The Stoddard Firm Blog

MARTA Bus Kills Pedestrian Who Was Using a Legal Crosswalk

In one of the more senseless MARTA accidents yet, a pedestrian has been struck and killed by a bus while crossing Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd at H.E Holmes drive in Atlanta. It was about 1:15 in the afternoon on Sunday, June 7th — in other words, broad daylight, and not during peak commuting hours. The pedestrian died at the scene, and an investigation indicated that the bus had run over the victim. No identifying information has been released, except that the victim was an adult. Crimi...

New Federal Standards Leave Private School Students as Vulnerable as Ever to Sexual Assault

The Secretary of Education has recently announced new changes to Title IX, a set of standards originally instituted to protect students from sexual assault and harassment in schools. In spite of many schools’ protestations that they won’t be able to institute the changes in time, while also changing school operations to address contagion risks, the new standards are set to take effect on August 14th. The Latest Changes to Title IX Discourage Sexual Assault Reporting Advocacy groups for sexu...

Georgia’s Roads Are Still Not Ready to Accommodate the Port of Savannah’s Increasing Capacity

For the past several years, the Port of Savannah has been working to expand its operations by upgrading its facilities, installing new equipment, and increasing its footprint. The problem is that improvements at the port don’t only affect port operations. They affect shipping traffic all over Georgia, which in turn affects the safety of everyone on the road. Improvements to the Port of Savannah Have Focused on Moving More Cargo, Faster In 2017, the Garden City terminal in the Port of Savann...

Profit-Driven Power Wheelchair Companies Put Medicare Patients at Risk of Falls and Fires

When discussing Medicare wheelchairs, it’s important to note that Medicare itself does not produce medical supplies; it only funds them. The actual suppliers and maintenance providers for devices like power wheelchairs are independent, for-profit companies. Some are honest businesses that produce safe products to fill medically appropriate prescriptions, but others exist for the express purpose of extracting as much taxpayer money from Medicare as possible, without regard for patients’ nee...

Georgia Poultry Plant Workers Face New Dangers Due to Coronavirus

Right now, while so many are fighting the spread of COVID-19 simply by staying home, others are still expected to risk exposure every day in order to perform in-person jobs that have been deemed essential, including jobs in the food supply line. Although there’s no arguing with the fact that a steady food supply is indeed essential to the U.S’s survival and recovery, many companies are using their “essential” classification as an excuse to disregard safety necessities and common sense, and...

Apartment Complexes in Georgia Need to Improve Fire Safety

It’s been a rough winter for fire safety in Georgia, full of injuries and loss. Spring is almost here, but that will come as little comfort to the many residents who’ve already been affected by fires in their apartment complexes over the past few months. Two days after Christmas in Smyrna, nine people lost their homes to an apartment complex blaze. One of the survivors escaped with burns, and another was injured while jumping from her balcony. Three days later in Duluth, a fire engulfed th...

A Worker at Hartsfield-Jackson Has Been Killed in a Loading Ramp Accident

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport has long had a tenuous relationship with safety, seeming to prefer putting its money and energy into remaining the busiest airport in the world. On September 25th, 2019, one employee lost his life amid the bustle of this air traffic hub. The worker, an employee of the luggage transport company G2 Secure Staff, was helping to guide a luggage vehicle toward the loading ramp of a United Airlines jet, when he was crushed between the vehicle and the ramp...

Can You Sue a Hospital for Wrongful Death?

Families are horrified when a loved one goes into the hospital for surgery or illness but never comes out and instead dies in the hospital. Matters are made even worse if you suspect the hospital was negligent or careless and caused the death. If your family is asking itself, “Can you sue a hospital for wrongful death?” – the answer is “yes.” And a wrongful death attorney can help. A wrongful death case is a lawsuit brought by the surviving spouse or family of a person who died as the resu...

Bright from the Start Is Not Enough to Protect Georgia’s Children from Daycare Negligence

Ever since 2004, Bright from the Start has been the agency in charge of quality control for Georgia’s daycare and early education facilities. Among its other duties, Bright from the Start is responsible for approving licenses for Georgia’s daycare centers. Unfortunately, while the agency provides valuable support at times, it falls far short of guaranteeing Georgia’s children a safe environment, let alone a nurturing one. Finding Quality Child Care in Georgia Has Always Been Difficult For t...

Worker Injured in Adhesive Factory Chemical Explosion

The blaze that overtook a DHM adhesives factory in Calhoun last September has left at least one worker injured. Though little information has been released about the worker, the injuries seem to have been burn-related and non-life-threatening, yet serious enough to require immediate treatment at a local hospital. Nine other workers were in the building at the time but apparently escaped unscathed. An investigation into the source of the fire points to a chemical explosion caused by an equi...