Five Things You Need to Know: 11/9, Friday Edition

Sarasota, FL (WorkersCompensation.com) -

1) Opioid Battles: Boise Joins List of Cities Across the US Filing Lawsuits Against Pharmaceutical Companies

“The City of Boise announced Thursday that it is filing a lawsuit against 20 pharmaceutical companies for their alleged role in the ongoing escalation of the national and local opioid crisis,” writes Tami Tremblay of KTVB. Boise has joined a national fight involving many other cities against pharmaceutical companies. 110 people died due to opioids in Boise last year. The three main pieces of the lawsuit include accusations against the companies for “downplaying the risk of addiction,” “deceit” over health risk information given to providers, and failure to investigate instances of the drugs appearing on the black market.  

2) Past Disneyworld Dilemmas Shut Down Possibilities of Driverless Shuttles

While it appeared Disneyworld was in talks last spring to make driverless shuttles a reality, online auto media outlet Jalopnik discovered suggestions that the project was shut down from the beginning, writes Jesse DeRosa of Walt Disney World News Today. Apparently trade secret litigations may have resulted involving the partnership between Disney and Phoenix Wings/Meridian Autonomous, before the companies could even present their projects. Disney was interested in about 100 of the driverless cars to be utilized all over the Florida campus. “…Meridian claims that Phoenix Wings scammed them out of intellectual property and millions of dollars worth of business deals. Meridian is now suing Phoenix for $70 million in damages,” per the article. “Of course Phoenix Wings has a different view, as the company claims that Meridian initially offered to acquire Phoenix in 2016. However, Meridian sent a final deal in spring 2017 that Phoenix declined, claiming that the original terms of the deal had been greatly altered.”

3) Illegal Pet Alligator Taken from Residence in MO

Kansas City animal control officers had to risk their limbs, and maybe their lives, to remove a 200-lb alligator from a …swamp, zoo, or neighborhood, you ask?! This time, the officers removed what the alligator’s owner (Alex Casey) called a 7-ft “dog” of sorts this week from his residence, writes River Donaghey (WTKR is referenced in the story). “…It took four animal control workers to finally wrestle the gator out of a small pool and into submission, so they could safely transport it off the property. But Casey's not letting the gator go without a fight,” per the article. Casey vowed to fight to get the alligator back, who apparently behaves like a lap dog. But “Catfish,” named by Casey, doesn’t seem like any dog I’ve ever seen.

4) Passenger Gets Pulled from a Plane at LAX for Shouting on Flight

Yet another passenger making a flight crew nervous has made the news again, according to the New York Post. An unidentified woman was taken off a plane in Los Angeles after taunting flight attendants and passengers. The whole scene was caught on camera. “…Footage of her tirade shows her using racist and homophobic slurs against another traveler,” per the media outlet. The shouting lasted about an hour, according to passengers on the plane, and Kelly-Ann Mills of the Mirror (UK). “…The clip was filmed on November 2 on an internal flight in the USA, although it is not clear on what airline or where the flight had departed from,” writes Mills.  

5) TX Lawsuit: Drilling Co. Employee Requests $1M in Damages After Allegedly Being Hit on the Job

Houston resident Breen De Bree has filed a lawsuit against Pacific Drilling Services Inc., Pacific Drilling Inc. and Rex Covens, requesting $1 million in damages after he was allegedly hit by another co-worker, writes Kristine Gonzales-Abella of the Southeast Texas Record. “…According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that on May 26, he was working aboard Pacific Santa Ana for Pacific Drilling Services when he was struck in the face with a scaffolding pole by his co-worker, defendant Covens. He alleges he sustained injuries to his head, mouth, neck and teeth and incurred significant loss of earnings and medical expenses,” per the article. De Bree requests trial-by-jury, monetary damages, and any other relief.

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