Sixth Circuit Finds Work As MSHA Inspector Not “Coal Mine Employment”
Posted on Sep 21, 2014 in Construction | Comments Off on Sixth Circuit Finds Work As MSHA Inspector Not “Coal Mine Employment”
The Sixth Circuit concluded that work as a Mine Safety and Health Administration mine inspector is not qualifying coal mine employment for purposes of the Black Lung Benefits Act. The court agreed that the mine inspector satisfied the “situs” test of the act given that the inspector spent much of his workday underground in coal mines. The inspector, however, did not meet the...
Deceased Fish Plant Worker’s Estate Limited To Workers’ Comp Recovery Despite Disturbing Claims
Posted on Sep 21, 2014 in Construction, Litigation | Comments Off on Deceased Fish Plant Worker’s Estate Limited To Workers’ Comp Recovery Despite Disturbing Claims
Although the facts alleged by the family of a worker killed in a Mississippi fish processing facility are disturbing, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi concluded that they do not give rise to justiciable tort claims beyond Mississippi’s workers’ compensation regime. The complaint alleged that following the worker’s conversations with union...
Non-Manufacturing U.S. Distributor May Be Liable For Defective Product Where Owned In Part By Foreign Manufacturer Under North Dakota Law
Posted on Sep 20, 2014 in Construction, Product Liability | Comments Off on Non-Manufacturing U.S. Distributor May Be Liable For Defective Product Where Owned In Part By Foreign Manufacturer Under North Dakota Law
The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota confronted the extent to which non-manufacturing sellers can be liable under North Dakota law in a case involving a worker’s injuries sustained when a hose part of a paint-spray system failed while painting the inside of a wind turbine tower. Under a North Dakota law, a non-manufacturing seller is to be dismissed from a case once...
Missouri Appellate Court Agrees That Partners In Smelting Facility Placed Profits Over Safety
Posted on Sep 18, 2014 in Construction, Energy/Environmental, Process Safety, Product Liability | Comments Off on Missouri Appellate Court Agrees That Partners In Smelting Facility Placed Profits Over Safety
Following a 13-week trial in 2011, a Missouri jury awarded sixteen children alleged exposed to lead poisoning from contaminated air and soil a total of nearly $40 million in compensatory damages and $320 million in punitive damages that was allocated among three owners of a lead smelter from 1986 to 1994. The children’s lawyers’ case was focused on the owners placing business profits...
Mining Company That Adhered To CBA Entitled To Terminate Worker With Osteoporosis
Posted on Sep 10, 2014 in Construction, Litigation, Workplace Safety | Comments Off on Mining Company That Adhered To CBA Entitled To Terminate Worker With Osteoporosis
At a West Virginia coal mine, an inside bunker attendant responsible for monitoring an underground belt haulage system was injured as a result of a fall. She previously had been diagnosed with osteoporosis. Several months later, she informed the mining company that she was ready to return to work, but the company’s workers’ compensation administrator concluded that her...
Defense Verdict For Contractor At Arkansas Chicken Plant Affirmed By Eighth Circuit
Posted on Sep 8, 2014 in Construction, Investigations, OSHA | Comments Off on Defense Verdict For Contractor At Arkansas Chicken Plant Affirmed By Eighth Circuit
While renovating an Arkansas chicken plant, the worker for a mechanical and plumbing contractor accidentally dropped a pipe saddle on the employee of a different contractor while performing overhead work on the plant’s thermal piping used to carry hot cooking oil to cooking equipment. Because the location of an oven prevented a scissor lift from being situated directly beneath the...
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