Blog Post

Long Term Disability Under ERISA – Claimants Beware

  • By Rick Woods
  • 29 Jun, 2014
A basic tenet of Long Term Disability Plans (“LTD”) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ( ERISA) is that a plan participant may bring a lawsuit on a claim for wrongfully denied benefits only after exhausting the plan’s administrative claims process. Recently, the United States Supreme Court has held that an ERISA plan can start the applicable […]
Employee Retirement Income Security Act
ERISA
By Rick Woods 20 May, 2021
I recently took part in a focus group with Sach Oliver, of Bailey and Oliver of Bentonville, Arkansas for guidance on a case. Sach does a good job in putting together a focus group and is a great moderator. I recommend his services. For those of you who have a small case and the money […]
By Rick Woods 13 May, 2019
1. Do not discuss your collision with anyone except your attorney and his staff. If you are contacted by anyone, you should immediately notify them that you are being represented by an attorney and request their name and telephone number. Give them your attorney’s name and telephone number and ask them to contact him directly. […]
By Rick Woods 14 Jan, 2019

We have all seen the car that wanders across traffic lanes erratically moving down the road causing a safety risk to all on the roadway.  As you pull by this slowly moving and meandering vehicle there is inevitably some person on their phone reading or sending a text.  In the now society that we live in, it just doesn’t seem that the message can wait until the driver is, well, not driving.  

Recently, there was an estimate of Crash Risk carried out by Thomas Dingus, Richard Hanowski, and Sheila Klaure, called Estimating Crash Risk .  The research included “Naturalistic driving research”, which involves video cameras and “black box” type readings to precisely measure participants of a study as they would normally drive.  The information includes driver recordings right up to impact in car crashes and close-calls.  In essence, the results provide real life occurrences.

The research revealed that listening and talking on cell phones while driving is not particularly risky for standard consumer automobiles.  The results did show that texting, typing, reading, dialing, and reaching for a phone create clear and present dangers to the driver and others on the roadway.  The research concluded that vehicle manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers need to focus on minimizing interaction with devices while operating a vehicle, thereby minimizing eyes-off-road time.  This seems to be a no-brainer.  Keep your eyes on the road, but there is more to it than that.  Distraction is more than just visual.  Broken concentration where one is going back and forth from roadway to device appears to cause significant risk for a car crash.  The research project suggests installing simple interfaces that lock out features while the vehicle is in motion as well as the use of auditory or voice interfaces. 

By Rick Woods 05 Dec, 2018

A Washington County Justice of the Peace has filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Washington County Arkansas located in Fayetteville against County Judge Joseph Wood and other county officials over alleged violations of Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) [1]

FOIA was first promulgated in 1967. Its purpose is to insure a vital democratic society by requiring that public business be performed in an open and public manner so that electors shall be advised of the conduct of public business by elected officials, and as such to allow the electorate or their representatives to learn and report on such activity. [2]

See the 5 News Online Article Here.

The complaint alleges that the Judge’s Chief of Staff, Carl Gales in addition to his duties as Chief of Staff continues to work in a private sector job as the Vice President of KAS Gales Company, Consulting Engineers located near the Fayetteville area. The complaint alleges that since becoming the Judge’s Chief of Staff, Gales has continued to perform outside work for his private firm despite being a full time employee of the county. Some of Gales work included work for the City of Tontitown as a representative engineer.

 

The complaint states:

 

In 2018, Washington County publicly posted on its website an Invitation to Bid,

RFP 2018-10 “Asphalt Overlay Construction,” seeking proposals from qualified vendors to complete overlays on approximately 27,130 linear feet of existing asphalt surfaces on South Klenc Road, Ervin Beeks Road, and Rocky Creek Road. The scope of work for the South Klenc Road portion of the RFP stated approximately 13,130 linear feet will be overlaid “beginning in Tontitown, at Highway 412 West intersection until the intersection at Arbor Acres Rd.” This section of Klenc Road is located in the city limits of Tontitown. KAS Gales Company is located at 18772 Harmon Road in Washington County, which is also where Gales resides. This address is located near the intersection of Harmon Road and Arbor Acres Road, approximately 1.5 miles from the overlay work to be completed on South Klenc Road pursuant to Washington County RFP 2018- 10. [3]

See the Complaint Here.

The Plaintiff, being a JP questioned why the County would be overlaying a road located within the city limits of Tontitown. The Plaintiff sought to inquire about this issue in an open budget meeting, but could not get any answers from the County Judge, Gales, or the chair of the budget committee, the suit alleges. As such the Plaintiff sent a FOIA request to the named defendants on November 15th, 2018, seeking public information pertaining to the overlay of road within Tontitown’s city limits and near Gales home. The suit also involves the Plaintiff seeking official county photos from an official county Veteran’s presentation. The suit alleges that there has been no response to the Plaintiff’s FOIA request. The Plaintiff seeks damages allowed under FOIA and the right to inspect and copy “Public Records.”

"Public records" are defined as writings, recorded sounds, films, tapes, electronic or computer-based information, or data compilations in any medium required by law to be kept or otherwise kept and that constitute a record of the performance or lack of performance of official functions that are or should be carried out by a public official or employee, a governmental agency, or any other agency or improvement district that is wholly or partially supported by public funds or expending public funds. All records maintained in public offices or by public employees within the scope of their employment shall be presumed to be public records. [4]

Except as otherwise exempted by law all public records shall be open to inspection and copying by any citizen of the State of Arkansas during the regular business hours of the custodian of the records so long as the request is sufficiently specific to enable the public custodian to locate the records with reasonable effort. [5]

 

Any citizen denied the rights granted to him or her by FOIA may appeal to the circuit court of the residence of the aggrieved party and is entitled to a hearing within seven (7) days of filing a suit seeking compliance with FOIA. [6]   FOIA also involves a mechanism for obtaining costs and attorney fees if the Plaintiff substantially prevails on a claim for denial of rights under FOIA. [7]

This suit outlines why FOIA is necessary to a democratic society. If the allegations be true, it raises questions about the use of taxpayer funds for public official’s private interests.

Possible Criminal Charges

Each of the Defendants could potentially face criminal charges. Any person who negligently violates any of the provisions of FOIA shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. [8]

Rick Woods is a lawyer in Fayetteville, Arkansas handling most civil litigation issues, including FOIA claims, tort claims, environmental claims, construction, real estate, and death and injury claims. If you would like to discuss a claim, please call (479) 301-6423 for a free consultation.



[1] AR Code Ann § 25-19-101 et seq.

[2] AR Code Ann. § 25-19-102

[3] See Complaint paragraphs ¶¶ 10 -11.

[4] AR. Code Ann. § 25-19-103 (7)(A)

[5] AR. Code Ann. § 25-19-105

[6] AR Code Ann § 25-19-107

[7] Id at (d) and (e).

[8] AR. Code Ann. § 25-19-104

By Rick Woods 16 Apr, 2016
Before applying you should consider that the law defines disability as the inability to do any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than […]
By Rick Woods 28 Mar, 2016
The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation has specified uniform, national requirements for vehicles currently equipped with event data recorders (EDRs). The regulations can be found in the Transportation section of the Federal Register at section 563. EDR’s collect and store data and allow for retrieval of information after an auto accident. This information […]
By Rick Woods 13 Mar, 2016
WHAT IS MY PERSONAL INJURY CASE WORTH The discussion to follow explores the value of an individual’s personal injury claim. Each case is different and there is no pre-determined value. The information contained herein should not be construed as legal advice, but is instead intended to be for informational purposes. Anyone with a personal injury […]
By Rick Woods 01 Mar, 2014
The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHSTA) is investigating why General Motors (GM) delayed recalling vehicles despite knowin that faulty ignition switches were causing accidents, in some instances causing death of the occupants. G GM started recalling vehicles earlier this year. However, GM has known of the problem for years. The GM recall covers the 2005-2007 […]
By Rick Woods 25 Jul, 2013
On appeal from the District Court of Northern Iowa, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a trial court decision enforcing insurance coverage. Amera-Seiki Corp. v. The Cincinnati Ins. Co., No. 12-2739 (8th Cir. July 23rd, 2013). The Plaintiff purchased a lathe from Taiwan and had it shipped to the U.S. The lathe was destroyed […]
By Rick Woods 12 Oct, 2012
In July of this year Stryker Orthopaedics, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of medical devices recalled two of its hip system implants, the Rejuvenate and ABG II. These implants have been placed in about 20,000 patients world-wide. The systems fail because with time and the obvious movement of implant recipients, the implants flake and […]
Show More
Share by: