This Just In: Kanawha County

Aug. 24
Vickie Hudson v. Faye Zinn, and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
PA – Brett J. Preston; J – Bloom
* Vickie Hudson filed a suit against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company after she fell down a flight of stairs at the South Charleston office. According to the suit, she walked into an "unlit and unmarked stairwell" and fell, breaking both of her arms. Hudson seeks compensatory damages.
Case number: 07-C-1806

Shawn Shumbera, on behalf of a class of individuals similarly situated v. Martha Walker, in her capacity as secretary, West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources
PA – Bren J. Pomponio; J – Kaufman
* Shawn Shumbera is one member of a class action suit filed against Martha Walker of the Department of Health and Human Resources, seeking Medicaid MR/DD Waiver benefits, which he has been denied. Shumbera, 27, is mentally retarded and has lived in Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital for since 2001. He has applied for the MR/DD Waiver Program, but has been denied admittance, on the basis that his disability is not severe enough. Shumbera seeks MR/DD program benefits, for himself and any member of the class.
Case number: 07-C-1807

Alisa Proklevich, administratrix of the estate of Stuart Glenn v. Saint Francis Hospital, A West Virginia Corporation, et al
PA – John R. Mitchell; J – Kaufman
* A medical malpractice suit was filed on behalf of the estate of Stuart Glenn, who died while a patient in St. Francis Hospital. According to the suit, Glenn was admitted and has a pleural effusion drained. During the night after the procedure, he began to bleed and was taken to surgery in the morning, where he died. The suit seeks compensation for medical and funeral expenses, for Glenn's estate.
Case number: 07-C-1810

Aug. 28
Emily Chapman, an infant who sues by her mother and next friend, Tammy Parsons, and Tammy Parsons, individually v. Charleston Kanawha Housing Authority
PA – Larry O. Ford; J – Stucky
* Tammy Parsons filed a suit on behalf of her 4-year-old daughter, against the Charleston Kanawha Housing Authority, which operates the South Park Road Housing Project. According to the suit, Emily Chapman was playing with a group of children when one lifted a storm drain grate. The grate was dropped and landed on Chapman's right leg, breaking it. Parsons seeks compensation for her daughter's injuries.
Case number: 07-C-1824

Robert F. Woods v. ICG Eastern, LLC, International Coal Group, Inc.
PA – Roger D. Forman, Jonathan L. Matthews; J – Zakaib
* Robert Woods, of Webster Springs, filed a suit against International Coal Group, after he was electrocuted at the Birch River Mine operated by ICG. Woods claims he was seven feet off the ground on top of a breaker when he was electrocuted and fell off the breaker. He suffered burns to his hands, fingers, chest, leg and scrotal area. Woods seeks compensatory damages.
Case number: 07-C-1827

West Virginia Advocates, Inc. v. Martha Walker, Secretary WV/DHHR, John E. Bianconi, Commissioner of the West Virginia Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities, and Victoria Parlier Jones, Deputy Commissioner of the West Virginia Bureau for Behavioral Heal and Health Facilities and Interim Chief Executive Officer of William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital
PA – Regenia L. Mayne; J – King
* West Virginia Advocates filed a suit against Martha Walker of the Department of Health and Human Resources, and members of the West Virginia Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities, claiming they did not report a death that happened at a state hospital. According to the suit, all "serious occurrences" that occur in state hospitals must be reported to WVA. However, employees of the DHHR and the Behavioral Health Facilities have failed to cooperate with federal law, and WVA filed the suit, seeking an injunction from the court.
Case number: 07-C-1829