realize a short period of employment after that type of investment on the company’s part.

While these exceptions have been carved out to make the law fair, there are many employers who are unwilling to follow the guidelines set out by the ADEA. Age discrimination is a significant problem because it hurts people who already have a difficult transition period into new employment. At the Higgins firm, we take seriously the charges of age discrimination and represent individuals who have been discriminated against. The ADEA is a federal law and most States, including Tennessee, have corresponding laws that apply to help protect against age discrimination.

I have been handling workmans compensation cases for almost 20 years now. One thing I have seen over the years is that workers seem to get less and less for their permanent injuries. The latest attack on these benefits has come in the form of a impairment guideline known as the The AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Sixth Edition.

In Tennessee, doctors are required to use this guidelines to establish a percentage of medical impairment for permanent injuries sustained from 2008 forward. This impairment rating is tied directly to the amount of compensation a person receives for a work injury. The higher the impairment the more money will be received. This is very important as that money is to make up for a person loss of income because of their disability. It is used to feed their families, obtain new training and to help survive financially. Unfortunately, the impairment ratings given under the new guidelines is almost always smaller than previous editions. This can costs an injured worker thousands of dollars. Also, with caps that were placed on these awards by our legislature a couple of years ago the amount of compensation for serious work injuries is often tragically low and provides very little security for our workers. Of course, insurance carriers continue to make millions on these insurance polices.

You don't always need a lawyer in a workers compensation cases but it is always smart to talk to a lawyer before resolving your case. It usually runs about 50/50 on the injured workers I talk to as to whether they need an attorney. If you just aren't sure or have a question feel free to send me an email or contact me at TN law office. We handle cases across the state.

Pzifer’s off-label marketing of their anti-inflammatory drug Bextra will cost the pharmaceutical company a record-breaking $2.3 billion, $102 million of which will be split by five qui tam relators (whistleblowers). This most recent whistleblower lawsuit is the fourth illegal marketing lawsuit Pzifer’s settled since 2002. Of the $2.3B, $1B is in civil penalties with the remaining $1.195B as the largest criminal fine in U.S. history. This settlement is part of a four-year federal investigation into the business practices of the world’s largest pharmaceutical company.

At issue, this and previous lawsuits against the drug company allege marketing Bextra for “off-label,” or non FDA-approved, uses. In 1991, Bextra received FDA approval as a treatment for arthritis and menstrual cramps. In April 2005, Bextra was recalled after FDA officials received mounting evidence that the painkiller increased risks of heart attack, stroke, pulmonary embolism, and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a serious and sometimes fatal skin reaction.

During these nearly 14 years of distribution, Pfizer allegedly marketed the drug to doctors as a treatment for acute pain, a treatment the FDA never approved and one which required large doses of Bextra, an increase that would accordingly raise the health risks posed by Bextra. While it is not illegal for doctors to treat patients with drugs as they see fit, it is illegal for drug companies to market off-label uses.

Part of this illegal marketing included, according to the whistleblower lawsuit, kickbacks, perks, and incentives.

In addition to the fine, Pfizer must pledge to improve its corporate behavior, including marketing practices, as part of the settlement. This is the third such pledge Pfizer has made since 1999, signing such agreements in 2002 for Lipitor and in 2004 for Neurontin. The government has also accused Pfizer of illegally marketing the antipsychotic Geodon.

Because one of the parties defrauded by Bextra’s off-label marketing was the federal government, whistleblowers were eligible to take qui tam action and receive a portion of the funds from the government lawsuit. Qui tam lawsuits require a special knowledge of False Claims laws and should be pursued through an experienced whistleblower attorney, such as my colleagues at Higgins Firm.

For more information on qui tam lawsuits, explore my TN law firm’s employment law pages on False Claims Whistleblower / Qui Tam lawsuits.

Over a dozen East Coast Hooters Girls have filed a wage and hour lawsuit suing their employer for violating minimum wage laws.

The recognizable orange running shorts and tank top uniforms are part of a wage and hour lawsuit filed by 13 Hooters waitresses (“Hooters Girls,” per company literature). At the heart of these waitresses’ lawsuit against the Atlanta, GA.-based parent corporation are violations of tipping law, specifically the garnishing of tips to pay for the company’s exclusively sold and required attire. Additionally, the wage and hour lawsuit alleges tip pooling violations and unpaid overtime.

The key concept behind most Tennessee and national tipped employee wage and hour lawsuits is whether the tipped employee earned, at minimum, the required minimum wage. Because waitresses and other tipped employees are paid less out-of-pocket by their employer (still $2.15 hourly despite this year's minimum wage rise to $7.25) and because tips are paid in readily transferred cash, there are ample opportunities for abuses.

Your Tennessee employer must ensure that you take home an hourly minimum wage after tips. If there are deductions, such as uniform expenses or tip pooling, your TN employer must ensure that your take-home pay meets the federal requirement of $7.25. As defined by Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the U.S. Department of Labor:

[I]f the wearing of a uniform is required…, the cost and maintenance of the uniform is considered to be a business expense of the employer. If the employer requires the employee to bear the cost, it may not reduce the employee's wage below the minimum wage of $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.

(For more information, see Department of Labor’s Quick Fact Sheet on minimum wage and uniforms (PDF).)

Waitresses at Hooters, according to the lawsuit filed last month, were required to purchase their full attire from the company, including shirts, shorts, aprons, socks, shoes, pins, and $4 pairs of shoddy nylons that frequently had to be replaced. Also illegally deducted from the waitress’s checks were the prices of customer walk-outs, according to the lawsuit.

The wage and hour lawsuit also alleges that these waitresses were not paid for overtime hours worked to open and close the restaurants or for training and meeting hours. Additional allegations of illegal tip pooling practices, specifically, of requiring the tipped waitresses to share tips with untipped employees, are also made by the lawsuit.

This is the second wage and hour lawsuit this year brought against Hooters by waitresses for underpayment and FLSA violations.

A statement issued by Hooters spokesman Michael McNeil said the company is investigating these most recent wage abuse allegations and that Hooters is confident the company will be vindicated.

If your Tennessee employer may have paid you less than minimum wage by docking your pay or you believe you may have tips unlawfully taken from you through tip pooling or other means, I encourage you to complete our online TN wage lawsuit inquiry form or to call our Nashville, TN employment law offices directly at 615-353-0930. Our minimum wage attorneys are familiar with the intricacies of Tennessee employment law.

With the Tennessee travel season in full swing, police are out on the highways writing speeding tickets and other traffic violations. People traveling through the State of Tennessee from all over the country are being written speeding tickets, citations, and traffic tickets in record numbers. The truth is, just because you are pulled over in Tennessee for a speeding ticket or traffic violation, doesn’t mean you are guilty. What makes this even worse is that if your insurance company finds out about these speeding tickets or traffic tickets, they will raise your insurance premiums. This can add up to a lot of money over time. You also run the risk of being dropped altogether by your insurance carrier for getting too many speeding tickets or other moving traffic violations.

The good news is that you are not helpless. A Tennessee speeding ticket and traffic ticket lawyer can help you in many ways. Although Tennessee Traffic Ticket Laws aren’t complex, the way that they are enforced is confusing. Every Judge in every County and local municipality treats speeding tickets and traffic tickets differently. A lawyer can help save you the time, stress, and money by taking care of speeding and traffic tickets.

At the Higgins Firm, we have a track record of success in winning speeding tickets. We are experienced in the area of Speeding Tickets and other Traffic tickets. We have successfully reduced fines and kept tickets off of driving record. Although there are some times that Judge will require you to appear, most times they will allow a Lawyer to appear for you and handle the ticket. This means that you will almost never be asked to return to Tennessee to fight the Ticket if you hire a lawyer. Traffic ticket lawyers do no cost very much relative to the great service they provide. A Lawyer will actually save time and money. If you have gotten a speeding ticket in Tennessee, or any other Traffic Ticket in the State of Tennessee, please call The Higgins Firm to see what we can do to help you with the problem.