Refinery Owners Win Summary Judgment On Police Officer’s Chemical Exposure Claims
A Texas police officer brought suit against the owners of multiple refineries claiming he was damaged as a result of chemical exposure during power failures at the refineries in April 2011. Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted summary judgment for the defendants on all of the plaintiff’s claims for the following reasons: nuisance claim–the plaintiff admitted in his deposition that his property was not damaged in any way during the incident; negligence claim–the claim was beyond the general experience of laypersons, but the plaintiff did not produce any expert evidence in support of either general or specific causation; and assault and battery claim–plaintiff produced no evidence to show that a defendant intentionally or knowingly caused physical contact or that a defendant threatened the plaintiff with imminent injury.
