Congratulations to our SuperLawyers!

We are proud to congratulate Victor Pasternack, Barbara Doblin Tilker, Jordan Ziegler, Catherine Stanton, Edgar Romano and Robert Saminsky for being named to the New York Super Lawyers list as one of the top attorneys in New York for 2012. Each attorney was also named in 2011. It is an honor to have so many or our attorneys on this prestegious list, as no more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by Super Lawyers.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a rigorous multi-phased process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area.

The first Super Lawyers list was published in 1991.

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The 11 Most Life-Threatening Jobs on the Planet

Today’s post comes from guest author Paul J. McAndrew, Jr. from Iowa, who shared this illuminating post with his readers. We often focus on the dangers of jobs close to home (numbers 6, 8, 9 & 10), but others jobs around the world also pose great risk their workers. We hope that regulations are put in place in every country to ensure worker safety.

Today’s post comes to us from our colleagues at insurancequotes.org.

The danger workers face on the job is not always compensated by higher pay. Life-threatening jobs can be mind-numbingly simple, easily performed by unskilled workers or children, or as physically and mentally demanding as one can imagine. Cable television shows like Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers give some sense of the dangers faced by workers in the sea fishing and truck driving industries respectively, while films like Workingman’s Death (2005) document examples of dangerous, and almost pointlessly unproductive manual labor. Below are 11 life-threatening jobs ranging from the banal to the bizarre.

  1. Street Sweeper (Rwanda)The most humble of jobs can be the most dangerous. On the streets of Kigali province, in the country of Rwanda, women dressed in blue work from dawn to dusk sweeping the roads and highways. Drivers, going several miles per hour, zoom past, their cars missing the street-sweeping women by just inches. The women wear no reflective clothing, and there are no cautionary signs or pylons alerting drivers of the presence of these women on the road. In a country with 30% unemployment, street sweeping, which pays approximately $3 a day, is a sought-after job.
  2. King Crab Fisherman (Alaska, United States)
    More dramatic than street sweeping, crab fishing in the Bering Sea is one of the world’s most dangerous professions. The fishing takes place night and day in rough waters that constantly and violently rock the boats, sending high waves crashing over the decks. Fishermen can slip on the soaked deck, get hit by flying objects, or fall overboard into freezing water. In the 1990s, the Alaskan fishing industry experienced 400 deaths per 100,000 employees. That number has increased since.
  3. Sulfur Miner (East Java, Indonesia)Java’s sulfur miners gather chunks of yellow sulfur located next to a steaming, acidic volcano crater lake. The men hold their breaths and run into the clouds of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, gases that burn the eyes and throat, and grab as much sulfur as they can carry before returning to relative safety away from the lake. The miners gag, choke, and spit before repeating the process again and again. The sulfur they gather is used to bleach sugar, make matches, and vulcanize rubber. The miners are paid $10 to $15 a day, with some extra income coming from posing for photographs taken by curious tourists well away from the poisonous gas. Gloves and gas masks are unaffordable luxury items.
  4. Police Office (Kabul, Afghanistan)
    As recently as December 2011, police officers and police stations in war-torn Kabul, Afghanistan, have been targeted by the Taliban soldiers and suicide bombers. CBS News reports that every day, five out of 10 Kabul police officers die on the job. Lack of training and high-tech tools, as well as government-level corruption and an economy based on the heroin trade, prevent Kabul’s police force from performing their job with any degree of safety or effectiveness.
  5. E-Waste Recycler (Guiyu, China)
    Old discarded electronics, including laptops, home entertainment systems, and smart phones, are exported to Guiyu’s electronic waste sites to be gathered and broken down, by hand, for scrap metal by thousands of low-paid workers and their children. The electronics release toxic metals and chemicals into the workers and the environment, poisoning families and their environment. The amount of e-waste on the planet is increasing at an alarming rate, mostly in developing countries, with illegal exporting and dumping contributing to the glut of toxic electronics.
  6. Truck Driver (United States)
    Driving a truck is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports that truck drivers are “more likely to die in a work-related accident than the average worker,” Continue reading →

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Wage Theft Is Illegal And Immoral

 

Kim Bobo

Today’s post comes to us from our colleague Leonard Jernigan of North Carolina. The work Kim Bobo is doing on behalf of working people is commendable and we hope that anyone who feels that they have been stolen from by their employer get in touch with her or us.

Kim Bobo, the Executive Director of Interfaith Worker Justice and the author of “Wage Theft in America,” recently spoke at Duke Divinity School and then at N.C. Central University School of Law in Durham, N.C. Ms. Bobo, who was awarded the Pacem in Terris Peace Award in 2012 (other recipients are John F. Kennedy, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King, Jr.), has a simple reason for the work she does: as a person of faith, she recognizes injustice and seeks to correct it. Wage theft, which is defined as stealing from workers what they have rightfully earned, is not only illegal it is immoral. She is simply trying to get people to do something about it.

In September a $4 million settlement was announced by the Harvard Club of Boston for not paying tips to its staff.

At N.C Central law school, Bobo spoke to students about waiters not getting tips, even though the restaurant collected those tips when the bill was paid, and asked if anyone in the room had experienced that type of theft. Indeed, one student shared a story about working at an exclusive club in South Carolina where that practice was routine. After reporting the problem and getting nowhere, he finally gave up and quit. He is still bitter about it. In September, a $4 million settlement was announced by the Harvard Club of Boston for not paying tips to its staff. Small amounts can add up for the employer.

Bobo gave some action items to the audience that I wanted to share with you.  She said we need to:

  • start recognizing the seriousness of the problem;
  • start getting attention about the problem in order to fix it;
  • stay focused; and
  • if necessary, cross of the lines of our comfort zone.

For more information about Interfaith Worker Justice, go to: www.iwj.org/

 

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The first time I see my lawyer, what will we talk about?

Today’s post comes from guest author Tom Domer from The Domer Law Firm. If you are coming in to see us for the first time, please feel free to give our office a call ahead of time so we can discuss what materials you will need to bring with you and what you should be ready to talk about with us.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akdXzO0RXUw?rel=0&border=1&color1=004C87]

We find that clients are often worried about what they should prepare before coming to see their attorney for the first time. There is no reason to be afraid or intimidated of this first visit. The first time you see your attorney, the attorney will ask you a number of questions, but, in particular, you should expect to talk about 3 things:
Continue reading →

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Partner Michael Gruber Appointed Chair Of The Brooklyn Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Committee

We are proud to announce that our own Michael Gruber has been appointed Chair Of The Brooklyn Bar Association’s Workers’ Compensation Committee for 2012-2013.

Established in 1872, the Brooklyn Bar Association is a 2,000 member strong organization that works to enhance and improve the practice of law in Brooklyn, New York. It’s primary purpose is to promote professional competence among attorneys and increased respect for the legal system. It promotes access to the legal system through the Lawyer Referral Service which provides referrals for legal assistance in multiple practice areas. The Brooklyn Bar Association provides Continuing Legal Education, which enhances the skills, competence and ethics of it’s members. The belief that the administration of justice is achieved through the integrity, honor and courtesy of the members of the legal profession is the foundation of the Association.

The Workers Compensation Committee considers desirable changes and reforms in substantive law and procedures in the law of Worker’s Compensation.

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Victor Pasternack and Matthew Funk Named to Executive Board of New York State Trial Layers Association

We are proud to announce that our own Victor Pasternack and Matthew Funk have been named to the Executive Board of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association (NYSTLA). The NYSTLA is a 55 year-old trade association with over 4,600 members.

The mission of the New York State Trial Lawyers is “To promote a safer and healthier society, to assure access to the civil justice system by those who are wrongfully injured and to advance representation of the public by ethical, well-trained lawyers.”

NYSTLA works with coalition partners on numerous issues to protect the rights of consumers: health advocates, tenants’ groups, senior citizens groups, anti-gun violence groups, and many other public interest organizations. NYSTLA also works directly with victims of wrong-doing to help them understand their rights and how they might be articulated.

NYSTLA’s business is to assure that the wrongfully injured will have full access to the civil justice system. The organization is thus dedicated to the preservation of the federal and state constitution rights to trial by jury. They fight to see that injured people are not barred from the civil justice system; that wrongdoers are not immunized from liability; that juries are free to determine the proper amount of compensation without arbitrary legislative interference; that obstacles are not placed in the way of litigating all meritorious actions. NYSTLA also supports proposals to increase available insurance.

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What Is An Occupational Disease?

 

The Workers Compensation Law protects workers who sustain injuries in the course of their employment. There are different types of injuries that are covered under the law. An accidental injury is the most common and familiar to the working person. An accidental injury is easy to identify it is usually a traumatic event. However, most workers are not informed as to the existence of another form of an injury that is covered under the law. That is the occupational disease. An occupational disease does not arise from a specific traumatic event. It is a condition or disability that develops over time usually based upon a repetitive aspect of an occupation.

An occupational disease does not arise from a specific traumatic event. It is a condition or disability that develops over time usually based upon a repetitive aspect of an occupation.

To be considered an occupational disease there must be a distinctive feature to the claimant’s employment that caused the condition to develop. For instance a construction worker who lifts heavy bags of cement for 10 years and is diagnosed with tear in the knee without any incident may have a claim for an occupational disease. Another typical case is a data-entry worker who develops carpal tunnel syndrome from heavy computer work. Workers who are exposed to a noisy work environment can file a claim for an occupational loss of when they retire or are removed from the noisy work area.

A claimant can file a claim for benefits under the occupational disease statute even if the diagnosis comes long after the claimant has left the harmful work environment. This is a common feature of the slow starting job related diseases, like silicosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The claim must be filed within Continue reading →

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Victor Pasternack Teaches At Decision 2012

Senior Partner Victor Pasternack

On Friday, September 14th, our own Victor Pasternack will present at the New York State Trial Lawyers’ Association’s Decisions 2012: Recent Developments in Tort Law. The event reviews last year’s decisions, amendments and other changes in New York tort law. This is the 27th consecutive year the association has chosen Victor to give this presentation.

Also, Victor has written the program’s chapter on workers compensation, which is a testament to his standing among New York’s workers’ compensation attorneys and a valued way for him to give back to the community.

If you would like to attend, the session will be at:
The Prince George Ballroom
15 East 27th Street
New York City, NY 10010
Tel: (212) 471-0882

Online registration is available by clicking on this link.

 

 

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