Posted on April 21, 2019 in Firm News

A Bethel church has been accused in a lawsuit of turning a blind eye to sexual assaults on young girls by its former youth minister. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in state Superior Court in Danbury, the family of a girl says leaders of the Walnut Hill Community Church allowed Matthew Anastasia to be in a position where he could get close to girls even though he had been arrested for harming one. "The minor plaintiff and her family looked to the church as a safe place to worship and find spiritual peace and instead a 13-year-old girl was deceived and harmed," said lawyer, with the Bridgeport law firm Tremont Sheldon P.C., who is representing the family. Church officials did not immediately return calls and emails for comment. Anastasia’s mother, Janice, is the Children’s Ministry Team coordinator for Walnut Hill, and his father, James, had served as a church elder. Both are named as defendants.

In July 2011, Anastasia was sentenced to one year in prison and five years’ probation after pleading guilty to fourth-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and unlawful restraint for assaults against the girl in 2009.At the time, he was on probation for forcing a 16-year-old girl to touch his genitals while parked in 2008. Anastasia refused to drive the girl home or let her out of the car until she complied, the warrant affidavit in that case states.Despite the 2008 crime and other allegations, the lawsuit states the church allowed Anastasia to remain in his position.All of the 2009 encounters occurred during church services, according to both Anastasia and the teen, court records show.The girl told police Anastasia "touched my private parts over my clothing, he tried to go further, and I told him I didn’t want to at all," she said in her statement. "Matt tried to take my pants down."Anastasia also sent the girl a photograph of his genitals as well as a video of him touching himself, court documents state."I cut off the romantic involvement because morally, it’s kind of sick and twisted," Anastasia told police, according to the affidavit.Last July Anastasia was arrested and charged with third-degree assault, disorderly conduct and violating a protective order.State’s Attorney Stephen Sedensky III declined to comment on a pending case, but police sources said the arrest involved a domestic violence incident with a girlfriend. By Dan Tepfer, CT Post.

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 Posted on November 16, 2018 in Car Accidents

While a lot of shopping is done online these days, the parking lots at local shopping centers and businesses still become extremely crowded. With those crowds often comes an increase in motor vehicle accidents.

What many shoppers want to know is, who is at fault in parking lot accidents? Better yet, knowing who has the right-of-way can help to avoid accidents in the first place.

In order to determine fault, we first have to know the right-of-way rules in parking lots. Although many drivers may never have realized it before, there are clear rules about which drivers must yield in parking lots. Obviously, knowing who has the right-of-way is important because there are so many cars going different directions in a contained area.

Pay attention to traffic signs: For many, traffic signs in parking lots just don’t have the same effect as they do out on the roadways. Some people even think they can completely disregard traffic signs in parking lots if they don’t see anyone else coming. This is illegal. Traffic signs in parking lots must be followed in order to prevent accidents. They are not optional and clearly show who has the right-of-way.

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 Posted on January 22, 2018 in Firm News

There are statistics and rankings about everything these days it seems, so it should come as no surprise to our readers that the 50 states have been ranked in order of how deadly the roads in those states are for senior-aged drivers. Fortunately, Connecticut ranked as one of the safest states for senior drivers.

According to a recent report, a study compared the rate of car accidents involving senior-aged drivers with the overall number of seniors in each state. In a somewhat shocking revelation – and, probably somewhat worrying for local readers – neighboring Rhode Island ranked as the deadliest state for senior drivers. The safest overall state is out west: New Mexico.

But, Connecticut was in the top 10 safest states for senior drivers. The study revealed that there is a 1.08 percent chance of deadly car accidents occurring in Connecticut involving senior-aged drivers. In particular, the study found that those states that have special restrictions when it comes to senior drivers are, not surprisingly, on the lower end of the number of fatal accidents for senior drivers.

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 Posted on December 01, 2017 in Firm News

People who are admitted to hospitals in Connecticut expect that they will receive the medical treatment they need, get time to recover and then be discharged without incident. However, a recent report indicates that patients may have something to worry about besides their health condition.

According to the recent report, instances of sexual abuse and assault at state hospitals in Connecticut are on the rise. In fact, there was a significant increase in the number of reports of sexual abuse or assault from 2015 to 2016. The report states that there were 10 reports of sexual assault in state hospitals in 2015. In 2016, there were 24.

Most of our readers know from seeing previous posts here that medical malpractice is actually quite common. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals make mistakes, prescribe the wrong medications and commit surgical errors. But now, patients in Connecticut have to be worried about these professionals committing sexual abuse and assault too?

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 Posted on September 01, 2017 in Firm News

Thousands of Connecticut residents live in nursing homes. Most of these people are elderly family members who need extra care and attention due to medical issues or simply the advancement of age. When the decision is made for an elderly resident to move to a nursing home, there is an expectation regarding the level of care and medical treatment they will receive. So, what is a "reasonable standard of care" in a nursing home?

For starters, it is important to recognize the duty that medical treatment providers owe to nursing home residents. These medical professionals have a duty to exercise due care and caution in rendering care and they are expected to follow the standards of the medical profession. The tricky part when it comes to those standards is proving what the standard is and how a medical professional breached that standard.

In legal cases involving allegations of nursing home abuse, the reasonable standard of care can be identified by an expert witness. This witness will typically analyze the facts and circumstances of the case and point out how the medical treatment provider should have proceeded but failed to do so.

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 Posted on March 20, 2017 in Firm News

This blog has talked about the many facets of medical malpractice cases in Connecticut. We’ve discussed the basics of negligence and how professional negligence standards differ from the normal ones. We’ve touched on some of the procedural requirements for filing a medical malpractice claim in Connecticut, including getting a medical opinion letter by a similar practitioner before filing the case. We’ve also pointed out that, many times, the results of medical malpractice can be devastating to victims in terms of increased medical costs, as well as increased pain and suffering.

It seems that debates in the media often revolve around the fact that medical malpractice law suits make health care more expensive. There seems to be a popular idea that these suits result in huge damage awards that cost the health care system money. This is reinforced by the fact that news reports tend to focus on the biggest cases. However, the facts on medical malpractice awards in Connecticut are a bit different.

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 Posted on February 07, 2017 in Firm News

We’ve previously discussed many aspects of premises liability law in the state of Connecticut. Readers may remember that, in many cases, plaintiffs will attempt to recover under a negligence theory when they are injured on someone else’s property. Negligence requires a legal duty to the injured person, and we’ve touched on the various statuses people in Connecticut can have when on another’s land, namely, trespasser, licensee, and invitee. While the exact duties a landowner or possessor has to each of these types of individuals will vary, one component of a premises liability case usually remains the same: notice.

Notice is a legal term that indicates a party is aware of some fact, usually one upon which he or she can take action. In premises liability in Connecticut, notice generally applies to the land possessor and whatever hazard it is that the injured party claims caused the injury. The basic rule is that a property owners are not liable if they were not on notice that the hazardous condition existed.

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 Posted on January 18, 2017 in Car Accidents

Between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, late December is a time for celebration in many Connecticut households. People get together with family, or perhaps head out with friends to bars or clubs to let off some steam after a long year, and welcome the reset that people assume a change in the calendar numbers will provide. As with most of the United States, alcoholic beverages often play a significant role in these celebrations. At times like this, even otherwise responsible people may slip and decide to operate a motor vehicle after having had a few too many drinks.

It has been a focus of society for some time now to curb the instances of intoxicated driving and the many injuries, deaths, and the property damage that it often creates. While one way this is done is by enacting criminal laws, another way is to create mechanisms for those who have been harmed by a drunk driver to recoup some of the losses that they have suffered. The main way this is done is through a civil lawsuit against the responsible parties.

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 Posted on January 13, 2017 in Medical Malpractice

States like Connecticut often have conflicting policy outcomes that need to be reconciled when they are passing laws that affect their citizens. For example, states have an interest in protecting vulnerable people, like patients with medical problems, from being injured by the negligence of health care providers, and to allow them to seek compensation when they are. This is why there are laws regarding medical malpractice. However, some argue that the state also has an interest in keeping the provision of health care services viable, which would be difficult if doctors and other providers were eternally looking out for possible lawsuits over possible mistakes made in the past. Further, legal cases become harder to make as time passes, as evidence gets lost or becomes stale, and witnesses have a harder time remembering specifics.

For these reasons, all states, Connecticut included, pass laws called ‘statutes of limitation’ that put a cap on how long an injured party can wait before filing a lawsuit based upon an injury caused by another. This statute applies to medical malpractice cases as well. General Statute Section 52-584 is the law that applies in Connecticut. According to it, suits for damages based on negligence or medical malpractice must be filed within two years of the date of the injury.

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 Posted on December 13, 2016 in Firm News

If Connecticut residents are aware of the term mandatory reporter, they likely tend to think of it in terms of the reporting of child abuse. People such as teachers and other professionals who work with children are required by law to report suspicions of the abuse of their charges to the proper authorities. However, the state also requires certain individuals to report the fact that elderly or disabled people are being neglected or abused in an institutional setting like a nursing home.

According to the state’s Department of Public Health, various people who work with or around patients in a nursing home or long term care facility need to report incidents of suspected abuse or neglect. This includes not only the obvious healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses and other providers, but also orderlies, administrators and other nursing home employees. Further, it includes people who are there for specific reasons, such as specialized doctors like optometrists and dentists, as well as police officers, social workers, physical therapists and clergy persons.

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