Tenth Circuit Overturns Jury Verdict For Injured Floorhand Finding Defendant Was Statutory Employer Under Colorado Law and Immune From Negligence Liability
Posted on May 8, 2014 in Energy/Environmental, Litigation | Comments Off on Tenth Circuit Overturns Jury Verdict For Injured Floorhand Finding Defendant Was Statutory Employer Under Colorado Law and Immune From Negligence Liability
Early in the morning of December 13, 2005, a floorhand was seriously injured while working on a drilling rig. At 12:01 am on the same day, an acquisition agreement became effective by which the floorhand’s employer sold the casing drilling services portion of its business and transferred employees of that division to the acquiring entity. The floorhand sued his now former employer...
Louisiana Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment to Platform Operator in Case Filed by Drilling Services Contractor’s Injured Worker
Posted on May 6, 2014 in Energy/Environmental | Comments Off on Louisiana Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment to Platform Operator in Case Filed by Drilling Services Contractor’s Injured Worker
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana granted summary judgment to the owner of a fixed tower oil platform that was sued by an injured worker employed by a drilling services contractor. The worker suffered injuries while performing the removal of a piece of equipment in order to conduct wireline operations. When the worker arrived at the equipment needing to be...
Ninth Circuit Reemphasizes That Challenges to Expert Credibility and the Strength of a Particular Scientific Method Best Left for Jury
Posted on May 5, 2014 in Energy/Environmental, Investigations | Comments Off on Ninth Circuit Reemphasizes That Challenges to Expert Credibility and the Strength of a Particular Scientific Method Best Left for Jury
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s exclusion of expert testimony in a water contamination case that is instructive for expert challenges in any safety-related case. The City of Pomona, California filed suit against the company that imported sodium nitrate into the United States from 1927 through the 1950s from Chile’s Atacama Desert on the grounds that the fertilizer...
Federal Court Must Sever and Remand Jones Act Claim Without Assessing Claim’s Validity if Case Is Otherwise Removable
Posted on May 2, 2014 in Energy/Environmental, Litigation, Workplace Safety | Comments Off on Federal Court Must Sever and Remand Jones Act Claim Without Assessing Claim’s Validity if Case Is Otherwise Removable
If a case is properly removable to federal court notwithstanding the presence of a Jones Act claim, the Jones Act claim should be severed and remanded to the state court without an independent analysis of the claim’s merit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana held yesterday. In 1993, the Fifth Circuit explained in Lackey v. Atlantic Richfield Co. that if a...
Be Prepared for a “Process Safety Attack”
Posted on Apr 26, 2014 in Construction, Energy/Environmental, Investigations, Process Safety, Transportation, Workplace Safety | 0 comments
Safetylitigation.com founders Carter Williams and Matt Gatewood recently analyzed the legal attack to expect following a major incident in the January issue of Corporate Counsel under the headline, “Be Prepared for the Inevitable ‘Process Safety’ Attack.” In the article, they draw on their experiences in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill litigation and warn of the courtroom fallout after a...
New York Federal Court Dismisses Suit Alleging High-Fructose Corn Syrup Is a Toxic, Unsafe Substance
Posted on Apr 21, 2014 in Energy/Environmental, Product Liability | Comments Off on New York Federal Court Dismisses Suit Alleging High-Fructose Corn Syrup Is a Toxic, Unsafe Substance
Earlier today, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York dismissed a case against five manufacturers of high-fructose corn syrup alleging the substance was toxic, unsafe, and was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff to develop Type 2 diabetes. Accepting the plaintiff’s allegations as true for the purposes of deciding the defendants’ motion to dismiss, the...
FEATURED
The Crisis Response & Incident Investigation Team at Eversheds Sutherland has substantial experience in guiding companies through crises, big and small, in providing a coordinated response to help mitigate risk and liability. More>>