Our lives are changing and becoming ever more interconnected through the now ever-present camera.  Yet the basic fundamentals and needs of our everyday lives are unchanged.  While safety and protection will never cease to top the list of our necessities, there are those who wish to sensationalize any individual incident involving an officer into an indictment of all those who surround us in every minute of our lives ready to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to save someone else.  Blue lives do matter if you value your own.

​At Ballin & Associates it is our privilege to work day in and day out to represent the rights of those who protect and serve.  We wish now to highlight the heroic acts common to their profession, but all too often glossed over or ignored by the press.

On March 12, 2016, after a long night of drinking heavily, Erik McBeth gets into his car and onto the LeeRoy Selmon Expressway in Tampa, Florida.  Erik McBeth is driving on the wrong side of the road.  While most of Tampa’s residents are sound asleep at home, Hillsboro County Deputy John Kotfila patrols the Selmon Expressway.  Deputy Kotfila sees an SUV barreling towards a car directly in front of his cruiser.  There are no guidelines for this situation.  There is no training.  There is only the character of the person behind the badge.

Sarah Geren is driving the car in front of Deputy Kotfila.  Her boyfriend is in the front passenger seat.  She desperately flashes her lights at the SUV.  Then, at the last moment a cruiser speeds in front of her.  The cruiser swerves into the deadly path of the SUV, crashes into it, knocks it aside, and saves Sarah Geren’s life.  Deputy Kotfila, a third generation police officer and a Falmouth, Massachusetts native, will forever be remembered for this incredible, selfless act.

What causes a person, born like any of the rest of us, to grow up and one day act at a moment’s notice to take the place of a stranger knowing it means certain death?  Please take a moment to reflect on what it means to wear a badge.  We are grateful for all those who do.

*This article is the first installment in our Mass Heroes series.  Nominations for Mass Heroes can be submitted via email byclicking here.

– Zachary M. Ballin, Esq.

A 55 year old worker suffered second and third degree burns to his foot at work while cleaning heavy equipment with a high pressure steam power washer.  His employer had no workers compensation insurance at the time; the policy having been cancelled for non-payment of premiums months before.  The employee hired us after months of being strung along by his employer with promises to pay his wages and medical expenses.  He had suffered financially long enough.  He had no money coming in and had bills to pay.  I sued the employer under a state law which holds an employer liable for tort damages when there is no available workers compensation coverage for an injured employee.  Tort damages means more than traditional workers compensation benefits.  For a new workers compensation claim these benefits typically include payment of medical expenses and 60% of the lost wages up to a state maximum rate.  In contrast, tort damages includes the medical bills, 100% of the lost wages, pain, suffering and diminished enjoyment of life, as well as future expected damages.  All that the injured employee needs to prove under this state law is that he sustained an injury while acting in the scope of his employment.  It does not matter whose fault the injury was or that the employee may have carelessly injured himself.

After being sued, the employer cut a deal with its insurer and obtained a new workers compensation policy.  The insurance company agreed to retroactively cover the workers compensation benefits of the injured employee.  With this retroactive coverage the employer counted on us dropping the lawsuit.  Prevailing law at the time was that an injured employee could not have both workers compensation benefits and a tort suit against the employer.  Once workers compensation benefits are received, the employee is treated as making an election forgoing the right to sue the employer.  However, I refused to drop the lawsuit and argued this election was inapplicable to this case.  I argued to the court there are uninsured, injured employees out there who are either unaware of their rights or do not have the courage to bring a lawsuit themselves.  We needed the Court to make a stand.  If the Court dismissed our lawsuit, there would be no deterrent to employers who choose to let their policies lapse leaving their employees unprotected, only to then get back dated coverage, if, and when, an injured employee ever files a lawsuit.  The Court agreed and denied the employer’s motion to dismiss our lawsuit.  We then filed a motion, which the Court granted, to freeze $350,000.00 of the employer’s assets.

After mediation, the employer agreed to pay $500,000 to the injured employee.  The workers compensation insurer who made the retroactive payment agreed to take no lien against this recovery and agreed to continue to pay for all future medical expenses.

– Steven M. Ballin, Esq.