Warshauer Law Group is pleased to announce the promotion of associate Darl H. Champion, Jr. to partner. He has been with the firm since March 2010 and his practice focuses on representing plaintiffs in catastrophic injury and death cases.
Mr. Champion attended Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law, where he was a Managing Editor of the Mercer Law Review, a member of the Moot Court Board, an inductee into the Brainerd Currie Honor Society, and a recipient of the Faculty Award for Outstanding Senior. After receiving his Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, he worked for two years as law clerk for the Honorable Hugh Lawson, United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. In each of the last two years, Georgia Super Lawyers magazine has recognized him as a Rising Star in the area of plaintiff personal injury litigation.
On Thursday April 19, 2012 a United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia jury returned a $20,559,004.00 verdict to compensate our client for the loss of both legs caused by a runaway railroad car. The rail car was delivered to the General Mills cereal factory in Covington, Georgia by CSX Transportation. It rolled away from where it had been parked and hit two other cars that the plaintiff was working with. All three rail cars rolled over the plaintiff. The runaway car rolled away because its handbrake failed to hold it in place. Defendant CSX blamed the plaintiff for failing to apply the handbrake. Through extensive investigation and analysis of the evidence and of how handbrakes operate, we were able to prove that the plaintiff, who had no memory of the event because of his extensive injuries, applied the handbrake properly. The verdict will protect our client's future and hopefully encourage CSX to adopt better policies relating to handbrake inspection and maintenance.
April 22, 2011
It appears that Norfolk Southern has told Aetna to send bills for on-the-job injuries to the NS Claims Department in Norfolk, Virginia. We have clients who have received a denial of benefits from Aetna that reads,
IT APPEARS THIS CLAIM IS RELATED TO AN ON-DUTY INJURY. PLEASE FORWARD THIS CLAIM TO NORFOLK SOUTHERN CASUALTY DEPT. THREE COMMERCIAL PLACE, NORFOLK, VA 23510 FOR FURTHER CLAIM REVIEW
After trying to treat his back injury conservatively for months, this client was left with no choice but to have back surgery. The surgery was scheduled for Tuesday, July 6, 2010, at 6:30 a.m. On Friday, July 2, 2010, at about 4:30 p.m., Aetna told our client's surgeon that they would not pay the claim unless the surgeon would represent that the surgery was not work related. The surgeon refused to do so, Aetna denied the claim, and the surgery had to be rescheduled.
We have several other instances where railroad worker's claims have been denied or delayed due to Norfolk Southern instructing Aetna, and we presume other health benefits providers, to deny claims for on-duty injuries.
While we are not familiar with the details of each applicable Agreement with Norfolk Southern, we do know that railroad workers have a bargained right for healthcare. Norfolk Southern appears to have taken this right away unilaterally so that it can control the railroad worker's medical care and have access to the worker's healthcare records. This is not right.
We have made the UTU aware of this situation, and they are investigating. We have attached the letter from International President Mike Futhey: