Month: March 2019

New York, NY(Law Firm Newswire) March 5, 2019 – A New York high school teacher was suspended indefinitely for showing his students a video about due process related to sexual assault and rape on college campuses. The Bedford Central School District extended his original month-long suspension in connection to seven new charges.

Mike Poplardo taught economics at Fox Lane High School in Bedford for 30 years. He was suspended without pay after showing his senior classes a 41-minute Fox News documentary titled “The Truth About Sex and College.” The school district described the video as containing “inappropriate sexual content” and claimed it “presents a one-sided, biased political viewpoint.”

District Superintendent Dr. Christopher Manno sent Poplardo a letter on January 25 stating that his suspension “will continue until further notice” pending a second hearing in relation to the additional charges filed against him. The suspension was originally scheduled to end on February 1. The new charges were “misconduct and conduct unbecoming a teacher, misconduct, incompetence and insubordination.”

“All teachers and educators accused of misconduct have the right to a disciplinary hearing,” commented Peter Brill, a New York criminal defense attorney with Brill Legal Group, who is not involved with the case. “A hearing allows the accused individual to present their side of the case. It is important to have an experienced attorney by your side to aggressively protect your rights and interests. The quality of representation can have a significant impact on the severity of any penalties.

The new charges were leveled against Poplardo after he shared with his students’ parents a lesson plan that included a link to the Fox News video. According to the superintendent’s letter, the teacher was not allowed on school district property for the duration of his leave of absence except to attend a scheduled disciplinary hearing. Manno also prohibited Poplardo from discussing with his students the disciplinary charges and the circumstances surrounding his suspension.

Prior to his current suspension Poplardo had received near perfect evaluations during his time at the school. District officials said Poplardo refused a proposed settlement that consisted of a fine, training and counseling without any suspension.

Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) March 4, 2019 – Concussions are common when playing contact sports and even most of the fans understand there is some risk to the players involved. Broken bones are one-thing, serious head injuries are another.

Head injuries involved in contact sports have players, coaches and parents concerned. Head injuries kill. And if by chance they do not kill right away, they can do extensive and serious brain damage that ultimately may take a player’s life due to disease or by their own hand.

Between 2017 and 2018, at least 291 concussions were sustained in the National Football League (NFL). In English rugby, per 1,000 hours of play, there was, on average, one concussion per match, a three-fold increase from five years ago. Furthermore, a 2017 study of 111 deceased NFL players revealed the that 110 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

An in-depth study of the collisions players had sustained suggested that 20 to 45 percent of players run the risk of sustaining CTE. Severe, repetitive concussions greatly increase the risk of dementia, depression, cognitive issues, substance abuse and short-term memory loss. For spectators, the risk of serious brain injury does not seem to diminish the entertainment value of the sport. In fact, fans seem to relish the big hit or the big blow.

Despite the fact that concussions are prevalent in sports today, many improvements in how concussions are dealt with are helping injured players. What is more, awareness of head injuries in contact sports is growing. “Players are now more readily willing to express concern about a head injury, a fact that increases the ability to diagnose and treat a concussion sooner rather than later,” indicated Austin traumatic brain injury attorney, Brooks Schuelke. Coaches and medical personnel also pay more attention to players and look for signs of concussion. The increase in the ability to diagnose brain injury sooner is beneficial to players, especially since one of the bigger risks of permanent problems is athletes sustaining a second concussion before they are healed from the first.

The ability to diagnose concussions earlier is a huge success. However, with the advancements in football helmets, which reduce skull fractures, players are increasingly using their heads during games. This is a counterintuitive move that may mean concussions remain a serious issue in contact sports. And it is not just football or rugby that result in head injuries. It is other sports such as boxing, soccer, hockey, baseball and even cricket.

While a solution to the problem of sustaining concussions in contact sports is partway there, more action needs to be taken in contact sports. Human brains are not fully developed until the mid-20s, thus any head injuries sustained prior to that are often missed in high school players, a possibly deadly precursor in later life if the student chooses to continue to play contact sports.

“If you play contact sports and feel you are not being given proper training in relation to concussions, have sustained a concussion or suspect your training is not adequate to prevent head injuries, you can talk to me about your legal rights,” said Schuelke.

Tampa, FL (Law Firm Newswire) March 1, 2019 - A federal appeals court decided on January 29 that Vietnam War veterans who developed health problems due to Agent Orange exposure while serving on offshore ships were entitled to disability benefits. The ruling means more than 50,000 veterans nationwide may now be able to receive several thousand dollars in disability payments each month.

A 9-2 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed past court rulings backing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA has for years denied the disability claims of “blue water” Navy veterans who patrolled waters off Vietnam’s coastline. The department claimed they were ineligible for the same benefits as service members who were stationed inland.

“The court ruling marks an important step in the effort to win benefits for all veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, no matter where they were located,” commented Florida veterans lawyer David W. Magann. “The hope is that the VA will now extend disability payments to blue water Navy veterans. These service members, who sacrificed their own health, have been suffering from the effects of toxic exposure for a long time through no fault of their own.”

Currently blue water veterans can receive medical treatment for their illnesses through the VA. However, they cannot receive disability benefits unless they prove their health problems are directly linked to toxic exposure while on duty. That is not the case for other Vietnam veterans, who are awarded presumptive benefits for ailments linked to Agent Orange exposure. The U.S. military sprayed the cancer-causing chemical herbicide to destroy crops in Vietnam.

Advocates for blue water veterans cited research that indicated they were exposed to Agent Orange through contaminated water used for drinking and laundry on board their ships. VA officials have argued that the studies do not warrant presumption of Agent Orange exposure for the group and fought legislative efforts to reverse their decision. In their ruling, federal judges sided with advocates saying that obtaining proof of exposure is impossible and unjust. Blue water veterans should be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to showing their medical conditions are connected to toxic exposure.

The court decision centered on a case filed by 73-year-old Alfred Procopio Jr. who was stationed on a vessel off the Vietnam coast. Procopio was denied disability benefits for claims linked to diabetes and prostate cancer due to Agent Orange exposure. He was deemed ineligible because he was not located “on the landmass or the inland waters of Vietnam.”

VA spokesman Curt Cashour said the department is reviewing the recent court decision. The government may launch a Supreme Court appeal.