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Category: Premises Liability

Hartwell Speedway May Be Responsible for Recent Spectator Death and Injuries

Most of the risks associated with auto racing are confined to the track, and even the danger to the drivers has decreased over the years as racecar and racetrack designs have improved. However, due to the high speeds involved in the sport, racing accidents still produce enormous amounts of force. When this force is not well distributed and contained, it can pose a danger not just to the drivers but to the spectators as well. This is what happened at the Hartwell Speedway in Hart County on ...

Owner May Be Liable for Fire that Killed Five in a DeKalb County Home

Early in January, a home caught fire in DeKalb County with five people inside. By the time emergency response crews arrived, the fire had progressed too far to allow a rescue. The remains of the victims, 27-year-old Quaniece Gregory and her four small children, were later found in their bedrooms. The family dog was reportedly also killed in the fire. A sixth resident —Gregory’s husband, Thomas Reese — was in Maryland for work at the time of the fire. In addition to the devastating loss of his...

OSHA Introduces New Guidelines to Protect Construction Workers from COVID-19

Since the onset of the pandemic, construction workers have had to face even more dangerous workplaces than usual. The standard problems of falls and equipment accidents haven’t gone away, only been compounded by the contagion risk that now permeates all non-remote forms of work. As usual, however, employers have a moral obligation to make workplaces as safe as they can reasonably be, no matter what the potential hazards are. In a gentle reminder of this principle, the Occupational Safety a...

Atlanta’s Construction Industry Is Bustling in Spite of the Pandemic

Back in March, when the danger and magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic first came to light in the U.S, the immediate fate of Atlanta’s construction industry came down to the placement of a single comma. In Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ initial stay at home order, the concept of “essential” work was defined as including “public works construction, airport operations, utility, water, sewer, gas, electrical…” and a multitude of other services. The specificity of “public works construction” se...

MARTA Employees Don’t Feel Safe From Violence At Work

Several MARTA bus drivers reported to Atlanta’s Channel 2 Action News last September that they have been feeling unsafe at work, following repeated assaults from passengers. Upon investigation, Channel 2 was able to identify upwards of 20 such violent or threatening altercations over the previous three months, although drivers believe even that figure to be unrealistically low. Incidents ranged from punching and shoving, to spitting (in times of high contagion risk), to sexual exhibitionis...

Baston-Cook Construction Project Collapses Twice in Two Days, Injuring Workers

A new parking structure in Atlanta, intended to serve the Emory University Hospital Midtown when completed, has partially collapsed twice during construction, leading the city to shut down the project. At least six construction workers were injured over the course of the two collapses. The first incident occurred on September 11th, 2020, when the structure’s 11th floor collapsed onto the 10th, trapping one worker and injuring at least four others. The trapped worker had to be rescued using...

How Much Do Construction Accident Lawsuit Settlements Pay Out?

Construction is one of the most dangerous careers in the U.S, with an annual injury toll of nearly 200,000 incidents. Unfortunately, most of these injured workers receive only the bare minimum in compensation and are unaware of their full range of options. Worker’s Comp Law Makes It Difficult for Workers to Sue If you’ve been injured at work and are eligible for worker’s compensation, you usually can’t sue your employer for personal injury. The exception would be if you can prove that your ...

The St. Regis Resort Could Be Liable for Injuries Caused by Its Collapsing Tent

A January wedding at Buckhead’s St. Regis Resort was interrupted when a tent collapsed under heavy winds, sending three guests to the hospital and causing superficial injuries to at least five more. The tent was being used to shelter the patio where the ceremony was taking place. Right after the bride walked down the aisle, the tent gave out under a gust of wind she said felt like a small tornado lifting it off the ground. A tent blowing over might sound like a minor accident, but the s...

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Is Not Doing Its Part to Combat the Corona Virus

In a time when thousands, potentially millions of lives depend on preventing the spread of a deadly pathogen, it would be reasonable to assume that the largest airport in the world would be the site of some of the most intense containment efforts — or at least some containment efforts. However, according to a recent investigation conducted by VICE Magazine, this assumption would be incorrect. Interviewed passengers reported “breezing through” airport security without receiving health scree...

MARTA Is Making Changes to Help with the Corona Virus

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) announced on March 25th that it would be making some operational changes to help combat the spread of COVID-19. Most notably, some low-traffic routes and stations have been closed or given reduced schedules, while more buses have been diverted to high-traffic routes to prevent crowding and give passengers more space to distance from each other. Except for passengers who need to use the access ramp at the front door, MARTA passengers mu...