Irene H Gabo Answers Audience Questions on “Good Morning” Show on Davidzon Radio 620AM

Irene H Gabo answers Audience Q&A on Natasha Bystritskaya popular “Good Morning” show on Davidzon Radio 620AM. The areas covered included Bloomingdale’s escalator accident, Statutes, electrocution, and hospital accidents.

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Q&A Transcript

I fell on an escalator in Bloomingdale’s, but Bloomingdale’s denied my claim. What can I do?

First, I suggest you hire an attorney, who can request any incident reports, video surveillance and other documentation from Bloomingdale’s. Second, having represented similar cases before I can tell your that Bloomingdale’s has a service company, which services escalators, which has its own insurance coverage, whereas Bloomingdale’s is self insured. Therefore, I suggest you or your attorney send a contact letter to the escalator maintenance company. Representative from Bloomingdale’s can provide you with their information.

My car was hit by another car which ran away, I didn’t get any info, it was so fast. Anything I can do now?

Make a claim right away against uninsured/under-insured portion of your insurance policy, if you are injured. That policy provides you with coverage in case the other car leaves the scene of the accident. You will need to prove the case, especially your medical injuries and likely undergo a hearing under oath and medical exam with representatives of your insurance company. If that company then does not offer a settlement, you can file for Arbitration and have a neutral arbitrator hear and resolve your case.

I fell in Coney Island Hospital in October. Just now I had an x-ray which showed a fractured ankle. Am I still timely to sue them?

Yes. Since Coney Island Hospital is a public City hospital, and is under the supervision of its parent company, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, you have 90 days to present the initial claim against both companies, and one year and 90 days to start the lawsuit. I suggest, you request any surveillance video that might exist, speak to any witnesses and ask for incident report, if one was created.

My friend was electrocuted while at work and fell of the ladder as a result. Is there anything other than Worker’s compensation we can do?

If there is a general contractor at the location, you can bring an action against them, assuming your friend worked for a subcontractor. Also, there may be a good claim against the owner of the building where your friend worked, and the tenant. Falls of a height, such as ladder falls are heavily protected under New York’s Labor Laws, and Industrial Code of New York puts protections in place for employees and sets standards for electrical work and wiring.

5. I burned myself while taking a shower. The water from the faucet came out too hot. Do I have any claim?

If you live in a rental apartment building, or have a management company in your coop and condo that takes care of the building and apartments, there may be a claim. I would need more information about the last time superintendent changed the faucet, if the plumber came to your apartment at any time before the accident and if there are prior incidents in the building. There are numerous websites one can go on, including Department of Buildings, to check prior complaints against the building, permits, inspection, etc, so it’s a good place to start.

My friend fell in the roadway, but Is afraid to sue the City because she has Medicaid and welfare. Anyone else we can bring a claim against?

I would need to know what in the roadway caused your friend to fall. For example, if there was a sewer cover with broken area around it, and it may be ConEdison. Or if there are markings on the roadway, usually different color arrows in the area where your friend fell, this tells me one of the utility companies, such as Verizon or Key Span that did work in the area. A request needs to be sent to the City of New York for their records about permits issued for repairs or work on that roadway, and very possibly you’ll have a private defendant who can be sued. That is not to say that the City of New York should not be brought in, as they remain the owners of the City roadways.

I slipped and fell while working at a hotel. The floor was recently waxed but I don’t know by whom. Is this a Workers compensation claim only?

Few years back I had a similar case, where a hotel worker fell coming out of the elevator, on a floor that was recently waxed. Her hotel employer refused to provide any information voluntarily about which company waxed the floor. For some time we thought they might have done it in house. In the end, I need to do a motion to the Court, asking for the hotel to release the name and address of the company that waxed the floor, before I started any lawsuit and the Court ordered them to do so, which they did.