Court Throws a Challenge Flag on Cowboy Fan’s $700,000 Verdict

A football fan may not see any of the $700,000 in damages awarded in a 2018 jury verdict against the Philadelphia Eagles over allegations of negligent security. The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently vacated the award in a ruling that “could prove instructive in other premises liability cases,” according to The Legal Intelligencer.

Patrick Pearson, who is a Dallas Cowboys fan, attended a matchup on Dec. 14, 2014, between the Eagles and Cowboys on the Eagles’ home turf, Lincoln Financial Field. That day, Pearson wore a Troy Aikman jersey, honoring the former Cowboys’ player-turned-commentator. He said in court papers that Eagles’ fans jeered at him while in line for the restroom, scuffled with him, and tossed his Cowboys cap into a urinal, PennLive.com reported.

Pearson suffered a fractured ankle and later underwent two surgeries. In 2016, he sued the Eagles, the field’s corporate owner, and the field’s security provider, accusing them of negligence because no guards were in or near the restrooms.

A jury in May 2018 awarded Pearson $700,000 in damages following a trial. However, in October 2019, state judges said that the lower court should have dismissed the case in favor of the Eagles.

Pearson had cited a 1984 state Supreme Court ruling in Feld v. Merriam,¹⁾Stewart J. Eisenberg not only assisted in trying this case but also retried the case in 1986 after the verdict was reversed by the PA Supreme Court in 1984. The second trial resulted in a $2.2 million verdict. which holds property owners liable for any foreseeable harm to visitors that the property owner doesn’t sufficiently prevent.

However, in Pearson’s case, a three-judge panel decided that the record did not support the claim that violent assaults or fighting was common in the restrooms. Rather, the majority opinion found that the defendants had “recognized this danger and addressed the issue” by sending guards to patrol the stands to stop any altercations or harassment there.

“Where a property owner knows or has reason to know, from past experience, that there is a likelihood of conduct on the part of third persons that would harm invitees, the property owner ‘may be under a duty to take precautions against it, and to provide a reasonably sufficient number of servants to afford a reasonable protection,’” Superior Court Judge Mary Murray wrote in the court’s majority opinion. “In this case, however, the record does not support the trial court’s conclusion that appellants were on notice that violent assaults regularly took place in the stadium’s restrooms or that appellants conducted their security program without reasonable care.”

However, Senior Judge Eugene Strassburger III penned a concurring opinion in which he noted that it would be more fair to hold a business responsible than an injured consumer. “[Injuries] such as these are foreseeable risks of conducting this type of business, and commercial businesses are in a far better financial position to absorb the cost by spreading the risk among thousands of customers,” he wrote.

Pearson could appeal this ruling to the state Supreme Court.

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Stewart J. Eisenberg not only assisted in trying this case but also retried the case in 1986 after the verdict was reversed by the PA Supreme Court in 1984. The second trial resulted in a $2.2 million verdict.

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Eisenberg Rothweiler Secures a $2,500,000 Jury Verdict for the Family of a Wheelchair-Bound Man Who Died After Falling On His Way Home From an Eye Exam

On July 11, 2015, William Pratt, a 75-year-old wheelchair-bound double amputee, visited the Wills Eye Emergency Department at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City Philadelphia. He sought medical attention for the significant pain he was feeling in his right eye.

Within 10 minutes of being discharged from his examination during which his pupils were dilated and he received an antibiotic ointment on his eye, he fell face-first down a set of outdoor concrete steps while strapped to his wheelchair.

Two weeks later, Mr. Pratt died from his injuries caused by that fall.

More than four years after his death, Mr. Pratt’s family finally saw justice served for him, with the help of Eisenberg Rothweiler attorneys Todd Schoenhaus and Josh Schwartz.

Recently, a Philadelphia jury awarded Mr. Pratt’s family $2,500,000 in damages against Wills Eye and Jefferson Hospital after a six-day trial.

Todd and Josh tried the case to the jury and secured the verdict.

The jury agreed with the family’s claims that the medical professionals who examined Mr. Pratt—including the triage nurse, the discharge nurse, and the attending physician—were negligent for:

1. Failing to advise Mr. Pratt of the danger of traveling home alone via his motorized wheelchair, given his impaired vision which became further compromised through the drops and ointment he received;
2. Failing to arrange transportation assistance for him by, for example, calling a family member or providing a cab voucher; and
3. Failing to document that they had instructed him accordingly.

Although no amount of money will bring Mr. Pratt back, Mr. Pratt’s family was pleased that the jury held the hospitals accountable for his tragic death.

You can read more about Todd’s and Josh’s winning efforts here in The Legal Intelligencer.

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The Legal Intelligencer spotlights Eisenberg Rothweiler’s work representing clients sexually abused by Boy Scout leaders

A recent front-page article in The Legal Intelligencer, the leading Pennsylvania daily newspaper covering the legal industry, discussed in detail the work Stewart Eisenberg and Josh Schwartz have done on behalf of their clients who allege they were sexually abused by Boy Scouts of America scoutmasters. The article focused on the impact state laws have on the ability for survivors of sexual abuse by scoutmasters to bring lawsuits against the Boy Scouts.

The article mentioned the lawsuit that Stewart and Josh filed in August 2019 in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on behalf of their client who alleges that he was assaulted hundreds of times by a former scoutmaster when he was a Boy Scout in Northeastern Pennsylvania in the 1970s.

The article also mentioned the large number of sex abuse lawsuits that Eisenberg Rothweiler and its partners on the Abused in Scouting legal team plan to file in the coming months against the Boy Scouts.

You can read The Legal Intelligencer’s article here.
 
If you are a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a leader in the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.abusedinscouting.com to learn more about your legal rights and to schedule a confidential free consultation.

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Eisenberg Rothweiler Proudly Supports Four Charitable Organizations

Eisenberg Rothweiler Proudly Supports Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, National Breast Cancer Coalition, Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation, and the Legal Clinic for the Disabled

At Eisenberg Rothweiler, we are not shy about giving back to the people, communities, and organizations we serve and support.

Four of the charitable organizations we proudly support are the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, the National Breast Cancer Coalition, the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation, and the Legal Clinic for the Disabled. The firm recently made notable donations to each.

Nancy Winkler led the firm’s donation to the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and sponsorship of the organization’s recent 44th Annual Evening of Hope 2019 Golden Gut Awards. Nancy’s long-standing support of the charity began as a result of her son’s battle with Crohn’s and her family learning firsthand through that experience how devastating the disease can be. Nancy continues to be active in the organization and serves on the committee for the annual Evening of Hope event, helping to raise funds to support research to improve the lives of those affected by the disease and to find a cure.

Ken Rothweiler led the firm’s donation to the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Ken’s relationship with the organization began years ago when his wife Linda battled breast cancer. Linda and Ken credit the cancer drug Herceptin with saving Linda’s life. The National Breast Cancer Coalition funded the research for Herceptin. Linda and Ken are active in the organization, with Linda serving on its Board of Trustees and working tirelessly on annual fundraisers in Los Angeles and New York City.

Dan Jeck led the firm’s donation to the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. The donation was made in the name of one of Dan’s dear friends who is an ovarian cancer survivor.

Stewart Eisenberg led the firm’s donation to the Legal Clinic for the Disabled. Stewart’s and the firm’s relationship with the organization dates back many years. The firm has been a major sponsor of the organization’s annual Fall Celebration.

For more information about these worthy causes, please visit https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/

http://www.breastcancerdeadline2020.org/homepage.html

https://sandyovarian.org/

https://lcdphila.org/

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National retailers are pulling Johnson & Johnson baby powder products from their stores

In the wake of Johnson & Johnson discovering that a bottle of its baby powder contained asbestos, CVS, Rite Aid, Target, and Walmart have pulled some or all of the 22-ounce bottles of Johnson and Johnson’s baby powder the stores stock on their shelves and online.

The retailers’ actions come on the heels of Johnson & Johnson’s recent announcement that it was recalling around 33,000 22-ounce bottles of baby powder in the United States after a private lab hired by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration found trace amounts of asbestos in samples taken from a 22-ounce bottle of baby powder purchased online.

In a shocking twist, the director of that private lab under contract with the FDA has been paid by Johnson & Johnson since 2017 to serve as an expert witness for the company in its defense against lawsuits claiming that the company’s talc products caused cancer in users of those products. In other words, the person that Johnson & Johnson hired to help convince juries that there was no asbestos in the company’s baby powder just found asbestos in that same baby powder.

In light of Johnson & Johnson’s recall, the Wall Street Journal reported that CVS is removing 22-ounce bottles of the company’s baby powder from store shelves and its online store. The retailer has also set up a system in its stores to prevent the sale of the 22-ounce baby powder bottles if a customer attempts to purchase it at a register or online. CVS has said that any customers who purchased the product from CVS should discontinue using it and can return it for a refund.

Reuters reported that Target has also removed all bottles of the product from its stores and Target.com following the recall. The news agency reported that Rite Aid has followed suit and informed its stores to remove all 22-ounce bottles of the baby powder from its shelves and to store them in a secure location. Walmart, too, has reportedly removed and blocked all potentially impacted baby powder.

The recalled lot number, #22318RB, can be found on the back of baby powder bottles. The FDA has said that consumers who purchased bottles with this lot on it should stop using it and contact Johnson & Johnson for a refund.

The timing of the retailers’ actions and Johnson & Johnson’s recall could not come at a worse time for the company. It is currently fighting thousands of lawsuits across the United States—totaling almost 15,000 claims—alleging that its Johnson’s Baby Powder and other talc products cause cancer.

Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck, P.C. is one of the law firms suing Johnson & Johnson over its alleged cancer-causing baby powder. In fact, our Nancy Winkler and Todd Schoenhaus recently defeated Johnson & Johnson’s efforts to move one of our clients’ Talc-related lawsuits to a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. In that lawsuit, our client alleges that her ovarian cancer was caused by the talc in Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder.

With the judge ruling in our client’s favor, her case is back in court in Philadelphia and will almost certainly be the first talc-related case to be tried before a Philadelphia jury.

If you used either Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder or Shower to Shower Powder regularly as a feminine hygiene product on your genital area and later received a diagnosis of ovarian cancer, then you may have grounds to file a lawsuit.

Please visit Eisenberg Rothweiler’s Talc information center to learn more information about the connection between the use of talc products and ovarian cancer, and to schedule a free, confidential consultation.

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New York Post article ties increase in Boy Scouts membership fees to sex abuse cases filed against it—including those brought by Eisenberg Rothweiler

On January 1, 2020, the Boy Scouts’ registration fee will almost double from $33 to $60 per scout. In a recent article, the New York Post attributed the increase to the sex abuse cases against the Boy Scouts, including former scouts represented by Eisenberg Rothweiler and the Abused in Scouting team.

Abused in Scouting is a group of lawyers from three law firms including Eisenberg Rothweiler who have banded together to take on the Boy Scouts. In recent months, the organization has provided more than 1,000 redacted client case files to the Boy Scouts. The files contain the names of leaders accused of sexually abusing children, along with their troop designations and timelines of their alleged abuse.

The New York Post article discusses the efforts of Abused in Scouting’s Tim Kosnoff and Andrew Van Arsdale in helping victims seek justice for the abuse they contend they suffered at the hands of the Boy Scouts and its leaders. The article mentions that Abused in Scouting has over 1,300 clients from 48 states and two territories, including over 100 clients in New York state and New Jersey alone.

You can read the New York Post’s article here. 

If you are a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a leader in the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.abusedinscouting.com to learn more about your legal rights and to schedule a confidential free consultation.

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The Los Angeles Times profiles Eisenberg Rothweiler client in story about California’s new sex abuse law

In an October 20 article about California extending its statute of limitations for sex abuse cases, the Los Angeles Times profiled one of Eisenberg Rothweiler’s clients who is preparing to sue the Boy Scouts of America. Our client alleges that he was sexually abused by his former assistant scoutmaster when he was a teenager.

The article notes that Abused in Scouting, a group of lawyers from three firms including Eisenberg Rothweiler who have banded together to take on the Boy Scouts, has provided about 1,000 redacted client case files to the Boy Scouts in recent months. The files contain the names of leaders accused of sexually abusing children, along with their troop designations and timelines of their alleged abuse.

You can read the Los Angeles Times’s article here.

If you are a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a leader in the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.abusedinscouting.com to learn more about your legal rights and to schedule a confidential free consultation.

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The Washington Post Shines Spotlight on Eisenberg Rothweiler’s Sexual Abuse Lawsuit Against the Boy Scouts of America

In an article about the future of the Boy Scouts of America, The Washington Post discussed the recent sexual abuse lawsuit we filed against the Boy Scouts.

You can read The Washington Post’s article here.

That lawsuit was filed this past August by our Stewart Eisenberg and Josh Schwartz in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on behalf of their client S.D. S.D. alleges that when he was a Boy Scout in Northeastern Pennsylvania in the 1970s, he was assaulted hundreds of times by a former scoutmaster.

The lawsuit was announced during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., hosted by Abused in Scouting. Abused in Scouting is a group of lawyers from three firms— including Eisenberg Rothweiler—who have banded together to take on the Boy Scouts.

At the press conference, Stewart announced that Abused in Scouting has almost 800(now more than 1000) former Boy Scouts as clients, ranging in age from 14 to 88. At least 450 alleged abusers of those former Scouts do not appear in the Boy Scouts’ ineligible volunteer files (also known as the “perversion files”).

Dozens of media outlets across the country covered the press conference, the lawsuit, and the disclosure of these previously unknown alleged abusers, including:

• ABC News
• CBS News
• CNN
• The Los Angeles Times
• NBC News
• NPR
• The Philadelphia Inquirer
• TIME
• USA Today
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Washington Post

If you are a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a leader in the Boy Scouts of America, please visit www.abusedinscouting.com to learn more about your legal rights and to schedule a confidential free consultation.

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Eisenberg Rothweiler Proudly Supports Ms. Wheelchair USA and the MossRehab Aphasia Center

At Eisenberg Rothweiler, we are not shy about giving back to the communities and people we serve. Two of the charitable organizations we proudly support are Ms. Wheelchair USA and the MossRehab Aphasia Center.

Our firm’s support of the Ohio-based Ms. Wheelchair USA organization began thanks to Katie Matelan.

Katie’s family retained Eisenberg Rothweiler after Katie was paralyzed in a car accident in 1994 when she was a toddler. Katie’s grandmother died in the crash. The firm settled Katie’s case against the manufacturers of the car and the dangerous two-point seatbelt Katie was wearing during the accident.

A few years after the settlement, Katie asked Stewart Eisenberg if he would support her in the Ms. Wheelchair USA competition. Stewart happily agreed to do so. Katie would then go on to win the crown the first year she competed!

“To have helped Katie and her family overcome the obstacles they faced is incredibly rewarding,” said Stewart. “We are happy to have supported Katie and the entire Ms. Wheelchair USA organization as they work to celebrate the achievements of women with disabilities.”

For more information about the Ms. Wheelchair USA organization, please visit their website.

Eisenberg Rothweiler’s support of the Pennsylvania-based MossRehab Aphasia Center stems from the assistance MossRehab’s therapists provided Marty Eisenberg, the father of Stewart and Fredric Eisenberg, after he suffered a stroke in 1979. The stroke left Marty with aphasia—a communication disorder that can affect speaking, reading, writing, and understanding language.

Reta, Stewart’s and Fredric’s mother, served as Marty’s primary caregiver and developed close relationships with two MossRehab therapists who would go on to formalize and found the Aphasia Center. After Marty’s passing, Reta became a devoted volunteer at the Center.

In 2012 the Reta Eisenberg Fund was established to support the Activity Center at the Aphasia Center. Just recently Reta’s Games Group, a weekly program where aphasia patients play games of all kinds, practice their language skills, and socialize, in a fun and welcoming environment was endowed by the Eisenbergs.

“Through her work at the Aphasia Center, my mother made a difference in the lives of many people,” said Stewart. “By supporting the Aphasia Center, we can honor her by supporting a fantastic organization that was near and dear to her heart.”

For more information about the MossRehab Aphasia Center, please visit their website.

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