Most of BSEE Accident Report Deemed Admissible in Worker Injury Case
In litigation arising from a worker injury on an offshore platform allegedly caused by the bursting of a bladder of a potable water tank, the tank manufacturer sought a preliminary order declaring the BSEE accident investigation report and all of its attachments admissible pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8), the hearsay exception for public records. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana found the reasoning of the Fourth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits persuasive and held that the portions of the accident report containing legal conclusions about the probable cause of the accident were inadmissible hearsay. However, the court found the remainder of the report was fact-based and therefore admissible under Rule 803(8) after passing the court’s analysis for trustworthiness.
