County Workers Repaired Injury-Causing Tool Immediately After Incident But Not Enough For Summary Judgment For Spoliation
Posted on Sep 24, 2014 in Construction, Investigations, Product Liability | Comments Off on County Workers Repaired Injury-Causing Tool Immediately After Incident But Not Enough For Summary Judgment For Spoliation
In 2011, a utility worker working for the local county Public Works Department was injured when falling while climbing onto a “drum roller” asphalt compactor after a handle on the drum roller broke. That same day, after workers took photographs of the broken handle, another county worker re-welded the handle onto the drum roller, thereby destroying relevant evidence regarding how the...
Admitting Lock-Out, Tag-Out Procedure Would Have Prevented Incident Dooms Failure To Warn Claims
Posted on Sep 22, 2014 in Construction, OSHA, Product Liability | Comments Off on Admitting Lock-Out, Tag-Out Procedure Would Have Prevented Incident Dooms Failure To Warn Claims
Under Delaware law, a manufacturer or distributor’s duty to warn “extends only to those who can reasonably be assumed are ignorant of the danger.” Following a maintenance mechanic’s injury at a Delaware plastics manufacturing facility sustained when a pump exploded while he was attempting to change out an embossing roll on a pump assembly, the mechanic alleged a failure to warn claim...
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...
Seventh Circuit Finds No Liability For Facility Owner That Hired Expert In Hazardous Activity; Reverses Punitive Damages Awarded Based On Jury’s “Hindsight Bias”
Posted on Sep 9, 2014 in Product Liability | Comments Off on Seventh Circuit Finds No Liability For Facility Owner That Hired Expert In Hazardous Activity; Reverses Punitive Damages Awarded Based On Jury’s “Hindsight Bias”
Grain storage facilities must contend with the constant risk of explosions, caused by certain byproducts such as combustible dust and carbon monoxide (which can oxidize explosively to carbon dioxide) or may be set off by heat caused from decay of storage bin contents. In March 2010, a grain facility owner hired an expert to handle a specific “hot bin” that the facility was concerned...
Louisiana Federal Court Allows Most Claims Alleging Exposure To Radioactive Oilfield Waste Materials To Continue
Posted on Sep 7, 2014 in Energy/Environmental, Litigation, Product Liability | Comments Off on Louisiana Federal Court Allows Most Claims Alleging Exposure To Radioactive Oilfield Waste Materials To Continue
Following alleged occupational exposure to radioactive oilfield waste materials, a group of plaintiffs (including workers and their surviving spouses and children) sued a number of oil companies and their contractors alleging negligence, strict liability, intentional tort, and a claim for punitive damages. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana allowed most of...
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