Case Results

Our client was on the job, working as a laborer for a farm co-op when he was asked to make a repair to the grain silo. He was placed in a bosun chair with a harness and was suspended from a crane by a third-party crane operator. As our client was hoisted into the air, his leg became entangled with a cable causing extreme pressure and discomfort. As he was lifted higher the entangled cable became even tighter around his leg. The crane operator was unable to see or hear our client, and the designated spotter, who is assigned for these types of situations, had stepped away, leaving our client’s screams for help unheard.

Due to severe pain in his right leg and hip, our client was forced to seek treatment at the Blanchard Valley Medical Center emergency room. Radiological studies revealed a contusion to the right hip and hip sprain. A week later our client was evaluated by a medical provider for a Workers’ Compensation claim status. The pain was described as 8/10, radiating in nature from the right hip into the right leg with increased pain during movement. He was directed to physical therapy and occupational therapy along with work restrictions requiring sitting work only.

A workers’ compensation claim was initially pursued for our client’s medical treatment and time off work. However, to maximize recovery, our office filed a personal injury lawsuit against the crane operator and crane company. The litigation became complicated when the crane company filed a Third-Party Complaint against our client’s employer in an attempt to shift the blame. After a hard-fought litigation the parties reached a settlement resulting in an initial lump sum payment to our client and additional monthly payments being made over several years.

In February of 2019, our client went to work on what seemed to be a normal day as a mail carrier for USPS. As our client stopped along a row of mailboxes on Holland-Sylvania Road in Toledo, Ohio, she was struck by a furniture-moving truck. Not only was she struck, but the furniture-moving truck dragged our client’s vehicle several feet due to the impact. 

As can be imagined, our client’s injuries were extensive, including debilitating back, elbow, and ankle pain. After several visits to their physician, and no alleviation in the pain being experienced, our client underwent surgery, including having two metal screws placed in their ankle. Despite the surgery and routine treatment, our client was unable to return to their normal work. 

Our client had worked for USPS for over twenty years, and truly loved their job. Our client maintained an active life, including regularly taking their dog for long walks, traveling to visit friends and family, and bicycling throughout the parks of Toledo. As can be imagined, after suffering such a traumatic injury, our client was no longer able to work, or do the things they previously enjoyed without suffering debilitating pain. 

In light of this, the attorneys at Charles E. Boyk Law Offices worked diligently with insurance and medical providers to quickly formulate a plan to mitigate the clients’ financial responsibility for medical treatment, and how to immediately put money in their pocket to compensate the inability to work or do the things they enjoy. Additionally, our attorneys advocated for our client with the Department of Labor to ensure that the government took the appropriate actions to provide compensation to our client. 

After several months of discussion and mediation, we were able to quickly reach a $575,000 settlement for our client which allowed them to regain a sense of normalcy to their life.

We all depend on medical doctors to keep us healthy, prevent sickness, and improve our quality of life. Sometimes we depend on doctors to diagnose sickness as it suddenly occurs. But, when a medical doctor fails to do this, when the industry standard is to have done so, liability can arise as it did here. 

Our client’s late spouse experienced shortness of breath when walking up a flight of stairs. Having attended the same primary care physician for several years, they immediately went for a check in. Despite the shortness of breath and other health indicators that a heart attack was imminent, our client’s spouse was sent home instead of being sent to an emergency room for further evaluation. Six hours later, our client’s spouse passed away from a heart attack. 

Of course, our client, as the surviving spouse, was grief stricken and confused. Their late spouse had recently retired, had a positive health outlook, and they were enjoying their golden years happily together. 

After working with several doctors in multiple states, our attorney’s established that the treating physician’s care fell well below the normal standard, which resulted in the death of our client’s spouse. To do this, our office engaged with several expert witnesses to establish what the standard of care was, and to demonstrate how the treating physician failed to provide the standard. As a result, our attorneys quickly negotiated a $535,000 settlement for the surviving spouse.

Beginning when she was nine years old, our client faced frequent and ongoing sexual abuse from a man who was like a father to her. Growing up in a dysfunctional household, our client said the abuser acted as a father figure and protector to her, gaining her trust and compliance.

In addition to separate criminal charges, Boyk Law Sexual Assault Attorney Wes Merillat represented the young woman in pursing damages for claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and unintentional emotional distress, securing a judgement of $500,000.

Our client will never be the same person she could have been had this sexual abuse never occurred. She testified that she suffered severe, lasting emotional injuries including a damaged self-image and difficulty trusting others or asking for help. Our hope is that the funds received through this judgement will help her secure the years of mental, physical, and emotional help she needs to recover from these reprehensible crimes committed against her.

***Individual results may vary based on the facts, injuries, jurisdiction, venue, witnesses, parties, and other factors. This result is not necessarily representative of the results obtained by all clients.***

In November of 2017, our client’s 41-year-old father was working at a junkyard cutting parts off a pickup truck with a torch. As he worked that morning, gasoline vapors ignited and erupted into a blazing fire and an explosion so powerful that it shook nearby businesses. Still underneath the vehicle, our client’s father was engulfed in thick black smoke and intense flames as the large fire quickly spread to three vehicles and other equipment on the property. The evidence showed that he tried to crawl away from the fire but only made it about ten feet before he collapsed and lost his life. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (“OSHA”) investigated this horrific incident and fined the junkyard in question more than $75,000 for eleven violations. The junkyard’s appeal of those citations was unsuccessful, and the penalties have been referred to debt collection.

When our client came to us, we ensured that the proper paperwork was filed to name her the Administrator of her father’s estate so that she could pursue a wrongful death and survivorship case against the junkyard. We also performed an extensive investigation of the incident, including obtaining all disclosable information from the OSHA investigation. To ensure our client and the decedent’s family got the fairest result possible, we prepared a lawsuit and filed it in the Henry County Common Pleas Court.

Our position in this case was that the cause of this catastrophic and deadly fire was the junkyard’s failure to take a number of necessary fire safety precautions. We retained a well-respected expert with extensive experience investigating incidents like this one to review the evidence and give his opinion regarding how this could have happened. After consulting with him and obtaining a report outlining what went wrong, we felt it was clear that the junkyard committed a number of grievous mistakes, and that our client’s father would not have died if the junkyard had simply followed long-held nationally recognized safety standards and procedures related to cutting torches in potentially flammable circumstances.

After forwarding the expert’s report and the OSHA report to defense counsel, the case settled for the $500,000 policy limits available under the junkyard’s liability insurance policy, with the proceeds from the settlement being divided between the decedent’s adult daughters, mother, and brothers. We hope that this settlement brings closure to his loved ones. What happened on that day in November 2017 was absolutely horrific and no one should ever have to endure what our client’s father did in on the day he died, While no amount of money can ever replace a family member or undo a terrible thing like this, what we hope this settlement can do is allow his loved ones some sense of closure and justice. Standing up for people who have been killed because of someone else’s failures allows us to send a message that we as a society will not tolerate the preventable loss of human life.

In May 2020, our young client was on his way to work in Wauseon, Ohio, when he was tragically killed in a motor vehicle accident. As our client was properly traveling along U.S. 20, the defendant driver, an 87-year-old man, was traveling in the opposite direction. Prior to the collision, the defendant had been following behind two semi-trucks. Disregarding the well-known risk of passing multiple semi-trucks at a time, the defendant driver attempted to pass both semis at once. Traveling on the wrong side of the road as he attempted to pass the semis, the defendant struck our client head-on at approximately 60 miles per hour. The crash was so catastrophic that both our client and the defendant driver died at the scene.

Our client was young, and just starting out in his life. He had a job he loved and was working in the field of his dreams. In just a short time he had gained an excellent reputation at work. Our client had just purchased a brand-new car that he drove with so much pride, as the car to him symbolized success as a result of all his hard work. Our client was survived by a large family, friends, and coworkers who have deeply grieved his loss. He was described as a person who brought love, joy, and laughter to all those who came across his path.

We were contacted by the family just days after this horrific accident occurred and our team worked to help the grieving family through this difficult time by ensuring they got the justice they deserved. Through a successful negotiation, we avoided the need for our client’s family to have to endure stressful and lengthy litigation. There is no amount of money that can take away the pain that our client’s family has endured, but we were successful in reaching a settlement that will assist our client’s family as they move forward.

***Individual results may vary based on the facts, injuries, jurisdiction, venue, witnesses, parties, and other factors. This result is not necessarily representative of the results obtained by all clients.***

Our client was driving a Peterbilt 379 semi eastbound on Central Avenue in Sylvania, Ohio shortly after Christmas when another driver, heading northbound on Centennial Road, ran the red light at the intersection and impacted our client’s vehicle. The other driver was driving his work van at the time and was on the job. The force of the impact jackknifed our client’s truck and caused the steel coils on our client’s semi to come off, causing significant property damage and eventually striking a third, uninvolved, vehicle as they rolled down the road. He eventually was forced to have two surgeries on his neck and right wrist and was unable to work for an extended period of time. The accident caused significant PTSD symptoms for our client, who was unable to even get in a car after the accident. Our team ensured that he got the rehabilitative treatment he needed to cope with his psychological, as well as physical, injuries and return to work. A settlement for $450,000 was reached, allowing our client to find the stability to return to his life after such a traumatic event.

Lucas County man seriously injured after car fails to yield to oncoming traffic. Case drags on for years because of argument of whether his herniate disc surgery is linked to the accident. Case settles at mediation in 2018.

In the late hours of December 2021, our client was riding as a passenger in a friend’s car that he had been helping to fix earlier in the day.  They were out test driving the vehicle, and while travelling westbound on Navarre Avenue when they came to the light in front of the Walmart parking lot.  Our client’s friend claimed to have a green light and proceed into the intersection.  There was another car in the eastbound left turn lane of Navarre Avenue who also claimed to have a green light, and proceeded to turn left in front of the car our client was in.  The two cars collided into one another.  Our client sustained four different fractures to his right tibia that required surgery.  While being in the hospital for a refusion surgery our client contracted COVID and developed blood clots in the lungs.  A couple days after being released from the hospital our client sustained a stroke that impaired his speech abilities.    Our attorneys were able to fight the insurance company’s claim that their insured had a green light and recovered the full policy limits of $100,000.  Our attorneys were also able to recover an additional $200,000 under the client’s policy for a total policy limits settlement of $300,000.  Our firm was able to accomplish this all for the client without having to file a lawsuit.

In June 2022, our client was traveling southbound on his motorcycle along South Detroit Avenue in Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio. Another driver, who was traveling northbound on South Detroit Avenue attempted to make a left turn into a parking lot, failed to yield the right of way to our client, causing the driver to strike our client’s motorcycle. As a result of this accident, our client sustained over a dozen fractures over his entire body, a left carotid artery dissection, and a left-sided collapsed lung. Our client was transported to the hospital where he required urgent emergency medical attention and multiple surgeries due to his extensive injuries. After remaining in the hospital for over two weeks, our client was stable enough to be discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility where he remained for another several weeks. Once released from the rehabilitation facility, our client still required extensive rehabilitation, additional surgeries, countless doctor’s appointments, and overall sustained serious permanent injuries. When our client contacted us needing assistance with the legal aspect of his recovery, our dedicated team got right to work. Liability was initially disputed by the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier; however, Attorney Chuck Boyk and his team investigated the case, leading them to body cam footage that was extremely favorable to our client. With this new information, they were able to go from no offer to successfully recovering the maximum amount possible from the at-fault driver’s insurance policy, an amount that will go a long way in helping our client move on from this life-altering collision.