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Pfeifer v. United States, U.S.
Federal District Court for the District of New Mexico, CV
0201368.
Bud and Alice Ramaekers were killed when
their car was hit head on by a drunk, on-the-job federal
government worker. After they were devastated by the news of
the fatal collision, the Ramaekers' 9 children and 28
grandchildren then learned that the Bureau of Indian Affairs
had helped this alcoholic employee keep his driver's license
and gave him a government vehicle to drive, despite a history
of 9 drunk driving arrests. The Ramaekers' family filed suit
and took their case through a public trial in order to make
citizens aware that the government was enabling drunk
drivers. The family won their case and the BIA has now
changed its motor vehicle policy to make highways safer. Not
only did this family's courage to fight the federal
government result in safer government policies, but it helped
spread the word to private and public employers alike that
employers cannot turn a blind eye to employees who have a
drinking problem.
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Lawrence v. Hollywood Video Corp. and NM
Dept. of Corrections, NM 2 d Jud. Dist. Ct., CV
96-04039.
When George and Pauline went to the video store
where their grandson worked to pick him up after his late night
shift, they had no idea that the store had been the target of
crime and threats for months prior, or that the staff had been
asking the "110 company for security guards to protect them. On
this particular night, two felons on community release from the
Department of Corrections had decided to take advantage of the
large amounts of cash on hand at the end of the day. The felons
stole the cash, killed three clerks inside, abducted the
McDougalls from the parking lot and killed them in the East
Mountains. The case against Hollywood Video Corp. settled and
the firm was successful in defeating motions to dismiss filed
by the state corrections department. Eventually, the State also
settled with the McDougall family.
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Randi
McGinn 
