Irene Gabo on the Morning Show at Davidzon Radio – July 13, 2020

1. I was painting a house on Brighton and fell off a ladder the landlord gave me, which was broken. I am not here legally, anything I can do?

Your legal status has no bearing on your ability to sue. Whether it is a lawsuit against the landlord or worker’s compensation case against your employer, the fact that you are here illegally has nothing to do with the case. The issue here will be what was wrong with the ladder, and if you should have seen the defect before climbing on the ladder. I would start with sending landlord a letter, asking him to forward your claim to his/her insurance company and proceed from there. Make sure in that initial letter your attorney asks the landlord to preserve and not alter the ladder in any way, because it may have to be examined by your lawyer and his expert engineer. The request is important because you need the ladder to prove your case and if after the letter is sent they throw the ladder away your attorney can claim that they improperly disposed of evidence that was against them, which will be a great plus for you.

2. My child was riding a bike on Ocean Parkway, when a car hit him. I want to start a case, but my husband says to forget about it. Can I do it anyway without him knowing?

In order to file a lawsuit in court you need just one parent to represent a child, not both. So technically, if you wanted to hire a lawyer for this case, your husband’s consent or signature is not needed for the legal process. However, you have to keep in mind that a child cannot collect money until her is 18 and in order to deposit the money received from a case, you must receive an approval from the Court, meaning you and your child will have to appear before a judge. If the case doesn’t settle early, you and the child may be called to testify about how the accident took place and the injuries and the child may have to undergo a medical examination with the defendant’s insurance company doctor. So it is very possible your husband will find out about the lawsuit one way or the other, plus don’t forget your attorney will be sending you mail about his case that will arrive to your house.

3. I was on Emmons not too long ago in a restaurant and after that got violently ill, and am still not ok. Is this a case?

I have seen an increase in food poisoning personal injury cases since covid. Restaurants are operating on a limited budget, since they were closed for so long. Many suffered tremendous losses in the past 3 months and it is entirely possible that the food they purchase is not of the same quality they purchased before, or that they are using things that are not fresh and have been in the freezer for months. Whatever the reason, food poisoning cases are always worth more if 1) you save some of the food you ate and get it tested at the lab and 2) your illness is not something that resolves the next day or the day after. You may need to go see a gastroenterologist or your PCP, as you will have to make sure the condition is noted in some medical report, your word is not going to be enough to make a case.

4. My mother fell out of bed in a hospital during covid and broke her finger. I cannot get through to anyone in the hospital to figure out what happened and my mom has dementia. The other patient told me she fell. What can I do?

First thing you can do or your attorney can do is get a statement from the other patient in the room as to what happened and how your mom fell. You need to see if the hospital was negligent and did something wrong and if that was the reason your mother fell. For example, she was out of bed alone when the orders said she must be with a nurse when she walks, or if the floor was washed and was still wet with no yellow barricades or warning signs, when she fell. Second, you need to order the hospital records and see what they say about how the accident happened. The issue here is your mother’s dementia, so if it is progressed to the point where she cannot function on her own, or represent herself in court, you or another member of your family must be appointed as her guardian. This usually requires an application to the Surrogate’s Court and a letter from her treating doctor about her condition. That way the guardian can proceed with a lawsuit or claim against the hospital and testify and sign documents when needed on the case.

5. I fell on a job and broke my hip, but it wasn’t diagnosed for about 4 weeks and now my attorney says we can’t prove its from an accident, because too much time has passed. Anything we can do?

What was the reason you were not diagnosed? Was it because it was during covid and you couldn’t go to any doctor or hospital or was it because you simply failed to go to any doctor? Here I would need to know if you continued working, what the incident report at work, if there is one says, and if you went to a hospital or urgent care immediately after the accident. If after the accident you didn’t really leave the house because you were in pain and because of covid couldn’t get to the doctor or the doctor’s offices were closed you can still try to make a case, because there is a valid excuse, plus you can show that you didn’t really do anything except staying home during a month. However, if you continued working, and there are no complaints of pain or how it happened anywhere, it may be difficult to prove a causal relationship. The doctor for the Workers Compensation case must be able to say that the fracture of the hip is causally related to the fall at work, and if he doesn’t or he cannot because too much time passed, employer may simply make an argument, that you have fallen elsewhere or injured your hip not at work, in order to deny your claim.

6. I was assaulted on a street, can I sue the City of New York for failure to provide more cops and defunding the police?

Unfortunately you have no case against the City of New York for failure to provide more police on the street. In addition, assault is what is called an intentional tort, we have all seen videos of elderly people walking on the street and randomly being hit by some criminals and knocked to the grown. The attack is so unexpected that its almost impossible to expect the policy to predict or stop the assaults. If you are able to track down the person who assaulted you, you can sue them directly for assault in civil court, question is what are your injuries and does this person have any assets you can collect from.