The Horror of Nursing Home Abuse

When we have to choose a nursing home for a loved one, we try to make sure it is a good place; a place to care for them and treat them with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen.

Too often we assume that when we need to place a senior in a nursing home that the home’s staff and management will take care of them the way we would. You would treat your beloved elder with love and respect, dignity and empathy, and would never dream of withholding medications; isolating your loved one; shoving them around; leaving them unattended in their own waste; or trying to steal their money.

The facts show that currently over one and a half million seniors are placed in nursing homes for care. While this number may seem high to you, it is expected to triple within 30 years. This is largely due to the baby boomer generation coming of age; of age to require nursing home care. Shockingly, one in three nursing homes in the US have been cited for neglect or abuse despite the fact that the Nursing Home Reform Act (1987) says nursing home residents have the “right” to live somewhere that maintains or improves their physical and mental welfare.

The idea behind nursing homes is that they provide professional care to those who are having trouble caring for themselves. While that might be the theory, it appears that the reality is somewhat different and nursing home abuse is on the increase. We know this because of the latest cases going to court and articles in the newspapers and on TV. It’s not the ugly secret it once used to be, but it is still hidden from prying eyes when and where possible, and nursing home abuse is still ugly.

If you’re suspicious that something isn’t right at your loved one’s nursing home, start watching closely. If they are the victims of emotional, physical and psychological abuse, you will begin to see things such as radical mood swings, significant changes in behavior, unexplained burns, cuts, scrapes, lacerations, broken bones, and bruising in odd places.

If you notice other residents of the home with bed sores, suffering from bad hygiene, and the home in general is unclean, there are bound to be other signs of neglect if you look for them. If you have any doubts about what is going on and fear for the safety of your relative, speak to a dedicated Sacramento personal injury attorney with experience in this area.

You may notice that the home is short-staffed, which in turn jeopardizes your loved one’s health and safety. Sadly, this seems to be a common occurrence – running short each shift – because it saves money. You need to know, however, that nursing homes are ordered by the state and federal governments to live up to certain requirements, one of which is having an adequate number of staff present to care for the residents.

Just because someone lives in a nursing home does not mean they have surrendered their rights. Negligence and abuse is illegal and if your loved one is a victim of these insidious crimes, they may well be entitled to compensation for their pain and suffering. This is yet another reason to contact a skilled Sacramento personal injury attorney. Your attorney will outline the differences between neglect (failing to care for someone that prevents pain and harm) and abuse (inflicting intentional pain or harm).

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

The Non-Compete Agreement - A Tool for Employer Protection

Business law might look simple at first glance, but it’s far more complex than it appears. Non-compete agreements are such an area.

“While it might seem simple enough to draft up an agreement that Joe X is not to compete in the industry in which he is employed for 3 years after being let go or leaving his place of work, it’s not that simple when such an agreement is actually crafted and drafted,” said Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

It’s quite usual to find the a vast majority of businesses have some kind of trade secret they don’t want let out of the bag. Generally speaking the upper management keeps this kind of knowledge pretty hush-hush, after all business strategies, the elite client list, a new prototype in development, and what’s new for the future are things best kept in-house. Companies want to protect this kind of information, but some employees have to be given access to this information in order to do their jobs.

The way the happily ever after story goes is that the employee stays with the company until retirement and becomes a part of the management team. In reality, chances are the employee will either be fired or quit and make a beeline for the competition, who would love to get their hands on business secrets. To try and avoid this somewhat disastrous consequence when people leave a firm, the non- compete agreement comes into play.

“In plain English, the non-compete agreement spells out that the party in question (the employee) must not compete with the firm from which they are leaving for a certain period of time. This would deal with someone who wanted to leave a company and take the business secrets they know to another company,” Barron added.

While this might sound like a slam dunk and a simple solution, non-compete agreements have a drawback because of their restrictive nature. Businesses have every right to protect their secrets, but workers have a right to work. What happens now?

“That tends to depend on the state,” commented Barron. “In other words, some state courts will enforce non-compete agreements and in others, the courts lean toward an employee’s right to work. Knowing what the law says in the state where the business is headquartered and the worker works is the key to understanding whether or not a non-compete agreement may be enforceable or not,” concluded Deborah Barron, of the Barron Law Office in Sacramento, California.

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Business Lawsuits and Fault Finding

Lawsuits seem to be as common as the cold these days. Nowhere is that more evident than when it comes to people suing businesses for a perceived wrong.

If anyone has taken the time to read some of the warnings printed on products or in user’s manuals, the inevitable conclusion is that someone must have actually “done” some of the harebrained things listed as being a hazard (and sued over it) or it wouldn’t be mentioned. This should give one pause when thinking about the law and how it is supposed to protect us from grave injustices and remedy personal injury wrongs, etc.

Sadly, a great many businesses these days are under a virtually constant threat of being sued for something; incidents that could range from scalding coffee being spilled, to a person slipping, tripping and falling outside a business. Some of these lawsuits may very well be frivolous, some may not. Really, most businesses these days need to know what to do about customers or clients blaming them for client errors or things beyond anyone’s control.

Nowhere is this risk more evident than when it comes to products liability cases. In this area of the law, manufacturers are in the position where they must tell an end user how to use their product, and how “not” to use it. They are also required to warn people what may happen if they misuse an item.

Gone are the days when a product maker could assume a consumer would use the product for its intended purpose. Nowadays, the things people think of to do with some products are utterly unbelievable and may cause serious personal injuries or death.

Manufacturers are now in the awkward position of trying to “guess” what a consumer “may” do with their item that could harm them. Quite a stretch of the imagination in many cases, but that is how far the law in this area has gone. For example, who would have thought that a consumer would use a portable chain saw propped up at the top end of a metal pole to try and trim tree branches or use a hair dryer while asleep?

Simply put, the law in the 21st century mandates that a business protect itself from some really ridiculous happenstances. After assuming the worst case scenario, a business must then guess what might happen and then issue a warning. In instances like this, it’s obvious that manufacturers are going to have to also assume their consumers are none too bright. However, having said that, there is a large gap between what products liability law says and how it gets applied.

Thankfully the law doesn’t say that a business has to guard against personal injuries or a death as the result of a consumer’s bad or poor judgment. However, when a case gets to court, it may be a different story and the consumer will triumph. For this and many other reasons, it only makes good common sense to discuss any personal injury case or products liability case with a skilled personal injury attorney.

It’s best to make sense of a bad situation in the eyes of how the law is applied prior to assuming something that might not be the case in actual practice when all is said and done. Put another way, have a well seasoned business attorney create systems, procedures and company policies to deal with those “frivolous” cases that defy explanation to even a reasonable person.

To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Recession Proof Business Income

Cash during a recession is a rare and appreciated thing.

It’s when economic setbacks hit that one really finds out how well run a business happens to be. It’s essential for them to be paid on time and get the money right to the bank. Now is not the time to cut corners on things like sound advice from a Sacramento business lawyer. It doesn’t cost that much to draft a set of tightly knit terms and conditions to make sure the company is running well and in the black.

There are definitely several matters that need to be included in such a legal document. One of those is to make sure the terms and conditions laid out are the terms of the actual “business” for performing and delivering on its contract, not the terms of clients or customers.

=Definitely lay out very precisely when payment is expected for services or products. Chances are the terms the company was initially following were a tad too generous. For example, many invoices state payment is due 30 days after the date the invoice was sent.

Doing the math will reveal that those terms may delay payment by up to two months. This is a serious impediment to cash flow, so reducing the payment period to 14 days makes a great deal of sense, and this is something a Sacramento business lawyer will explain. Since cash is what drives a business and keeps it afloat, tightening up the terms and conditions of payment is a smart business move.

While some companies feel that charging interest on unpaid bills is “not the thing to do to upset a customer,” there is a legal right to charge for that interest. When doing this, include all the pertinent details, such as the amount of charges and how they are applied, etc. Interest rates should also be laid out very clearly in any terms and conditions.

Never rely on a verbal contract because despite what people may think, it could end up being a binding contract. The terms of agreements made under those conditions are enforceable under some circumstances. Instead, have any contract entered written by a Sacramento business lawyer.

The terms and conditions have been spelled out clearly, or have they? This is something that needs to be checked. If the terms and conditions are not as clear as one would think, there may be ways to circumvent them. What any business should hope to accomplish with their terms and conditions is to have them so clear that there is no way they would land in court in the first place. This can be accomplished by an experienced Sacramento business lawyer.

Never assume that because any terms and conditions that have been written for the business are clear to customers or clients. This may not be the case. The firm has to take steps to ensure anyone that does business with it are totally aware of the terms and conditions under which the firm operates. This will go a long way toward avoiding any potential disagreements. With firm terms and conditions in place and by adhering to them, economic recovery is just that much easier in the long-term.

To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Personal Injury at the Worksite

Everywhere you turn these days there is construction of some type under way. Accidents on the jobsite happen regularly and to deal with the damages, you need an excellent Sacramento personal injury lawyer.
One of the leading occupations in the U.S. today is working in the construction industry. Whether it’s on a road crew or a building crew, the workplace is fraught with the possibilities of having an accident. While most work sites do strive for a good safety record, things happen. Those things could include a fall from unsafe scaffolding, electrocution from an improperly wired cord, or a crush injury as the result of a load slipping from the sling of a crane.

It’s a fact that being in the construction industry is a nod to putting your life on the line to get the job done. No one wants to be hurt or injured while on the work site and most workers do use caution to avoid the most obvious of possible accidents. It’s the things that happen unexpectedly that may cause devastating personal injury or death.

Not all work site accidents are life threatening or serious. They may just relate to repetitive strain injury or pulled muscles from lifting the wrong way. Nevertheless, hazards continually stalk every construction site.
The most common accident on a construction site is falling. While the height might not be that great in terms of distance to fall, even a short distance may result in severe injuries or death, e.g. traumatic brain injury due to the head hitting a solid object. Falling objects are another very common happenstance at a work site. This could include everything from bricks to iron girders. Most often this injury comes as a surprise to the worker who suddenly gets hit from above.

Equipment failure or failure to operate it in the right manner is another area fraught with accidents waiting to happen. The older the equipment and the faster the worker tries to work, the higher the chances of an accident. As well, working on a construction site involves manual labor, often tough physical demands on a daily basis, which may result in lifting strains and overall wear and tear on a body.

Factor in chemical spills that may include lubricants, toxic cleansers, or other deadly substances that may cause either immediate problems (respiratory) or long-term difficulties, such as lung cancer. Along with spills, of course, come the real hazard of fires and explosions. What happens post-accident and how should those injured get compensation?

Post accident problems may include expensive medical bills, missed work and thus lost wages, inability to perform again at a pre-accident level, the loss of personal days and sick days to handle the injury, and the very real possibility that others on the construction site won’t want the “accident” reported, etc.
As you can see, it’s a real can of worms. This is why it is very important, critical in fact, to get a skilled Sacramento personal injury lawyer. They can run interference for you when it comes to dealing with insurance companies who don’t want to pay out on a personal injury claim. They will also explain your rights to you and what you may expect if your case proceeds to court.

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Whiplash, the Unseen Injury

People think whiplash isn’t that serious because they can’t see it.

While many think that whiplash is a silent wound and not that serious because it’s not visible, it is one of the more common injuries sustained in car crashes. Whiplash damage turns the most mundane of tasks into a painful activity and affects daily living. This is why a great majority of whiplash victims tend to file personal injury claims with a Sacramento personal injury lawyer.

What usually happens when two vehicles collide is that the impact causes you to be propelled forward rapidly (acceleration) then slapped backwards suddenly (deceleration). This whipping movement strains back muscles, shoulders and the neck, violently pulling these muscles out of shape.

Whiplash symptoms don’t always show up immediately. It may take a couple of days for the victim to realize what has happened. This kind of damage also takes a long time to heal, depending on the violence of the impact. When it comes to whiplash injuries, no two people are alike and they may act and react differently to the injury, based on their pain threshold and the flexibility of their neck muscles.

Hit from behind? If that is the case, then the person who collided with you is always liable for the crash. If you suffered whiplash because of this accident, then in most cases, you have the option to file a whiplash injury claim. If you’re not certain what to do, speak to a highly skilled Sacramento personal injury lawyer.

While there are places that represent themselves as being a whiplash claims company, you are best advised to speak to a qualified Sacramento personal injury lawyer who knows the law. When it comes to the possibility of negotiating a settlement with the insurance company or even proceeding to court, having a competent Sacramento personal injury lawyer representing you will go a long way toward a fair and just settlement.

Whiplash claims companies are only in the business of collecting information to pass along to an attorney. Why waste time and money with these claims companies when the first consultation with a knowledgeable lawyer is free?

Some of the things that your Sacramento personal injury lawyer would discuss with you are the details of the case, find out how much time you lost from work, get your medical records and get a detailed list from you about any other expenses you had to pay out of your own pocket, e.g. massage therapy or paying for a neck brace.

While it’s true that getting compensation won’t take the pain away from a whiplash injury, it will help pay for lost wages, doctor’s bills and other expenses. This is one of the main reasons you need to consult with a Sacramento personal injury lawyer to know what your rights are in relation to a whiplash claim.

Deborah Barron is a Sacramento business lawyer, Sacramento employment lawyer, and Sacramento winery lawyer in California. To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.

Defective Product Injury Law

Most products we buy on the market usually work as advertised. Occasionally, this isn’t the case and something goes wrong.

Can consumers do anything about a product that doesn’t live up to its advertising? In a word, yes. If it doesn’t do what it is supposed to do, the person who shelled out bucks for it may choose to hold the maker of that product responsible for either a total refund, repairs, or damages for personal injuries.

If the product caused an injury, the person who sustained that harm may be able to hold the product’s maker liable. If the product in question is unsafe or even defective, customers might be able to prove the company who made the item(s) should have been alert and aware of the danger. In knowing that danger, they should then have made certain to prevent those injuries from happening.

In circumstances like this, an injured shopper may wish to talk to a highly skilled Sacramento personal injury attorney to file a product liability suit to get compensation for pain and suffering, lost wages, and medical bills. The tricky part about these kinds of cases is that the prosecution has to prove it was the product that caused an injury and it did not happen as a result of the purchaser improperly using the item or a mistake made by the buyer.

People who were in the line of fire as the result of defective products should get medical attention right away and document the injuries they received in great detail. Photos are priceless and need to be taken at the scene of the accident and of the product. Make notes of the incident as well and try to ensure the offending product is kept intact.

By all means, speak to an expert Sacramento personal injury lawyer with extensive experience in this area of the law. While outlining a potential case for the attorney, give them the product that caused the injuries, provide the documentation, offer all the written material included with the product (instruction manuals, warranties, warnings, etc.) and get possession of all medical records relating to the injury, along with any bills for medical expenses.

Other things that consumers need to know when dealing with defective products are that product liability cases usually revolve around the fact that the product was defective and was the direct cause of an injury; that manufacturers really need to clearly label products with warnings about hazardous use; and that defective products need to be yanked off the shelves immediately. If this does not happen, the failure to do so may result in serious legal consequences for the manufacturer.

To learn more, visit Lawbarron.com.