Legally Speaking Q&As
Honest Answers for Everyday Legal Concerns
Storm, or Flurry?
On Monday, eight inches of snow fell. On Wednesday, a tenth of an inch. Half an hour into the Wednesday weather event, as I walked across a dimly-lit parking lot, I slipped on ice. For weeks, ice had been accumulating in this parking lot. The owner’s only response was to call...
The Contested Step
In an apartment building, while walking downstairs from the second floor, I placed my foot on a step, and fell. Looking back, I saw that the step had a broken edge. Later in the day, my daughter took photographs of the steps from the second floor down, retracing my route. I re...
Horsing Around
In the middle of May, my daughter was playing in the school yard. The students were horsing around. One of them hurt Angel’s ankle. School personnel observed this event. They sent my daughter to the school nurse, who made a report. Until the Fall, I was not aware of the severity ...
A Hot Freezer
Three weeks ago, I bought a new refrigerator. Yesterday, a fire broke out in my kitchen. The Fire Department prepared a report. It said the origin was ‘refrigerator/freezer’. Says the report, “High concentration of charring and damage in and around the freezer unit.” I think...
Traffic Calming
After dark, my son was riding his bicycle on a straight road running north to south, with two lanes in each direction, divided by a double yellow line. The western side was bordered by storefronts, and the eastern side by parkland. The City had already received several letter...
Workers’ Compensation 8 : Special Employee
I am an experienced sheet metal mechanic and was recruited and hired by an agency to work at a manufacturer, pursuant to a purchase order agreement between the agency and the manufacturer. The agency provided my paycheck, carried workers' compensation, liability and unemployme...
Was It Trivial?
In New York City, the right heel of my shoe became stuck in a crack on the sidewalk. I tripped and fell. Within minutes, my friend took photographs.
Filled to Capacity
Carrying 47 passengers and 1 crew member, our tour boat capsized and sank. The boat had been subject to yearly state inspections. It was forty-one years old. At age 25, the boat’s canvas canopy had been replaced with a wooden one. Both before and after this modification, the ...
Stand Away From This Car
I was standing at the scene of a two-car collision. One car had already left the intersection. The driver of the other car was clearly shaken and hysterical. A police officer told her, “Move your car forward.” I was standing directly behind her car. She moved it backward i...
Finishing My Coffee
The roof of our home stood in need of a good power-washing. I called a handyman. Upon his request, I gave him our ladder, bleach and hose. Then I went back inside to finish my coffee. Soon I heard a thud: the ladder had slipped. I have no idea why.
On the Ledge
I am a window washer. I wear a safety belt. An adjustable wire runs through the belt, with hooks on each end. While standing inside, I hook one end of the wire to one of two anchors on each side of the window. Then I step onto the window ledge, hooking the other end to the se...
The Creaky Ladder
I was an electrical foreman, checking the 12-feet tall outdoor light poles at a large arena, using one of the arena’s eight-foot wooden A-frame ladders. Sometimes I would simply touch a bulb and give it a little tightening. At other times, I would need to fix a socket, spring, ...
Labor Law 2 : Roof Trough
At a power plant, my employer had contracted to remove insulation that covered pipes on the roof. The pipes were in a recessed area running the entire length of the roof. In the center of this recess was a trough, a yard wide and a foot deep, half full with a stream of hot indu...
Over the Top
For a building under construction, the builder had no employees, and everybody was an independent contractor. I was leaning over the top of my A-Frame ladder to receive a screw. It was being handed to me by another contractor. Either the ladder collapsed when the other contrac...
Tripping on the Sidewalk
In New York City, in an area of the sidewalk near a fire hydrant, my foot became caught. I tripped and fell. This area is a rectangular depression with an irregular asphalt surface, the size of a sidewalk flag. In it, close to one edge, next to the curb, is this fire hydrant. ...