Author: foresterhaynie

Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson is no stranger to being saddled with large jury verdicts for their contaminated and faulty products. In Manhattan, a jury returned a verdict against Johnson & Johnson for $325 million payable to Donna Olson and her husband, who’ve claimed that asbestos-contaminated talc in the company’s powder led Ms. Olson to develop mesothelioma, a deadly disease.

The jury awarded the plaintiff (Ms. Olson) $25 million in compensatory damages and $300 million in punitive damages, meaning that $300 million was awarded strictly to punish Johnson & Johnson for their compromised product.

Johnson & Johnson has remained adamant that its talcum powder have never contained asbestos, and are safe for use. This statement was contradicted by evidence revealed at trial, proving that Johnson & Johnson possessed internal documents showing that their talcum powder products contained asbestos in 1957.

Johnson & Johnson faces more than 14,000 lawsuits claiming its talc-based powders “Shower to Shower” and “Johnson’s Baby Powder” have caused ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. In December of 2018, J & J lost their bid to reverse a $4.7 billion dollar verdict awarded to 22 women that had developed ovarian cancer.

Even in the face of a staggering number of lawsuits and jury verdicts, Johnson & Johnson has maintained the stance that these verdicts are a result of overzealous plaintiff’s lawyers providing misinformation, rather than the numerous documents indicating the corporate giant has known of this product contamination for more than six decades.

It’s common knowledge that the Catholic Church has been steeped in controversy for several decades. Numerous allegations of sexual assault and the cover ups of those assaults are now public knowledge. Since then, the Church has expressed a desire to be accountable for their mistakes and to turn a new leaf, but this recent report has revealed the opposite.

The report, “CHURCH INFLUENCING STATE: How the Catholic Church Spent Millions Against Survivors of Clergy Abuse,” reveals a huge push on the part of the Catholic Church to lobby against the interest of the victims of clergy sex abuse. Contrary to their public stance, the Catholic Church has not only continued to invest in lobbying against the interests of victims, their investments in this area have actually increased.

In New York, for example, the Catholic Church spent more than 2 million dollars lobbying against the Child Victims Act, which was ultimately signed into law earlier this year. The act increases the age at which victims are able to sue from 23 to 55, giving the victims more time to seek justice.

In Pennsylvania, the Catholic Church has spent over 5 million dollars to keep the existing restrictions to the statute of limitations in place, that keep victims from bringing their claims against their abusers.

The proposed amendments in the report would benefit all victims of child sex abuse, not only those abused under the care of the Catholic Church. And yet, more than $10 million of the Catholic Church’s money has now gone to fighting statute of limitation extensions for those victims, as well.

In August of 2018, Pope Francis stated that “The pain of the victims and their families is also our pain, and so it is urgent that we once more reaffirm our commitment to ensure the protection of minors and of vulnerable adults.” However, it seems that the Church has a long way to go to reach the accountability that it publicly asks of itself.

More and more states have reformed their laws, or are at least proposing amendments to current law, in order to ensure that child sex abuse victims get the justice they need. As these states do this, legislatures make it easier for these victims to have their day in court and hold their abusers responsible.

Many people have been victims of clergy sex abuse, and here at Forester Haynie Law Firm, we look to help those innocent people out. The experienced attorneys at Forester Haynie will seek justice for those that have been wronged by the institutions that they put their trust in. If you or someone you know were victims of sex abuse as a child, please contact Forester Haynie, PLLC.

For more details, read the full article here.

Bayer is facing an uphill battle in the wake of three U.S. jury findings that Roundup causes cancer. In one California case, the jury awarded $2 billion to a couple who used Roundup throughout their property. The jury determined that the Roundup ingredient Glyphosate was the reason both the husband and wife were diagnosed with different types of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Bayer has decided to appeal all three recent jury verdicts. The juries’ decisions contradict the EPA’s stance that Glyphosate is not a carcinogen and not a risk to public health when used in accordance with its current label. However, the EPA’s stance is contrary to the World Health Organization findings that Glyphosate contributes to cancer.

While Bayer’s legal counsel believes the EPA’s stance will help them win their appeals on all three jury verdicts, Bayer is nonetheless suffering dramatic losses—13,400 plaintiffs have filed lawsuits against Bayer and more lawsuits are being filed every day. Additionally, Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto has led to a loss of at least $44.76 BILLION in market value, which exceeds the price Bayer paid for Monsanto. Attorney Matthew Haynie of Forester Haynie PLLC says “Large companies are always trying to find ways not to compensate victims for the injuries their products cause, and that’s where we come in.”

The legal team at Forester Haynie PLLC is dedicated to fighting companies that cause the suffering of innocent victims. If you or someone you know has developed cancer and has used Roundup, please contact us immediately.

Forester Haynie has filed an FLSA lawsuit against Southstar LLC on behalf of Warehouse Supervisors. The lawsuit on file alleges that Southstar failed to pay our clients overtime in compliance with federal law because Southstar:

• Misclassified Warehouse Supervisors as exempt from overtime pay; and
• Paid Warehouse Supervisors a Salary, but no overtime pay.

Our clients have indicated that they often worked 50+ hours per week while employed as Warehouse Supervisors.  We hope to make sure that all eligible Warehouse Supervisors are notified about the lawsuit. If Forester Haynie provides sufficient information to the court, we may be authorized to send out notice to all eligible individuals letting them know about the case and their right to join the suit.  To assist the investigation or to learn more, please fill out the form below.