Payment Dispute Leads to Impoundment of Steve Jobs’ Yacht

A dispute over pending payments recently led to Apple founder Steve Jobs’ yacht being impounded in Amsterdam.  However, the dispute has now been settled after Jobs estate settled the pending amount, allowing the yacht to sail once again.

The yacht cost more than €100 million to build, and was designed by French designer Philippe Starck.  Jobs owed €9 million to the designer in commission fees for his work on the vessel, but the designer claimed that he only received €6 million after the completion of the project.  Jobs never got to use the minimalist vessel called Venus.  After Jobs’ death, Starck filed to recover his dues.

So why did Jobs leave the payment pending at the time of his death?  The problem seems to have been that both Jobs and Starck engaged in a lot of personal negotiations and discussions about the project.  Unfortunately, most of these discussions were completed orally, and were not put down in a formal contract.

The dispute seems to have arisen out of the lack of a formal detailed contract between Jobs and Starck, outlining the payment details, and the payment schedule.  In the absence of a proper contract, California business dispute lawyers found that there was confusion clouding many of these financial issues.  As a result, Starck had no other option, but to go to court in order to recover his dues.

Jobs’ estate has now cleared the pending dues, and has deposited an undisclosed amount in the bank as a security deposit.  The yacht has been ruled free to sail out of the Amsterdam port.  The yacht is expected to sail soon to California, where the Jobs family will take custody of the yacht.

Risks of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Schools

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Doctors and California carbon monoxide poisoning lawyers advise that carbon monoxide detectors be installed not only in homes, but also in public buildings like schools.  That's because children may be at risk of monoxide poisoning, as happened recently at a school in Georgia.  In spite of these risks, few schools have installed these alarms, and only 2 states have made it mandatory to install such alarms in schools.

Only Maryland and Connecticut have laws that require schools to have carbon monoxide alarms installed their classrooms.  This is in spite of the fact that over the past 5 years at least, there have been several incidents in which students have been forced to evacuate classrooms because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.  According to an investigation by USA Today, since 2007 alone, there were at least 19 incidents in which students had to be evacuated from their classrooms because of fears of carbon monoxide poisoning.  These evacuations involved more than 3,000 children.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas, and the fumes may begin to impact students and teachers before people even know what is going on.  By the time people get alerted to the fact that there are toxic fumes in the school building, it may be too late to act. In 2010, according to a report by the National Fire Protection Association, there were 81,100 carbon monoxide poisoning incidents that were reported.  None of these resulted in fires, but 90% of them occurred in homes or apartments. 

According to experts on the subject, every school should have carbon monoxide alarms installed in the hallways and at least near the pool areas.  Preferably, these alarms should also be installed in every classroom.