Industrial Accident

At-Work Accident Claims Life of Arkansas Man

December 1, 2020 | Paul Pfeifer

A man was killed in a tragic truck accident in Arkansas late last month—just hours after the Thanksgiving Holiday. The individual was part of a team of two employed by the city of Little Rock, Arkansas to clean up leaves and other debris along the roadside. The two men were working along North Cypress Street when tragedy struck. One young man—just 21-years-old—was outside the truck while the other unnamed individual was driving. The worker outside the vehicle was somehow struck by the truck and critically injured.

Emergency services were immediately notified and several local agencies responded to the call within minutes. However, the young man’s injuries proved too severe to overcome. He was pronounced dead. Continue reading ›

Arkansas Supreme Court Discusses Sole-Remedy Provision of Workers’ Compensation Law, Dismissing Plaintiff’s Appeal

January 5, 2017 | Paul Pfeifer

Last month, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued a written opinion in a personal injury case brought by a woman against her husband’s previous employer, alleging that her husband’s exposure to asbestos while on the job caused the cancer from which he ultimately died. In the case, Hendrix v. Alcoa, the court dismissed the plaintiff’s case because the sole remedy for her loss was through the state’s workers’ compensation program.

The Interplay Between Workers’ Compensation Claims and Personal Injury Claims

When someone is injured on the job due to the negligence of another party, there may be one or more potential claims available to the injured worker or their family. The workers’ compensation program is mandatory for many Arkansas employers and acts as a type of insurance for employers. If an employee is injured on the job, the employee can obtain workers’ compensation benefits without having to establish who was at fault for their injuries. However, workers’ compensation claims are mostly limited to medical expenses and lost wages, and these claims will not include compensation for pain and suffering.

In some situations, an injured worker’s eligibility for workers’ compensation benefits will not prevent that worker from filing a personal injury lawsuit against a negligent third party that caused the worker’s injuries. These “third-party” lawsuits are preferred for many injured workers because the potential recovery amount can be much greater, due to the availability of damages for the worker’s pain and suffering.

Fracking Causes Damages in Arkansas

December 10, 2012 | Paul Pfeifer

Recent reports in the news media have shown that livestock on farms near oil and gas drilling operations have been falling sick and dying. Many scientist and residents suspect chemicals used in drilling and fracking operations are poisoning animals through the air, water or soil.

Earlier this year, Michelle Bamberger, an Ithaca, N.Y., veterinarian, and Robert Oswald, a professor of molecular medicine at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, published the first and only peer-reviewed report to suggest a link between fracking and illness in food animals.

The report listed 24 case studies of farmers in six shale gas states whose livestock experienced neurological, reproductive and acute gastrointestinal problems after being exposed to fracking chemicals in the water or air. The article, published in “New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health,” describes how animals died over the course of several years.

Gulf Coast Oil Spill Lawyer

May 3, 2010 | Paul Pfeifer

Teams of lawyers from around the nation are mobilizing for legal battles over the massive Gulf Coast oil spill, filing multiple lawsuits in recent days.

The oil slick will likely poison popular beaches, ruin fisheries, disrupt traffic on the Mississippi River and ruin the tourist trade. There will likely be hundreds of thousands of plaintiffs from Texas to Florida seeking monetary damages from oil producer BP PLC and other companies that ran the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

At least 26 federal lawsuits have been filed since the spill by commercial fishermen, charter boat captains, resort management companies and individual property owners in Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. Many of the suits claim the disaster was caused when workers for oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. improperly capped a well – a process known as cementing.

Accidents in Arkansas Causing Personal Injuries

September 29, 2009 | Paul Pfeifer

Little Rock, Arkansas has been ranked in the top ten most accident prone cities. According to an article in a popular health magazine, Little Rock ranked fifth in the number of accidents that occur each year. This finding appears to be based upon statistics from the Bureau of Labor, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association.

As someone who deals with Arkansas accident victims, this finding is quite troubling. Arkansas accident injuries include car accident injury, on the job injury, slip and fall injury, motorcycle accident injury, truck accident injury, dog bite injury, medical injury, and nursing home abuse injury. Arkansas personal injury victims have a right to have their medical bills paid, lost wages paid, pain and suffering fairly compensated and be fully compensated for their damages.

If you or a family member has suffered a personal injury in Arkansas, please contact an experienced Arkansas personal injury lawyer to make sure your injuries are fully and fairly compensated.

Arkansas Fayetteville Shale Driller Fined for Spill

July 8, 2009 | Paul Pfeifer

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality has fined Chesapeake Energy Corp. after well drilling fluids were spilled.

The ADEQ issued the order fining the natural gas driller $8,400 for the Sept. 8 incident. The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality says there was evidence a layer of drilling mud had been deposited in the tributary and that agency representatives were not allowed to inspect the site when they arrived at the site.

This incident exemplifies the new problems that are associated with the scale of drilling taking place in the Fayetteville Shale areas in Arkansas. Problems ranging from pollution causing personal injury or property damage to drilling site injuries to industrial and truck accidents have increased due to the drilling activity. If you have suffered property damage or a personal injury, please contact an Arkansas lawyer to discuss what can be done to compensate you for your damages.

Arkansas Accident Victims Win in Supreme Court

June 3, 2009 | Paul Pfeifer

The Arkansas Supreme Court declared a portion of the 2003 tort reform law unconstitutional. The Arkansas Court found that the law violates the Arkansas Constitution separation of powers clause.

The Arkansas Justices decided questions over the provisions regarding the negligence or fault of non-parties when considering liability and regarding evidence of damages for the costs of necessary medical care, treatment, or services.

This is a very important decision for Arkansans who suffer a personal injury. This change will stop the negligent party from escaping liability by blaming a non-party for the personal injury. The decision also allows an personal injury victim to recover the full amount of damages in a Arkansas personal injury lawsuit. The case will help Arkansas accident victims receive reasonable personal injury settlements. If you or a family member has suffered a personal injury please contact an experienced Arkansas personal injury lawyer as soon as possible to make sure your rights are protected.

Arkansas Contruction Accident

May 8, 2009 | Paul Pfeifer

A recent tragic event occurred in Benton Arkansas. An inspector for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department died after he was hit by a crane at a construction site in central Arkansas. According to the news report, the inspector was walking a platform behind a crane when it turned and hit him. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident.

Unfortunately, industrial accidents are all too common in Arkansas. This incident reminds me of a case in which I represented two men who were hit by a crane and suffered serious personal injuries. We were able to prove that the crane operator and the company he worked for were negligent and did not use the necessary safety protocols to prevent this type of accident. We were able to recover a substantial verdict in this case.

When such dangerous equipment is being used, it is vital that operators make safety their number one priority. If an accident occurs, it is important that an investigation take place as soon as possible to discover what happened and why the personal injury accident occurred. If you or a family member has suffered a personal injury in an industrial accident, it is important that an experienced Arkansas accident lawyer be contacted as quickly as possible to help.