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Chicago Personal Injury News Blog

21 April

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New Legislation Could Allow Americans to Sue China for Virus Damages

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in Uncategorized

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Representative Dan Crenshaw of Texas have introduced legislation in their respective chambers that would allow American citizens to sue China in federal court to recover damages for death, injury, and economic harm caused by the novel Coronavirus pandemic. The bill would amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to create an exception where a private citizen can sue for damages caused by COVID-19 and China’s negligent handling of the coronavirus outbreak. Senator Cotton said the goal of this legislation would be to hold China accountable for their actions in silencing whistleblowers regarding the...

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02 April

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National Origin Discrimination.

Posted by editor

in Chicago, IL

Chicago IL National Origin Discrimination

Our office is pleased to announce that we recently resolved a race discrimination case on behalf of three clients. Our clients reached a confidential settlement with their former employer, after bringing a lawsuit alleging discrimination based on their Hispanic national origin. Our clients claimed that after years of excellent job performance at their jobs, a new manager was brought in who adversely treated them because of their Hispanic origin. The employees alleged that shortly after the new manager was hired, the terms and conditions of their employment at the company changed, and they experienced a hostile work environment. The employees also...

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05 March

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The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act (INHCA)

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in IL

The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act (INHCA) provides basic and fundamental rights for nursing home residents throughout the state of Illinois. In particular, residents Illinois nursing homes are provided with protection from abuse, neglect and serious mistreatment. Under the INHCA, nursing home residents maintain the same rights that they have if they were a private citizen living at home. New residents should be informed upon their arrival of their spousal impoverishment rights as defined in the Illinois Public Aid Code. Residents maintain the right to use their personal property as they wish, and retain the services of their own personal physician...

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27 February

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Workers in Illinois are protected against being sexually harassed in the workplace

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in IL, Sexual Harassment

Workers in Illinois are protected against being sexually harassed in the workplace by both state law and federal law. These laws provide that employees are entitled to a safe work environment, free from sexual assault or harassment. If sexual harassment occurs in the workplace, victims may recover monetary damages for emotional damages, and other damages, such as losing their job, if they leave their job because of a hostile environment. On August 9, 2019, Illinois Governor Pritzker signed SB 75, enhancing the protection of employees and requiring that employers give interactive training about sexual harassment in the workplace. This move towards...

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25 February

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Boy Scouts of America File for Bankruptcy due to Sexual Assault Claims

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in Uncategorized

The Boy Scouts of America, an iconic national institution, has filed for bankruptcy in Delaware as a result of growing litigation regarding multiple reports of sexual assault and sexual abuse by Scout leaders, Scoutmasters, and other Boy Scout authority figures. The bankruptcy filing is the organization’s attempt to quell extensive litigation that is being prepared against the Boy Scout organization. This bankruptcy filing could also potentially create a deadline for former scouts that want to bring a claim against the Boy Scouts of America. This isn’t the first time the Boy Scouts have come under fire in the past...

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23 February

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Facebook to Pay a $550 million Settlement

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in Class Action, IL

biometric information

Photo license: Piqsels CC0 public domain Facebook recently agreed to pay a $550 million settlement to the plaintiffs in a high profile class action lawsuit brought against the social media network. This lawsuit arose out of Facebook’s alleged violation of an Illinois statute, the Biometric Information Privacy Act, commonly known as BIPA. BIPA is a consumer privacy statute enacted by the Illinois legislature in 2008. The purpose of the act is to require companies and corporations that obtain, use and store biometric data of their employees to do so only with the prior consent of their employees. Biometric data is a general term...

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11 March

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Sexual Harassment Settlements No Longer Confidential?

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in Sexual Harassment

Harvey Weinstein. Matt Lauer. Kevin Spacey. Louis C.K. Sexual harassment has become such a prevalent topic over the past year, that upon reading those four names above, most people can immediately figure out what all four individuals have in common – they have been accused of, and to some extent admitted to, sexual harassment and/or sexual abuse. A recent New York Times article has stated that following the sexual harassment allegations that were made against Weinstein, at least 71 other powerful men have been accused of sexual harassment and suffered serious repercussions, including terminations from jobs, being fired from movies and...

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26 October

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Legionnaires’ Outbreak and the Law

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in Personal Injury Accidents

Legionnaires' Disease is a severe form of pneumonia, which can lead to catastrophic injuries and death. Symptoms of Legionnaires' Disease typically include high fever, chills, and a cough. The incubation period of Legionnaires' Disease is from two to ten days, which is the time it takes before symptoms of the illness to appear after being exposed to the bacteria. Legionnaire’s Disease can be contracted by breathing in mist or vapor that is contaminated with the Legionella bacteria. Legionella bacteria grow in warm water, like the kind found in hot tubs, cooling towers, hot water tanks, large plumbing systems, or parts...

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25 July

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Health Care Fraud

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in Medicare Fraud

Health care fraud is a growing problem and affects all states – Illinois included. It exists in many forms and practices, such as submission of fraudulent bills to Medicare and private insurers, falsification of diagnoses to justify expensive tests, and performing procedures that are not medically necessary. There have also been reports that certain long term health care facilities, including nursing homes, who are allotted money from Medicare for the care and treatment of a Medicare beneficiary, do not use all of the allotted dollars for the comprehensive care of the residents for whom the money was intended. In some...

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21 July

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Emails May Sink Chicago’s Water Department

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in Uncategorized

When someone experiences discrimination at work – whether on the basis of his race, gender, age, sexual orientation – the victim should go to the company’s leadership to address and remedy the discrimination. But what happens when the discrimination originates with the very leadership who is supposed to make sure it doesn’t happen in the first place? According to a recent Chicago Tribune article, the Tribune had obtained copies of over 1,300 emails from the Chicago Water Department and found that many of those emails contained highly offensive, derogatory and discriminatory content and language that was not only entirely inappropriate for...

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27 June

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Illinois Nursing Homes for Elderly

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in IL

https://illinoisnursinghomeguide.com/illinois-nursing-homes-for-elderly/...

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05 October

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McDonald’s Facing Multiple Complaints of Sexual Harassment

Posted by editor

in Chicago, IL

Sexual harassment can occur at any place of employment – be it a small family-owned business or a big, multi-national company. It can happen at a private firm or a government agency. One thing is for certain -- there are laws that protect victims of sexual harassment and it is not something that an employee has to tolerate. Take McDonald’s for example. As recently reported, over the last month, 15 separate complaints have been filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against McDonald’s, alleging sexual harassment. The sexual harassment ranged from inappropriate physical touching (e.g. groping) to lewd comments to offers...

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19 August

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Retaliation for Blowing the Whistle

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in Uncategorized

Many state and federal laws are intended to regulate businesses and places of employment, in order to promote consumer and employee safety. However, certain employers nonetheless violate these laws, and it is only because courageous employees expose this activity that this conduct is brought to light. These Good Samaritan employees who decide to “blow the whistle” on their employers take great risks in coming forward. Illinois law protects employee whistleblowers when they reasonably believe that their employers are violating a state or federal law, and has enacted the Illinois Whistleblower Act (“IWA”), 740 ILCS 174/ to afford certain protections to...

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10 August

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Sexual Harassment on the Job

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in Chicago, Sexual Harassment

We are frequently contacted by individuals who describe inappropriate and often vulgar conduct that they have experienced at work. They inquire as to whether we believe they have a valid claim for sexual harassment. In many instances, we have to advise them that we cannot assist them, despite the fact they have experienced highly offensive conduct at their job. Here is why. Generally, prevailing in a case for sexual harassment rarely hinges on whether the conduct experienced by the employee qualifies as sexual harassment. Often, that is obvious, and in many instances the employee has corroborating witnesses, or emails, photographs, screen...

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01 August

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Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse

Posted by editor

in Chicago

Getting older is a fact of life, and for many, nursing homes eventually become their new homes. And while living in a nursing home might be as inevitable as aging, you can take certain measures to ensure that all reasonable safeguards are in place at the nursing home and that you are getting reasonable and adequate care. Nursing homes in Illinois are regulated by the Nursing Home Care Act (210 ILCS 45/1-101, et seq.) and the Illinois Administrative Code (42 CFR §483). If a nursing home or those who work there violate these regulations and standards causing harm to a resident,...

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08 August

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Insurer Pays off Lawsuit With Thousands in Coins

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in Uncategorized

By ROBERT JABLON Associated Press Associated Press An insurance company settled a lawsuit with a Los Angeles man by dropping off buckets full of thousands of quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies, his attorney said Wednesday. Andres Carrasco, 76, filed a lawsuit in 2012 against Adriana's Insurance Services, a Rancho Cucamonga-based company. The East Los Angeles man alleged that during an argument over why the company had cancelled his auto insurance, an agent assaulted him by physically removing him from the office. The company reached a settlement in June and last week delivered partial payment in the form of a check, but also tried to leave...

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07 August

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Lawyer’s suspension includes lifetime ban on representing women

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in Uncategorized

By Debra Cassens Weiss A Connecticut lawyer has been suspended for four months and barred from representing female clients for the rest of his career after he was accused of representing women in family law and domestic-violence cases in violation of a 2010 court order. The disciplinary counsel had initially sought disbarment for lawyer Ira Mayo, alleging he had violated the court order at least 11 times, the Connecticut Law Tribune reports. Mayo agreed to the suspension and ban on representing women to resolve the disciplinary complaint. Mayo was accused in two prior ethics cases, according to the Connecticut Law Tribune. In the...

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07 August

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How corporations became people you can’t sue.

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in Uncategorized

By Lina Khan Late last year a massive data hack at Target exposed as many as 110 million consumers around the country to identity theft and fraud. As details of its lax computer security oversight came to light, customers whose passwords and credit card numbers had been stolen banded together to file dozens of class-action lawsuits against the mega-chain-store company. A judge presiding over a consolidated suit will now sort out how much damage was done and how much Target may owe the victims of its negligence. As the case proceeds, documents and testimony pertaining to how the breach occurred will...

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07 August

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Lawsuit says SIU student killed by someone who gave him ride

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in Uncategorized

By Adam Sege, Tribune reporter The mother of a Southern Illinois University student found dead in February alleges in a lawsuit that the 19-year-old was beaten to death by someone who had given him a ride after a party. Pravin Varughese was found dead in a wooded area near Carbondale on Feb. 18, six days after he was last seen leaving the party about three miles away, according to authorities. An autopsy by the Jackson County coroner’s office concluded that Varughese died of hypothermia, with no evidence of foul play. But in a second autopsy commissioned by the student's family, an independent forensic...

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06 August

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Pizzeria owner wins millions in unusual lawsuit against village

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in Uncategorized

Mount Prospect has agreed to a $6.5 million settlement that will end an unusual lawsuit filed by a restaurant owner who sued the village using a federal law more commonly used to bust organized crime. 1928 The village board on Tuesday night approved the settlement with the owner of Ye Olde Town Inn, Tod Curtis, who has run the pizzeria for more than 40 years, said one of his lawyers, Riccardo DiMonte. Under the agreement, the village and its insurer will pay $6.5 million, $2 million of which will go toward attorney fees and legal costs. The village will pay $439,002 and...

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06 August

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Chicago lawyer faces sanctions for suit against Malaysia Airlines

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in Chicago, IL

By Steve Schmadeke A Chicago aviation lawyer who made international news when she filed the first court action shortly after a Malaysia Airlines jet vanished earlier this year now faces sanctions from Illinois’ attorney disciplinary agency for filing the allegedly frivolous case. Monica Kelly held a heavily publicized news conference in Kuala Lumpur in March to announce she’d filed a petition alleging that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had experienced a catastrophic mechanical failure before plunging into the southern Indian Ocean, killing all 239 passengers and crew on board. A complaint made public Tuesday by the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission alleged that...

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29 July

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Chicago cop wins $540K suit against sergeant accused of taunting him

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in Chicago

Retired Chicago Police Sgt. Lawrence C. Knasiak was twice commended by the city council for his “dedication, professionalism and personal sacrifice” during a nearly 30-year career with the department. Apparently that sense of civic duty didn’t extend to cops he supervised, including a Jewish officer Knasiak allegedly called a “bloodsucking parasite,” the Sun-Times is reporting. On Monday, a federal jury awarded $540,000 to that officer, who was supervised by Knasiak in a Southwest Side police district from 2000 to 2007. Chicago cop wins $540K suit against sergeant accused of taunting him...

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28 July

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CHP Officer Hit Woman in Now-Viral Video With “All the Strength He Had”: Lawsuit

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in Uncategorized

The woman seen on a now-viral video being repeatedly punched by a California Highway Patrol officer said her dress was violently ripped to expose her bare buttocks as she told the officer “I didn’t do anything to you,” according to a federal civil rights lawsuit filed last week and amended Friday. Marlene Pinnock, 51, said in the lawsuit that she had dealt with the officer in the past, and that he called her by name as she walked in the area of the 10 Freeway west of downtown Los Angeles July 1. When she began to leave the area the lawsuit...

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28 July

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Feds Failing To Act On Antibiotic Resistance Despite Grave Threat, Health Advocates Warn

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in Uncategorized

Public health advocates are fuming over a new court ruling that they say could hasten the coming of the next pandemic. In a 2-1 decision released Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration need not consider banning the use of antibiotics in healthy food-producing animals. "We believe that this decision allows dangerous practices known to threaten human health to continue," said Avinash Kar, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Adding antibiotics to farm animals' feed, day after day, is not what we should be doing. It's not what the...

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25 July

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Man injured during team-building drill: lawsuit

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in Uncategorized

By Christy Gutowski Tribune reporter 6:40 p.m. CDT, July 24, 2014 It was supposed to be a workplace exercise to build mutual respect, understanding and empathy between co-workers of an Addison fire safety company. Instead, according to a DuPage County lawsuit, one employee experienced “pain and suffering in body and mind” when he fell to the floor after being “propelled” into the air during what was supposed to be a team-building event. Antonio Gonzalez filed the suit earlier this month against Guardian Quest, an Aurora business management consulting firm that held the “diversity inclusion” training workshop two summers ago in an Oakbrook Terrace...

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25 July

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Ohio State band director fired after report finds sexualized culture

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in Uncategorized

Michael Muskal Los Angeles Times 1:35 p.m. CDT, July 25, 2014 In the second recent scandal to cloud a nationally acclaimed marching band, the director of the Ohio State University band has been dismissed after investigators found a sexualized culture of rituals in the group that bills itself as the “Best Damn Band in the Land.” Band director Jonathan Waters was fired by the school after an investigation prompted by a parental complaint found the band’s “culture facilitated acts of sexual harassment, creating a hostile environment for students.” The lawyer representing Waters said the band leader will fight to clear his name. According...

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23 July

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Lawsuit: Inflatable sumo wrestling led to brain injury at Miami-Dade charter school

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in Uncategorized

By David Ovalle dovalle@MiamiHerald.com During a Hialeah Gardens school “Spirit Day,” a teen girl dressed in an inflatable sumo wrestler suit for what was supposed to be a goofy match with a classmate. But a lawsuit claims the sumo fun went horribly wrong, leaving the teen with severe brain damage after her head repeatedly struck the floor. The girl, 15-year-old freshman Celaida Lissabet, and her mother late last week sued charter school Mater Academy and Mega Party Events, the company that supplied the inflatable suits, which the lawsuit contends are designed for use in “violent recreational sumo wrestling games.” Adrian De La Rosa, owner of...

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23 July

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UConn Settles Sexual Assault Lawsuit For $1.3 Million, But Won’t Admit Guilt

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in Uncategorized

Tyler Kingkade The University of Connecticut will pay nearly $1.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought forward by five sexual assault victims, the school and the women's attorney announced Friday, but it will not admit to wrongdoing in the cases. The lawsuit, filed against UConn on Nov. 1 by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred and co-counsel Nina Pirrotti, came days after four of the women filed two federal complaints to the Department of Education. UConn was accused of mishandling rape cases and refusing to condemn or intervene on reported harassment of female students, in violation of the gender equity law Title IX. UConn is...

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23 July

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City paid out $30K to settle 2012 lawsuit against chokehold cop Daniel Pantaleo

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in Uncategorized

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- One of the two civil rights lawsuits against Daniel Pantaleo, the NYPD officer who put Eric Garner in a chokehold Thursday, ended up costing taxpayers $30,000 in settlement money, according to the plaintiffs' attorney. The suit, which was settled in January, accuses Pantaleo and another officer of strip-searching two men on a New Brighton street, pulling down their pants and underwear in broad daylight, in March 2012. It alleges that Pantaleo and several other officers -- Joseph Torres, Ignazio Conca, and Steven Lopez -- "unlawfully stopped" a vehicle on Jersey Street in New Brighton. Another officer, Christian Cataldo,...

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23 July

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Family of Drowned Brothers Plans $60 Million Lawsuit

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in Chicago

A law firm representing the family of two Gary boys who drowned in an excavation pit in Hobart last month plans to file a $60 million lawsuit. Terrion Smith, 8, and Donel Smith, 9, fell into the pond at 4040 Missouri St. on June 14. According to the NWI Times, Chicago law firm Kelley Witherspoon LLP is representing the family in the planned lawsuit against property owner Randy Goldschmidt and Goldschmidt Construction Services. Family of Drowned Brothers Plans $60 Million Lawsuit...

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