Eastern District of California Blog

Feds Pay $3.5 Million To Settle Suit Over Death Of 9-Year Old At Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park

"The United States has agreed to pay a Tehama County family $3.5 million to extract itself from a lawsuit over the death of 9-year-old Tommy Botell in Lassen Volcanic National Park."  Sacramento Bee, 2/19/14

Kings Francisco Garcia Settles Product Liability Suit Over Exercise Ball Injury

On the eve of the start of the Kings season, which starts tomorrow, 

The Sacramento Kings and swingman Francisco Garcia have settled their product liability lawsuits against the manufacturer of an exercise ball that exploded and severely injured him.

Prominent Sacramento personal injury lawyer Roger Dreyer, who represented the Kings and Garcia in their federal court suits, said the amount of money paid by Ledraplastic S.p.a., an Italian firm, to his clients is confidential, but described the resolution as "extremely favorable" to them.

Sacramento Bee, 10/30/12

Judge England Rules Injured Passengers Can Sue Greyhound For No Seat Belts On Buses

Yesterday, a Federal Court judge in Sacramento, California ruled that Greyhound could be liable for failing to put seatbelts on their buses. In this case, the plaintiffs were 8 passengers who were traveling on a Greyhound bus that was involved in a roll over accident just north of Sacramento on the I-5 Freeway. The passengers, who were severely injured in the accident, claim that their injuries could have been prevented had Greyhound equipped its buses with seat belts.

Greyhound sought to have the case dismissed arguing that Federal law preempted the passengers' state law claims. Specifically, Greyhound argued that since the Federal Government does not require seat belts on buses that any state court action based on the failure to install seatbelts was preempted by the Federal Government's inaction.  In its ruling the court rejected Greyhound's argument and is allowing plaintiffs' seat belt claims to go to a jury. The judge found that the Federal Government's failure to require seatbelts on buses does not prevent injured bus passengers from pursuing claims based on the failure to install seat belts.

PR Web, 7/2/09