A Best Western hotel near Allentown, Pennsylvania has agreed to pay an unspecified settlement amount to the family of a South Carolina man who died of carbon monoxide poisoning while staying at the hotel in 2008. In the tragic personal injury accident, a plastic construction canopy being used to contain construction debris from a remodeling project funneled carbon monoxide into the hotel room where the man and his wife were sleeping, killing the man. His wife survived.
Six months after the man’s death, his family initiated a wrongful death lawsuit against the hotel and several contractors involved in the remodeling project. Experienced Philadelphia personal injury attorneys note that, in cases of wrongful death, it is not unusual for there to be a time gap between a fatal accident and the filing of a lawsuit. It can take several months for the completion of police, coroner and insurance investigations and the filing of their reports. Grief-stricken families also need time to find the strength to cope with their loss and decide to act.
Hiring an experienced Pearce Law attorney immediately after an accident occurs can relieve a family of much of the burden of dealing with legal requests and insurance inquiries. An attorney expert in the handling of wrongful death lawsuits will also ensure that the family’s rights are fully protected and will fight to compensate the family for its loss. In the Allentown hotel case, the man’s family sued for $350,000 in compensation for the loss of household services, Social Security benefits and health insurance, as well as compensation for the emotional and physical pain the wife suffered when her husband died at her side.