Multi-Million Dollar Verdicts a Good Thing?
Written by Gordon on December 4th, 2009
Gordon Graham here and thanks again for taking the time to visit the LA Fire Credit Union site – and thanks for all you are doing in the world of fire service operations. For those of you who follow my monthly contribution to this site, you know I am not part of your world – but rather on the other side of the fence – the law enforcement side.
My interest in firefighter safety – and issues related to the fire service – started in Graduate school and has grown since then and I have been very fortunate to have assisted in developing many firefighter safety programs over the last few decades. More on this topic of fire fighter safety later in the piece – I promise.
Let me “back door” my focus for this brief piece today by telling you a cop story. Police civil liability has been a big issue in law enforcement operations since the 1970’s when I was a brand new cop. And as I grew in the profession I learned that many of the events that end up with cops getting sued were the same events that ended up with cops getting killed or seriously hurt.
Take an intersection collision for example. A cop runs a red light chasing a suspect and hits a “third party” car. The kid in the car ends up hurt or dead – and this has happened all too often in my profession. The cop involved in that collision can also be hurt or killed, and the collision will undoubtedly end up in a lawsuit against the cop – if he/she survives – and the deep pocket with the money – the department employing that cop.
Let me move to another type of incident – the use of force event. A cop confronts a violent suspect and uses force (TASER, gun, baton, nunchucks, throwing stars, grenades – just kidding with a few of those) and takes the suspect into custody. The suspect (now victim) sues the cop and the department for “wrongful use of force”. Remember, this same incident can end up with the cop getting hurt.
Here is a synopsis of the last three paragraphs. If things do not go right on a single event in our respective high risk jobs – you can get hurt – or you can get sued – or you can get hurt and sued out of the same event. Trust me on this – been there done that.
So what is my point here? One of the lawyers who sued cops a lot back in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s was a guy named Steven Yagman. He was universally hated throughout the law enforcement world because he was very obnoxious, aggressive and frankly a very nasty person. And he made a lot of money – and I am talking a LOT of money – suing cops and police departments and if you mentioned his name to any cop in Los Angeles during those decades – you would get a lot of nasty comments.
Of course, there were all sorts of “good” lawyers back then (and now) defending cops including my partner at Lexipol – Bruce Praet. And there was Missy O’Linn, Steve Manning, Gene Ramirez and a lot of other great lawyers who fought with Mr. Yagman (and his wife Marion) on a regular basis. And these lawyers were universally “loved” in police departments because they defended law enforcement officers from the attacks of Mr. Yagman and other “Plaintiff” lawyers.
One of my “live seminars” deals with protecting cops from lawsuits and injuries. I have lectured on this topic for thirty years. And I will do anything to keep people awake and interested in these classes – and I try to do the same in my fire fighter programs.
Anyhow, for years I would start off these police programs with the following comments.
“Ladies and Gentleman, good morning. Today’s focus is on protecting cops from injuries and lawsuits. And you are familiar with the work of Bruce Praet, Missy O’Linn, Steve Manning and Gene Ramirez – and how much they have done to better protect law enforcement officers from lawsuits. They do a great job for us and you should be grateful for their hard work.
“But I would also like to tell you about another lawyer who has done more to improve the quality of law enforcement that any of the above lawyers have – and that lawyer is Steven Yagman”
And when I said that – you could see the anger rising in the room – “how dare you say that Yagman has done anything to improve the quality of our profession – he is the guy who is suing us all the time”.
But I will stand by that statement – then and now – because sometimes that is what it takes to wake people up. Frankly, for years leaders in law enforcement agencies did not listen to what I was saying – or what Bruce, Gene, Missy or Steve were saying about police issues – and some of the “systemic” problems (lying in wait) that continued to cause us a ton of grief.
But when those “leaders” in law enforcement got hit with a multi-million dollar verdict – that woke them up – big time – and gradually over time some of the “systemic” problems started to get addressed – and while law enforcement operations are not perfect – I think we are better off today than we were a few decades ago.
So why am I wasting your time with this? I see many similar issues in the fire service today – “systemic” problems that are not being addressed by “leaders” in the fire service. And there are many great speakers addressing the fire side – trying to convince these “leaders” to change policy, procedure and protocols and to move away from “status quo” and find new and improved ways to protect our personnel and our budgets.
And like Steve, Gene, Missy and Bruce – all too often the suggestions and recommendations of these “fire side advanced thinkers” are being ignored – and as a result firefighters keep on getting hurt (and sued) for the same stuff over and over again. There are “problems lying in wait” that are not being addressed.
With this background, I read something on www.firefighterclosecalls.com that might be of interest to you. And of course I redacted this for a bunch of reasons, but you will nonetheless be able to figure out what is going on in this article.
“A former EMT is suing a Major Eastern State Firefighter/Apparatus Driver, the Fire Company and the Township Supervisors for damages that occurred at a crash scene on an icy day two years ago. “
“The accident in question sent seven people, including five emergency responders, to the hospital for treatment.”
“Vicki Anyone, who worked for Anytownship EMS at the time, was one of the responders who was injured. She and her husband, David Anyone, recently sued for damages. Vicki does not work at Anytownship EMS today.”
“According to the suit, Charles Blank, was driving too fast across an icy bridge near a location in another Township. His vehicle hit an icy patch, causing him to lose control and collide head-on with another vehicle driven by John Blank in the northbound lane.”
“An Anytownship EMS crew arrived on scene. Vicki Anyone and Lindsay Anyone were part of the crew. A few minutes later, a fire engine driven by Charles Blank, line officer for the a Volunteer Fire Co., going 15 mph (according to previous reports) slid into the ambulance, injuring the ambulance crew and several people on the engine.”
“They hit the bridge and it was a solid sheet of ice. They tried to slow down but couldn’t and they struck the rear end of the ambulance,” the Anytownship Fire Chief said in a previous interview.
“In the lawsuit, a Pittsburgh Plaintiff’s attorney wrote that the driver of the rig was warned of the frozen and icy condition of the bridge and told not to venture onto it. He claims the warning was ignored.”
“As a result of the negligence, carelessness and recklessness of all defendants,” Vicki sustained several injuries, “some or all of which may be permanent in nature,” he wrote.
“The other woman suffered fractured ribs, compression injuries of the left leg and knee cap and an inflamed and infected left knee cap. She suffers from “great pain, inconvenience, embarrassment, mental anguish and emotional and psychological trauma,” the lawsuit states.
“She expended large sums of money for medical treatment and lost earnings,” the Plaintiff lawyer said.
“Vicki Anyone is asking for compensatory and punitive damages from Snyder and compulsory damages and court costs from the township, fire department and the driver of the involved vehicle.”
“David Anyone is asking for compulsory damages and court costs from all of the defendants for the loss of consortium, or the inability to have normal marital relations.”
So why am I telling you this? I have a number of close friends in the fire service who are trying to spread the word about “improving” the way business is being done. And they – and oftentimes I experience the same feeling – are hamstrung with excuses and reasons why “change” cannot be made. And women and men in your profession keep on getting hurt – and killed – and there does not seem to be a national outrage about these deaths.
So I am hoping that maybe this “increase in litigation” and naming people specifically in litigation will make other “similarly situated” people “think” just a bit about the consequences for inappropriate behavior. I know that the people reading this website are “believers” – and you are not the exception in your profession – but rather representative of a much larger group.
But both of our professions have people who are convinced that “rules” do not apply to them – and frankly I am fed up with “ignoring” their behaviors – and just waiting for something bad to happen. Perhaps aggressive Plaintiff lawyers achieving successful verdicts against individuals and departments might speed up the improvement process.
Anyhow, that is my nickel’s worth for this brief piece. We can do something to prevent bad things from happening. Spread the word please that we can reduce the injuries and deaths in your profession by revisiting the way you are doing business.
Thanks for taking the time to read this piece – and I look forward to being with you again next month.
Gordon Graham
Co-President, Lexipol
