Miami Resort Injury Lawyer Blog

A major hotel chain has agreed to pay a victim's wife and his children $5,500,000.00 in compensatory damages. The settlement agreement arose out of an incident involving the death of a man at a nationally recognized hotel.

On June 3, 2006, the victim was staying at a hotel hosting two wedding receptions. At some point during the evening, several fights broke out. The victim, who was not involved in any of the fights, was caught by surprise and sucker punched in the head by an intoxicated groomsman from one of the wedding receptions. The hit resulted in serious brain trauma, which necessitated emergency surgery to relieve the pressure and bleeding on the brain. He was eventually placed on life support, and two days later he was announced brain dead, taken off of life-support and pronounced dead. The coroner concluded that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

We also previously reported how a current client was assaulted in her hotel room by a security guard during her honeymoon in Mexico.

These are perfect examples of hotels not having taken the time to set up appropriate safeguards to avoid these situations and confrontations. In South Florida we've handled plenty of cases where security guards or bouncers used too much force and severely injured people, or, worse yet, simply abused their position to commit a criminal act. Our firm has extensive experience handling these claims.

As for the victim that was killed at the wedding reception, a lawsuit was subsequently filed with claims that the hotel failed to follow established security and safety procedures. Sadly, the hotel decided to place profits before providing a safe environment. For a mere $200, the hotel could have hired two additional guards to provide security that evening. This could have proved to certainly prevent what occurred that evening as the lone security guard on duty was knocked unconscious as he attempted to break up the second fight. In addition to this security guard being improperly trained, the hotel was on notice that it needed to hire additional guards because it aware that it would be hosting two wedding receptions with open bars.

Further, the hotel had notice of prior violent events at the hotel. Within the three years prior to this fatal attack, police reports indicate that there were 8 fights, 9 instances of public intoxication, and 14 instances of disorderly conduct. Most notably, four of these incidents involved wedding parties similar to the June 3rd receptions.

Continue reading "Hotel Pays Millions of Dollars to Injured Party" »

The Terminal Velocity ride in Extreme World amusement park in Wisconsin is meant to provide thrills and not a near death experience. Riders put on a safety harness and enter into a metal cage. Thereafter, the cage is lifted about 140 feet into the air. Simultaneously, a safety net is supposed to rise into place below the cage to catch the rider as they free fall towards the ground. An operator in the cage joins the rider. He is required to look down at his colleague on the ground who is supposed to give a hand signal that the net is properly in place. Once he receives the hand signal, the operator releases the trapdoor sending the rider to the net below.

Unfortunately, a twelve-year old South Florida resident was released from the cage without the net being in its proper position. The young minor fell 110 feet straight to the ground. According to the operator of Terminal Velocity, he experienced a mental lapse and released the trap door before he was given the appropriate hand signal that the safety net was in place.

This type of negligence happens way too frequently at amusement parks in South Florida, and across the country. Often times the amusement parks are not regulated or licensed which leads to increased risk of injury. Fortunately, our firm has experience in representing victims of amusement park negligence.

After 80 days of treatment in hospitals, including the University of Miami's Project to Cure Paralysis, the South Florida resident is headed home. Although she survived the 100 foot free fall, she is going home with serious injuries. She was able to survive the fall even though she sustained immense loss of blood to the head, chipped teeth, a crushed pelvis, and ten fractures in her spine. Now, doctors are uncertain whether or not she will ever be able to live an independent life where she will be able to speak, walk, and feed herself.

Continue reading "Amusement Park Ride Injuries" »

Road accidents -- not terrorism, plane crashes or crime -- are the No. 1 killer of healthy Americans traveling abroad, a USA TODAY analysis of the past 7½ years of State Department data shows.

Car accidents unfortunately happen every day in our busy streets, and highways, both at home and while vacationing abroad. Car accidents are an extreme inconvenience and aggravation that always occur at the worst possible moment, especially when on vacation. But they are also often times the source of serious and significant life altering injury and even death.

Our attorneys used to work for the insurance companies. Now, they focus on representing the victims of car accidents in Miami, South Beach, South Florida, and beyond. Given the years our attorneys worked defending the insurance companies in car accident cases, they are uniquely prepared to ensure that the victims of car accidents receive just compensation for their injuries and property damage.

About 1,820 Americans, almost a third of all Americans who died of non-natural causes while abroad, have been reported killed in road accidents in foreign countries from Jan. 1, 2003, through June 2010. On average, one American traveler dies on a foreign road every 36 hours.

A lethal combination of killer roads, unsafe vehicles, dangerous driving and disoriented travelers are often among the many reason for many car accidents.

Continue reading "Car Accidents are a Top Killer for U.S. Tourists in Miami and Abroad" »

Walt Disney World usually only conjures positive emotions. Mickey Mouse and Disney resorts have provided families throughout the globe with a destination that guarantees wholesome family fun. Over the decades, countless parents have brought their young children to Disney parks and resorts and returned home with happy memories.

Unfortunately, the Brubaker family is not one of those countless families with happy memories of Walt Disney World after their 9 year-old child died in a collision with a Walt Disney World bus.

In April 2010, Brubaker was riding his bicycle in Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. He was heading southbound on Big Pine Road wearing a safety helmet and riding on the sidewalk. At the same time, a Disney bus driven by David R. Rich was traveling in the same direction. After hitting the side of the bus, the child was pulled under the rear wheels of the bicycle and subsequently died.

Presently, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Brubaker's mother has filed a wrongful death suit against Walt Disney Parks, Resorts U.S., and the bus driver. A Florida Highway Patrol report, however, stated the accident was caused because Brubaker's bicycle was in an unsafe condition due to flat bicycle tire. Nevertheless, the lawsuit blames sidewalk conditions and Disney's bus system for the fatality.

According to the complaint, pedestrians must regularly step off the sidewalk and onto the roadway or an unpaved area to avoid other cyclists and pedestrians. Due to railings and steep gullies, resort visitors are prevented from stepping toward the interior of the park when trying to pass others. The complaint further states that as a result of these conditions "contact between a pedestrian and a bus or vehicle was reasonably foreseeable to occur and therefore cause serious injury or death to the pedestrian."

Continue reading "Accident at the Walt Disney World Resort Leads to Untimely Death of a Minor" »

South Florida's famed strip clubs are a popular tourist attraction. But they are also a common source of injuries and accidents.

Recently, a stripper at the popular South Florida Strip Club, Cheetah, struck a patron in the face with her heel. The stripper had spun around in reaction to someone touching her as she was walking along the bar, with her feet near the patrons' heads. When she spun around she struck the injured patron in the face, with her heel.

It was not exactly known what type of shoe the stripper was wearing. However, it was a platform type shoe with a metal heel.

The metal heel struck the patron in the face, shattering his eye socket. The patron also suffered from broken bones around his eye and his nose. The patron now suffers from permanent double vision and frequent dizziness. The patron was awarded $650,000 as a result of the injuries he sustained at the strip club.

This is not the first time injuries have occurred inside a strip club. The highly publicized incident involving NFL star Adam "Pacman" Jones illustrates the dangers one can encounter while visiting a strip club. In that incident, a shooting left one person paralyzed and two others wounded.

Other strip club claims have centered on the hazard of sky-high platform shoes strippers frequently wear.

In New York, for instance, a man sued after a stripper giving him a lap dance swiveled and smacked him in the face with her shoe. Locally, a Broward man sued after a woman's stiletto flew off during a pole dance, shattering a mirror and cutting him.

Continue reading "Patron Who Sustained a Shattered Eye Socket, and Other Injuries, After Being Struck by a Stripper's Heel at a Popular South Florida Strip Club is Awarded $650,000" »

We have all heard of people getting hurt at resorts. Hotel management and guests alike know to look for certain dangers in hotels, such as moisture on a floor or suspicious looking characters. However, due to modern architecture we now have to look out for "death rays" at a particular Las Vegas hotel.

At the Vdara hotel, guests have had to warmly accept the death ray. Because of the hotel's architectural design, sun rays concentrate and reflect onto the hotel's pool deck. While hotel management prefers the more scientific name of "solar convergence phenomenon", the death ray has already shown how powerful it can be.

A Chicago lawyer is claiming he had a personal encounter with this phenomenon. While sunbathing pool side, he noticed his hair was burning up. The heat was so intense that the plastic bag around his newspaper melted. Hotel employees have even reported plastic cups melting. When interviewed, this individual stated: "I used to live in Miami...I know what a hot sun feels like and this was not it." Its been reported that the death ray increases temperatures about 20 degrees. ABC News reports that a plastic cup melts at around 160 degrees.

According to a solar glare specialist, the hotel has known about the problem since 2008 when he bid on a contract to help resolve the problem. According to this specialist, the hotel opted to go with a cheaper, less effective fix. Irrespective of his claim, the most difficult problem facing the hotel is the Earth's rotation because as the Earth rotates on its axis the concentrated solar reflection shifts.

The hotel reports that it is a mild inconvenience. Hotel employees explained they are aware of the hot spots and happily accommodate guests by moving them around the pool deck. Of course this is only a temporary remedy because as the death ray moves so must the guests. Most importantly, no one has had to seek medical attention.

Continue reading "Hotel "Death Ray" Causing Serious Burns to Sun Tanners and Guests" »

Hotels, restaurants and bars have a duty to provide adequate security in order to ensure that their patrons are free of harm. In order to comply with this duty, they often implement certain security measures such as employing security personnel. Even though security guards are supposed to be creating a safe environment, some rogue guards can create an unsafe environment. In Australia, a man had a first-hand experience with one of these guards.

In 2007, John Orcher was drinking with his then girlfriend at a Sydney hotel. His girlfriend testified that she was across the street at an ATM when she saw Mr. Orcher exit the hotel and walk out into the street. A uniformed hotel security followed him out of the hotel and punched him once in the head, which caused him to fall to the ground.

As a result of this single hit, he was hospitalized. He now suffers from memory loss and has difficulty completing everyday tasks. He also suffers from seizures and is unable to return to work. He is now seeking $750,000 from the hotel.

We also previously reported how a current client was assaulted in her hotel room by a security guard during her honeymoon in Mexico.

These are perfect examples of security guards going a little too far. In South Florida we've handled plenty of cases where security guards or bouncers used too much force and severely injured people, or, worse yet, simply abused their position to commit a criminal act. Our firm has extensive experience handling these claims.

What is important to understand about these cases is that although these assaults and batteries are committed by individuals their employees may be legally responsible. If an employee acts within the scope of employment then the employer is said to be vicariously liable for their employees acts or omissions. This concept is critical because it is difficult to recover damages from an individual with insufficient assets. Employers may also be liable if they failed to perform an adequate screening, and hiring, procedure, or failed to terminate the employee where the employee committed prior inappropriate acts. Additionally, many employers usually typically carry liability insurance, which should provide a sufficient means of monetary redress for the inappropriate conduct.

Continue reading "Negligent Security Claims are on the Rise Due to Out of Control Bouncers and Security Personnel" »

Accidents are sadly a fact of life. We have to accept the fact that sometimes, people get injured in freak accidents for no apparent reason. Often, these freak accidents cause people to get seriously injured. Such is the case for a British woman traveling in Spain.

Carol Gardener was vacationing with her husband, sister, and brother-in-law. The men were a few yards ahead of their of their wives on the sidewalk when all of a sudden they heard a large explosion. When they turned around all they could see was their injured wives and rubble all around. The cause of the explosion is unknown, but Mrs. Gardener was severely injured.

She was knocked unconscious and fell into a coma. Ultimately, she underwent brain surgery. Although she has awoken from the coma, she is still confused because of the head trauma. Luckily, her ability to move and talk is improving everyday.

This may have occurred across the pond, but that doesn't change the fact that accidents also happen here within our very own borders every single day. Sure, this was a freak accident and the cause is, as of yet, still unknown. But an investigation will likely ultimately reveal that the hotel was careless.

Other accidents occur every day at our local resorts and spas. For instance, while visiting a resort in Miami, you got out of the pool, showered with fresh water, and then dried yourself. But, not everyone remembers to dry themselves. A lot of times guests simply get out of the pool and head right into the hotel leaving behind them a trail of water and small puddles. After drying yourself, you enter into the hotel, take a few steps, and suddenly you step into a small puddle of water. You slip and fall, and sustain some serious injuries as a result of the fall.

Freak accident? Maybe. But, is the hotel responsible for your injuries? Possibly. Hotels have a duty to ensure that their premises are free and clear of conditions that could hurt their guests. If they can't remove the dangerous condition, they have the duty to appropriately warn guests of the danger.

While these simple facts don't tell us whether the hotel was negligent, an investigation by an experienced resort injury lawyer would provide some certainty as to whether the hotel is responsible for these injuries.

Continue reading "Injuries in Hotels, Spas and Resorts Occur Every Day in Miami and Elsewhere" »