Irene Gabo on the Morning Show at Davidzon Radio – February 22, 2021
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I walked into the window of a cell phone store, thinking it was a glass door and have stiches to my nose. The window was without any signs on it and it was very sunny. Can you help me?
Yes we can. There is caselaw where plaintiffs have received money for injuries sustained from walking nto glass windows, thinking they were doors. There were times when the door had no handle, making it difficult to identify as a door and not a window, or when the sun was shining so bright it was difficult for the plaintiff to see and without identifying signs on the door, he walked through the window thinking it was a door. The glass doors in commercial buildings under the New York Building Code section 47 must have markings on them, so as to identify them, and the intent of the makers of this code was to prevent personal injuries to customers.
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I fell and injured my knee, but don’t want to go to my orthopedist because his wait is so long. Can you recommend someone, maybe someone you worked with?
I am not in the business of recommending orthopedists to people, because everyone’s tastes are different. What I can recommend is that a patient does a thorough research about an orthopedist and reads reviews about his doctor online. You may also want to find an orthopedist who specializes in your particular body part, like the knee. My website has a very helpful like to profiles of all New York doctors, you can find it on my website in resources. By typing a doctor’s name you will be able to see if any complaints were made against the doctor, what insurance they take, what college they went to, what hospitals they have done their residence or worked in, and if they are board certified. This is a good way to learn about your options, and I urge you to use it for your benefit.
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I fell on the stairs in my building during a rainfall, because there is a leak, but I am worried about the landlord throwing me out if I sue him. Can you help
I am not a landlord tenant attorney, but I do know of the new General Obligations Law that went into effect last year in response to the covid crisis, which was meant to protect tenants from abuses by the landlord. For example, the landlord cannot now charge more than one month rent for a new rental, so the security deposit must be limited to one month and I believe the application is now limited to $20 dollars, no other fees can be taken for credit or background check. Landlord can also not reject you because you previously sued another landlord in the past and he may be subject to penalties if he denies you rental for no good reason. In other words if you asked a landlord to make repairs and he didn’t and you took him to court, your next landlord cannot deny you the apartment based on these facts. So in your scenario, if the landlord has a notice of the defect, such as a leak, by virtue of a tenant telling him or superintendent telling him, he cannot then retaliate against you for getting hurt as a result. If you go on my facebook page under Gabo Law you will find the new landlord tenant rules.
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I tripped over a raised nail on the boardwalk and broke my toe. I only went to the hospital though, I am afraid to go anywhere else due to covid. Can I still have a case?
If the City knew of this defect 90 days prior to your accident and failed to fix it, then yes, because you have a fracture that was diagnosed on an xray and fracture is always considered a serious injury. Plus, how do you really treat a broken toe, except immobilizing it, its very similar to fracturing ribs, there is really no physical therapy necessary in many cases. Now how to you find out if the City knew about the raised nail? Your attorney sends a request to the Department of Parks for the records and several months later they send a printout of all the inspections done on your boardwalk prior to the accident, all the notes inspectors made, photographs they took and all the repair orders they issued. You can also see if the repair was done, because the repair would be marked as completed.
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My mom called me from the nursing home and said that she was hurt while they were transferring her to a different bed, but now due to covid you cannot even go see her, can you assist??
Your mom can request her entire nursing home records as a patient using the federal HiTech form request. It is essentially a letter asking for these records. Under the Federal Rules the nursing home can only charge $6.50 if the records were requested by the patient. Once she receives them, she can either mail them to you or arrange for you to pick it up from her for review. All incident reports and investigation that follows must be entered. There is supposed to be a certain number of people transferring the patient from one bed to another, the beds must be aligned together, the bed must be on the brake. These records can be useful to see if the incident report finds that something was not done that was supposed to and if safety precautions weren’t followed your mom can hire an attorney. Everything can be done by mail, so for example, if she hires my office, I can mail her all forms that I need to start, for her to sign and mail back to me in a pre stamped envelope.
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I was installing a mirror in a bathroom on a construction site and lacerated my arm when mirror fell, and then a piece of glass also got stuck in my eye. I have Worker’s compensation but feel like I am barely getting any money from them and want to see if I have any other options.
There are certain safety precautions that must be taken on the construction site. For example, you may need to use a scaffold, to be able to reach the wall to install the mirror, that scaffold must securely stand on its legs, without wobbling. You may need to wear a face shield or goggles to protect your eye, especially when working with glass, or for example when some kind of wire installation is taking place. Failing to take proper safety measures may expose not only your employer to liability, which would limit you to worker’s compensation, but also bring in general contractor and even owner of the building where construction is taking place. Industrial Code of New York is a good site to review to see what violations may be found, also Section 241 part 6 of the labor labor discusses safety on construction site, especially during excavation or demolition.
