Firefighter is disabled for life. Awarded 13 million dollars

[nick1985]

Poor guy

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ebc_1281196160

 

[slayer202]

what a cock sucker

 

[waggy]

at least they have him on video. hope they nail the bastard.

 

[speg]

He fell through the pole hole? How convenient...

 

[Lifted]

Poor guy indeed. I can tell from his awful dancing and by the way he was swing that axe that his is in serious pain.

 

[BoomerD]

Guys like that make it harder for the rest of us who collect work comp.

 

[Miramonti]

If that's the right guy....what a mudder frickin douchebag.

 

[SKORPI0]

"
Kilpatrick said Jones never told the jury he could not perform most ordinary functions on good days and stressed it was the consideration of Jones' brain injury that got him the substantial award. The case was about the brain injury," said Kilpatrick. "Mark gets lost going to places he's gone all his life."

So, give him a GPS not $12.75 million. Or maybe charge him with tax evasion and put his ass to jail.:sneaky:

 

[Perknose]

Ha ha. As a PI, I used to nail sleazeballs like him. It was by far the easiest and safest (if boring) work I did.

Mostly daytime. Relatively safe, non-crack neighborhoods. Generally no contact. Almost no risk of violence.

The one possible exception was when I was tailing this guy for a couple of days down narrow residential streets in Philly which necessitated me staying close enough that there was a high risk of me being made.

Then, THAT VERY WEEK this same guy was in the news as being arrested in a road rage incident for killing a women driver with a single clean shot from his moving car through her open passenger window from a Schuylkill Expressway off ramp into her moving car still on the expressway.

Luck? Skill? I'm glad I never had to find out!

 

[nick1985]

Poor guy indeed. I can tell from his awful dancing and by the way he was swing that axe that his is in serious pain.

Yeah, he was cringing as he threw the horseshoe. He deserves every penny

 

[JEDI]

Guys like that make it harder for the rest of us who collect work comp.

how the hell do u collect $13M for falling thru the pole hole as a fire fighter?!

it's like hitting your head on a crane bucket that you parked there as a crane operator w/o hardhat on a construction site. suing and winning.

WTF?!

 

[dfuze]

Hope they get it back, with interest

 

[MrMatt]

Ha ha. As a PI, I used to nail sleazeballs like him. It was by far the easiest and safest (if boring) work I did.

Did you ever work for insurance companies? I did some IT work at an insurance company one time, in a workman's comp type division. They used to hire PI's all the time to follow the people.

Interesting side story: I noticed after a few days that of the records I saw, almost 70% of them were chiropractors. I asked if this was some type of error within their system. The management said no, and that now I knew why so many people think Chiropractors were quacks. It was unbelievable the time they had to waste tracking down and debunking these people's stories.

 

[JEDI]

Did you ever work for insurance companies? I did some IT work at an insurance company one time, in a workman's comp type division. They used to hire PI's all the time to follow the people.

Interesting side story: I noticed after a few days that of the records I saw, almost 70% of them were chiropractors. I asked if this was some type of error within their system. The management said no, and that now I knew why so many people think Chiropractors were quacks. It was unbelievable the time they had to waste tracking down and debunking these people's stories.

wait.. chiropractors themselves were claiming injury?!

if not, then why follow the chiropractors?

 

[Hacp]

Great, 13 million taxpayer dollars wasted.

 

[MotionMan]

I just converted an hour of VHS to DVD of similar video from one of my old, old cases. It was one of my favorites, so I saved the tape.

How do I post it somewhere? It is in three 1gb files entitled VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB and VTS_01_3.VOB. There is no sound.

MotionMan

 

[SirStev0]

Okay, I'm sorry, but I really don't see how from these videos that all you guys are immediately jumping to him being a scumbag screwing the system.

If he had a brain injury that left him functional yet highly mentally compromised he would be disabled too. Just because he can swing an axe and dance badly doesn't mean that he can't have the mental capacity of someone over the age of 5.

I love how our society has become so engrossed in badmouthing people and assuming the worst.

I have spent the last 8 weeks on my family med rotation, and believe me I have seen plenty of people trying to "play the system" but I have also seen plenty more legitimate cases of people who are permanently disabled and do need help.

Also, I am guessing he won the 13 million in a court case which probably had to do with negligence by the city or state or whatever in maintaining the manhole or whatever he fell into.

 

[Perknose]

Did you ever work for insurance companies? I did some IT work at an insurance company one time, in a workman's comp type division. They used to hire PI's all the time to follow the people.

Interesting side story: I noticed after a few days that of the records I saw, almost 70% of them were chiropractors. I asked if this was some type of error within their system. The management said no, and that now I knew why so many people think Chiropractors were quacks. It was unbelievable the time they had to waste tracking down and debunking these people's stories.

Yeah, and one of the problems is that they never wanted to pay what it costs for a proper surveillance team, which at a minimum consists of a van with a camera guy and a second "pursuit" vehicle to tag team follow if the guy goes mobile.

Especially with just one, but even with two tail vehicles, it is very difficult not to be "made" when following somebody if they're aware that they might be followed.

And their lawyers would obviously teach them the rudimentary tricks to shake or make a tail, such as starting off in one direction and then suddenly reversing that direction to see if anyone behind you did the same!

But anyway, I never much liked this kind of work. My specialty, and I had lawyers all over the city (of Phily) and beyond calling me for this, was finding people who needed to be found and didn't want to be, simply because I would actually risk life and limb to go deep into 5th and Zimbabwe @ 3am to find them, whereas the previous one or two investigators hired would blow them off and not do the job!

This, even though the other PI's were all armed manly ex-police or ex-military types anyway. As a matter of principle, I refused to go armed. If you carry a weapon, you had better be committed to using it to kill someone, else you're just part of the problem. A long time ago, I had had more than my fill of that shit, and simply stubbornly refused to do that anymore.

It was bucking the odds, to be SURE, but it was what I did. And, yeah,. quite a number of times I had guns pointed at me or even poked in stomach by guys who were pretty serious about making their point.

One thing you have to remember is that guys who have been through the system (in jail) DO NOT want to go back. Also, when anyone sees a lone white guy in a bomber jacket but a tie at 3 am in the darkest hood, they are simply going to give you some decent respect for a least a while because they just don't know WHO the fuck you are, but assume you know why you're there and what you're doing.

Also, you may not be able to glean this from my posting persona, but I treated EVERYONE with open but measured friendliness, and, most important, respect. This helps more than you could possibly ever know.

Finally, for whatever reason, I wasn't physically scared. Don't forget, we are descended from apes and can SMELL fear, which we instinctively and unconsciously take as weakness, and the more primitive among us react accordingly.

LOL, the big manly types would go in with the typical cops' overbearing, "Look, buster, I'm in charge" type of bluster . . . BECAUSE THEY WERE SCARED! So, they provoked violent reactions! People who could have helped them with info also clammed right up.

People TALKED to me, and I always eventually found out where Leroy was living and when he was usually around. It still amazes me how much info people will tell you, a complete stranger, if you are simply respectful and open and friendly.

Still and all, I was bucking the odds and I knew it. So, when my wife Jessie, who had been begging me for years to quit, died, I fucking well quit that business cold. I got calls from lawyers for years and years afterwards, asking me to take cases. I never did.

 

[techs]

Eh, a bad egg. I have a lot of respect for firemen, though.

 

[thepd7]

Guys like that make it harder for the rest of us who collect work comp.

Yeah, and one of the problems is that they never wanted to pay what it costs for a proper surveillance team, which at a minimum consists of a van with a camera guy and a second "pursuit" vehicle to tag team follow if the guy goes mobile.

Especially with just one, but even with two tail vehicles, it is very difficult not to be "made" when following somebody if they're aware that they might be followed.

And their lawyers would obviously teach them the rudimentary tricks to shake or make a tail, such as starting off in one direction and then suddenly reversing that direction to see if anyone behind you did the same!

But anyway, I never much liked this kind of work. My specialty, and I had lawyers all over the city (of Phily) and beyond calling me for this, was finding people who needed to be found and didn't want to be, simply because I would actually risk life and limb to go deep into 5th and Zimbabwe @ 3am to find them, whereas the previous one or two investigators hired would blow them off and not do the job!

This, even though the other PI's were all armed manly ex-police or ex-military types anyway. As a matter of principle, I refused to go armed. If you carry a weapon, you had better be committed to using it to kill someone, else you're just part of the problem. A long time ago, I had had more than my fill of that shit, and simply stubbornly refused to do that anymore.

It was bucking the odds, to be SURE, but it was what I did. And, yeah,. quite a number of times I had guns pointed at me or even poked in stomach by guys who were pretty serious about making their point.

One thing you have to remember is that guys who have been through the system (in jail) DO NOT want to go back. Also, when anyone sees a lone white guy in a bomber jacket but a tie at 3 am in the darkest hood, they are simply going to give you some decent respect for a least a while because they just don't know WHO the fuck you are, but assume you know why you're there and what you're doing.

Also, you may not be able to glean this from my posting persona, but I treated EVERYONE with open but measured friendliness, and, most important, respect. This helps more than you could possibly ever know.

Finally, for whatever reason, I wasn't physically scared. Don't forget, we are descended from apes and can SMELL fear, which we instinctively and unconsciously take as weakness, and the more primitive among us react accordingly.

LOL, the big manly types would go in with the typical cops' overbearing, "Look, buster, I'm in charge" type of bluster . . . BECAUSE THEY WERE SCARED! So, they provoked violent reactions! People who could have helped them with info also clammed right up.

People TALKED to me, and I always eventually found out where Leroy was living and when he was usually around. It still amazes me how much info people will tell you, a complete stranger, if you are simply respectful and open and friendly.

Still and all, I was bucking the odds and I knew it. So, when my wife Jessie, who had been begging me for years to quit, died, I fucking well quit that business cold. I got calls from lawyers for years and years afterwards, asking me to take cases. I never did.

respect :thumbsup:

 

[dfuze]

Okay, I'm sorry, but I really don't see how from these videos that all you guys are immediately jumping to him being a scumbag screwing the system.

If he had a brain injury that left him functional yet highly mentally compromised he would be disabled too. Just because he can swing an axe and dance badly doesn't mean that he can't have the mental capacity of someone over the age of 5.

I love how our society has become so engrossed in badmouthing people and assuming the worst.

I have spent the last 8 weeks on my family med rotation, and believe me I have seen plenty of people trying to "play the system" but I have also seen plenty more legitimate cases of people who are permanently disabled and do need help.

Also, I am guessing he won the 13 million in a court case which probably had to do with negligence by the city or state or whatever in maintaining the manhole or whatever he fell into.

Considering that 2 of the 3 doctors who evaluated him and declared him disabled changed their minds after viewing the video is enough for me (3rd doctor died since the ruling).

Two of the three physicians who found Jones was permanently disabled by his firehouse accident have since retracted their opinions after being shown a copy of the new video. The third physician is deceased.

 

[dawp]

he could be like this woman who had a brain injury after car wrecks:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,594344,00.html

if he's like her, he may be physically fit but unable to hold any sort of job.

 

[PottedMeat]

I just converted an hour of VHS to DVD of similar video from one of my old, old cases. It was one of my favorites, so I saved the tape.

How do I post it somewhere? It is in three 1gb files entitled VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB and VTS_01_3.VOB. There is no sound.

MotionMan

can you cut them down to ~10 minutes for youtube? maybe handbrake does vob->flv or whatever youtube uses.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

Can someone please explain to me why someone whose lifetime earning potential is $2,000,000 would be awarded $13,000,000 for losing the ability to perform their job? (Salary.com indicates $50k/yr is at the upper range for a fire fighter, multiplied by 40 years.)

 

[ModerateRepZero]

Okay, I'm sorry, but I really don't see how from these videos that all you guys are immediately jumping to him being a scumbag screwing the system.

If he had a brain injury that left him functional yet highly mentally compromised he would be disabled too. Just because he can swing an axe and dance badly doesn't mean that he can't have the mental capacity of someone over the age of 5.

I love how our society has become so engrossed in badmouthing people and assuming the worst.

I have spent the last 8 weeks on my family med rotation, and believe me I have seen plenty of people trying to "play the system" but I have also seen plenty more legitimate cases of people who are permanently disabled and do need help.

Also, I am guessing he won the 13 million in a court case which probably had to do with negligence by the city or state or whatever in maintaining the manhole or whatever he fell into.

The reason why (at first glance) this activity is suspicious is because no one who is "permanently and physically disabled" should be able to engage in strenuous physical activity or actions requiring alot of mental coordination. It's why someone who is quadriplegic should NOT be able to stand up and start jogging without ANY ASSISTANCE.

It's also hard to believe that even with a case of negligence that a $13 million award would be granted if the situation wasn't serious (ie permanently disabled and unable to care for himself or death). I'm sorry, but him looking physically active despite his award doesn't pass the smell test.

While working for the city as a firefighter, Jones fell through a pole hole and suffered serious injuries in 2003. He filed a lawsuit against the city for negligence, saying it failed to provide adequate safeguards.

The case went to trial, during which testimony was presented that Jones was permanently disabled by the fall such that he could no longer work, nor perform activities necessary for daily life, said Parker.

if he cannot work or perform "activities necessary for daily life" he should certainly be unable to stand up, dance, or do something requiring focus such as splitting wood by himself.