NorthCarolinaLaw

https://edelsteinpayne.com/personal-injury A City's Duty to Maintain Streets and Sidewalks in North Carolina Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jul 01, 2016 (0 Comments) Yesterday I read an  article   about a recent appellate decision in Washington State, confirming the City of Port Orchard's liability for a bike accident allegedly caused by defective maintenance of a city street. I am licensed in Washington (currently inactive) spent the formative years of my legal career, and keep up with interesting legal developments there. The article, which described the city's liability as previously unresolved, piqued my curiosity regarding such issues here in North Carolina. I am pleased to report that it appears cities in North Carolina also can be liable for injuries that result from negligent maintenance of city roads and sidewalks. (It should be noted, however, that roads and sidewalks maintained by the state Dept. of Transportation are likely protected by state sover...

https://edelsteinpayne.com/personal-injury NC State is Studying Efforts to Reduce Pedestrian Casualties Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jun 17, 2016  (0 Comments) In an effort to reduce the number of pedestrians hit by cars, NC State is working on a study to determine how best to increase driver awareness of pedestrian and bicycle safety. According to an  article  in yesterday's News & Observer, the study is intended to focus on education and enforcement as "factors that might influence driver behaviors so that they actively yield at pedestrians at crosswalks..." According to the article, 2,400 pedestrians are hit by cars each year in North Carolina. Of the 244 such collisions in Raleigh between 2000-2015, nearly half of them were fatal. It is the law in North Carolina that pedestrians have the right of way, though they are required to look both ways before crossing a highway without crosswalks or "hash marks" indicating a crossing.  Our ...

New Overtime Rules Published! Posted by  Sean Cecil  |  May 19, 2016  |  0 Comments More pay for more work. It's a simple premise that may have been taken for granted at some point, but in the past couple decades has been somewhat eroded by past administrations' failure to update the overtime rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under FLSA, employers can deem some salaried workers exempt from overtime if they fulfill certain duties and are paid at least a certain amount. Up until now, that amount has been $455/week, roughly $23,000.00 a year, not a living wage in many American cities. However, the rule has changed, and as of December 1, 2016, employers must pay their salaried workers $913/week to lawfully exempt them from overtime (The overtime rate of pay is 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for each hour worked over 40 in a week).  According to the Department of Labor's May 18, 2016 press release, key provisions of the fina...

https://edelsteinpayne.com Revisiting the 4th Circuit's Recent Taser Excessive Force Case Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Mar 23, 2016  (0 Comments) Back in January, I wrote about the 4th Circuit's precedent-setting excessive force case,  Estate of Armstrong v. Village of Pinehurst.  Since that time, I have had a chance to more thoroughly parse the decision issued by Judges , Keenan, Thacker, and Wilkinson(concurring), and decided a more thorough case summary which includes important details is warranted.  The case began as an appeal of the trial court's order granting qualified immunity summary judgment on Plaintiff estate's excessive force claim. Mr. Armstrong was bi-polar and paranoid schizophrenic; during nasty episode his sister convinced him to go to hospital, but he became scared and fled the Emergency Department. The examining doctor deemed Armstrong a danger to himself and issued involuntary commitment (IVC) paper...

https://edelsteinpayne.com 4th Circuit Establishes Bright Line for when Tazer Use is Reasonable Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jan 20, 2016 (0 Comments) The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has made an important ruling regarding use of force, ruling that the use of a Tazer is only lawful when the person tazed poses "an immediate safety risk." Unfortunately for the plaintiff in the case, mentally-ill Ronald Armstrong, he died during the encounter that led to the lawsuit, and the court ruled that the officers who tazed him five times to get him to let go of a stop sign were immune because the law regarding use of tazers was not clearly established at the time. Fortunately, for the rest of us, it is now clearly established that law enforcement officers may not taze people absent an immediate safety risk. Absent such a risk, an officer using a tazer is using excessive force in violation of an individual's civil rights and may be liable.  The case,  The Est...

edelsteinpayne.com Writ of Mandamus Obtained on Behalf of Statesville Firefighter Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Jan 11, 2016 (0 Comments) Last month, Edelstein Payne & Lucas partner Travis Payne and I traveled to Statesville, NC to appear in Iredell County Superior Court to petition the court for a writ of mandamus. A mandamus action in North Carolina is a petition for a court order requiring a governmental official to perform his or her non-discretionary official duties. Our client, a longtime member of the city's fire department, had applied for a promotion and underwent promotional processes. When he was not chosen for the promotion, he sought review of the decision to not promote him, as provided  in the City's Charter. He was denied a Civil Service Board review, despite several explicit requests, and was left with no choice but to petition the court for a writ of mandamus.  There are five "elements" which must be established by a party p...

NCpersonalinjurylawyer.com North Carolina Personal Injury: Dense Smoke Causes Car Wrecks in Western Wake County Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Dec 11, 2015  (0 Comments) According to news reports, a burn pile of smoldering mulch Thursday morning in Western Wake County reduced visibility on a nearby highway, resulting in several car wrecks. Apparently, a construction company was burning "slash" material from clearing property for development, after the company couldn't find anyone to take it away on short notice. The company must be relieved that there were no initial reports of injuries, because it seems there is a very real possibility that they would be liable for those injuries- they probably could still be liable for property damage that resulted from the smoke if they are found to have been negligent in the manner they conducted the burn.  Under North Carolina law, a negligent party is culpable for injuries that result from their negligence. To establ...

www.edelsteinpayne.com NC Workers' Compensation: Delay in Seeking Retroactive Payment for Attendant Care was Reasonable (Originally Posted by Sean Cecil Dec 01, 2015)  (0 Comments) Sometimes it's better not to appeal a ruling you don't agree with. In an opinion issued today by the North Carolina Court of Appeals, workers' comp insurer Liberty Mutual was again ordered to pay an injured worker's attorney fees, after the company unsuccessfully appealed an order to pay for attendant care for the second time. The worker, Connie Chandler, was injured over ten years ago when she fell and hit her head on stairs while performing janitorial duties. She was diagnosed with a concussion and a closed-head brain injury. Her condition deteriorated, eventually she required round-the-clock attendant care and was later ruled legally incompetent; her husband was appointed guardian.  Ms. Chandler's husband acted as his wife's attendant for years, without pa...