North Carolina Federal Court Dismisses Product Liability Action Against Herbicide Manufacturer
Posted on Aug 20, 2014 in Construction, Product Liability | Comments Off on North Carolina Federal Court Dismisses Product Liability Action Against Herbicide Manufacturer
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina dismissed a pro se plaintiff’s action against a herbicide manufacturer, which alleged that the plaintiff was injured and his employer’s property was damaged when a pump sprayer filled with the herbicide ruptured. The complaint asserted claims for negligence, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, strict liability...
Case Against Combine Manufacturer Withstands Summary Judgment; Plaintiff’s Inability to Recall Events Not Enough To Exclude Evidence
Posted on Aug 18, 2014 in Construction, Investigations, Product Liability | Comments Off on Case Against Combine Manufacturer Withstands Summary Judgment; Plaintiff’s Inability to Recall Events Not Enough To Exclude Evidence
Plaintiff was seriously injured when he came into contact with a sheave near a combine’s gear shift lever while helping his grandfather operate a combine used to harvest soybeans. While the plaintiff could not recall the events of the day he was injured, and while his grandfather did not see the injury occur, the grandfather was allowed to testify that the plaintiff was moving in the...
Retailer Agrees To Plead No Contest To Criminal Charge For Workplace Safety Violations; Fined $950,000
Posted on Aug 14, 2014 in Construction, Investigations | Comments Off on Retailer Agrees To Plead No Contest To Criminal Charge For Workplace Safety Violations; Fined $950,000
A California criminal case against a retailer for willful violation of occupational safety and health standards was settled last week when the company agreed to pay a $950,000 fine and undergo an independent safety audit of its stores and distribution facilities. As part of the Plea and Settlement Agreement entered with the District Attorney of Los Angeles County’s Office, the company...
Eighth Circuit No Stranger To Lead Refinery Dispute
Posted on Aug 12, 2014 in Construction, Energy/Environmental | Comments Off on Eighth Circuit No Stranger To Lead Refinery Dispute
For the second time in the last hundred years, the Eighth Circuit last week had to decide a smelter-related dispute between the successor company to an owner of a massive Omaha lead refinery and smelter (the “petitioner”) and a railroad that leased the land (until the 1940s) on which the smelter operated. To quote the court’s opinion, “The history of this case is an archetypal tale of...
California Court Provides Guidance On “Point Of Operation Guard” Exception Under Workers’ Compensation Law
Posted on Aug 9, 2014 in Construction, Litigation | Comments Off on California Court Provides Guidance On “Point Of Operation Guard” Exception Under Workers’ Compensation Law
A California appellate court dismissed an action brought under a state law exception to the workers’ compensation exclusivity rule, by which an employee may sue his employer if he was “injured as a result of the employer’s knowing removal of, or knowing failure to install, a point of operation guard on a power press.” The dismissal further defined a “point of operation guard” under...
Sixth Circuit Rejects Argument That ALJ Required To Explain How Aboveground Mining Conditions Were Substantially Similar To Underground Mine
Posted on Aug 8, 2014 in Construction | Comments Off on Sixth Circuit Rejects Argument That ALJ Required To Explain How Aboveground Mining Conditions Were Substantially Similar To Underground Mine
To establish a rebuttable presumption of pneumoconiosis, a claimant can prove that he or she has a totally disabling respiratory or pulmonary impairment and spent at least 15 years working in an underground coal mine or “in coal mines other than underground mines in conditions substantially similar to those in underground mines.” 20 C.F.R. § 718.305(b)(1). The U.S. Department of...
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