Survivors, families of victims of ABB shooting file lawsuit 
Survivors and the family members of victims of the St. Louis ABB Inc. plant shootings have filed lawsuits in St. Louis City Circuit Court against on-site security employees and the companies the lawsuits say employed them. One of the security companies named in the lawsuits, Whelan Security, was not providing security to the ABB plant, Whelan President Greg Twardowski said in a Wednesday phone interview.
Woman wins lawsuit over mother’s murder
A Jackson County jury awarded $3 million to a woman suing her stepfather for the shooting death of her mother.
Defendant John Koch Jr., 72, now a patient at Fulton State Hospital, was found mentally incompetent to stand for a criminal trial for the murder of his wife, so Kristie Kramer filed a wrongful death lawsuit [...]
Jury finds for family of man killed in collision
The largest McDonald County jury verdict to date, $1 million, was delivered to the surviving family members of a tractor-trailer driver from Arkansas who was killed in a collision with another tractor-trailer.
In August 2007, 60-year-old Jimmy Evans was driving a tractor-trailer for Crossroads Trucking northbound on U.S. Highway 71. Adara Smith was operating a tractor-trailer [...]
Woman settles over damage from drugs
A Jackson County woman who allegedly suffered permanent brain damage from overdosing on opioids during a hospital stay settled for a confidential amount with the treating health center and prescribing physician.
The plaintiff, a 67-year-old retired nurse, went to a hospital around midnight on July 27, 2006, with complaints of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Upon [...]
Negligence: Wrongful Death - Settlement Proceeds - Apportionment
Banner v. Owsley (MLW No. 60333/Case No. SD29802 - 14 pages) (Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, Quitno, Sp. J.)
Where a trial court apportioned a wrongful death settlement so that a son, from an earlier relationship and whom the decedent did not support, received only 5 percent with greater percentages going to his mother, wife [...]
Product Liability: Failure To Warn - Causation - Unjust Enrichment
Flesner v. Bayer AG, et al. (MLW No. 60288/Case No. 08-3524 - 13 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Melloy, J.)
(1)Where a plaintiff brought a failure-to-warn action against the manufacturer of a cholesterol-reducing drug, the plaintiff’s expert had inadequate factual evidence on which to base his opinion and did not show to a reasonable [...]
Jury not convinced woman was injured at Wal-Mart
A St. Louis County jury cleared Wal-Mart of all wrongdoing in a lawsuit that alleged one of its greeters assaulted a customer.
Helen Burnett accused Wal-Mart greeter Ronald Shelly of ramming her motorized shopping cart into a wall, injuring her right leg.
On Jan. 27, 2007, Burnett went into the Wal-Mart store in St. Ann to pick [...]
Plaintiff can’t collect judgment from insurer
Extended mutual insurance companies can file forms and endorsements with the Missouri Department of Insurance through ratings organizations, Judge Michael Mullen determined in a recent St. Louis bench trial. The ruling supported the defense in an equitable garnishment case.
Tamara Woodfork filed the suit against Barton Mutual Insurance Co. to satisfy a $1 million judgment against [...]
Hockey player’s family able to collect $4 million, judge rules
The family of late Chicago Blackhawks player Keith Magnuson should be able to collect almost $3 million of a $9.5 million verdict and more than $1 million in interest from an insurance company. Magnuson’s lawyer, Grant Davis [left], addresses the St. Louis County jury, in November of 2007, that awarded his clients a $9.5 million verdict.
ERISA: Denial Of Benefits - Pre-Existing Condition - Coverage Lapse
Jones v. Unum Provident Corporation (MLW No. 60293/Case No. 08-3830 - 8 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Loken, C.J.)
Where a claimant appealed the denial of long-term disability benefits, the claimant quit work contrary to a doctor’s release allowing her to return to full-time work, and the district court did not err in holding [...]