Railroad Ordered To Reinstate and Pay Worker $244,000 After Alleged Termination for Failure To Perform Required Inspection Because of Hazardous Safety Conditions
Posted on May 16, 2014 in OSHA, Product Liability, Transportation | Comments Off on Railroad Ordered To Reinstate and Pay Worker $244,000 After Alleged Termination for Failure To Perform Required Inspection Because of Hazardous Safety Conditions
Following an inspection, OSHA has ordered a railroad to reinstate a conductor and pay him more than $244,000 in back wages and damages following his termination for allegedly failing to perform an inspection of a passing train under hazardous safety conditions. The damage award includes $100,000 in punitive damages in addition to reasonable attorneys’ fees. The conductor allegedly...
Significant Punitive Damage Award Levied Against Car Manufacturer in Montana
Posted on May 15, 2014 in Investigations, Product Liability, Transportation | Comments Off on Significant Punitive Damage Award Levied Against Car Manufacturer in Montana
Yesterday, a Montana jury awarded the family of two teens involved in a fatal car crash $240 million in punitive damages because of an alleged manufacturing defect in the steering knuckles of the car’s suspension system. At trial, the manufacturer argued that the crash occurred because the teens were lighting fireworks in the car while the plaintiffs blamed the allegedly defective...
Alleged Safety Failures in Transporting Crude by Rail Leads to Criminal Charges
Posted on May 13, 2014 in Energy/Environmental, Investigations, Process Safety, Transportation | Comments Off on Alleged Safety Failures in Transporting Crude by Rail Leads to Criminal Charges
The Quebec prosecutor’s office has announced it will seek criminal charges against a rail company and three of its employees following the Lac-Mégantic derailment and explosion last year. The director of criminal and penal prosecutions posted the public statement on the government’s website last evening. The statement asserts, “After having analyzed the body of evidence, the three...
Courts Using Foreseeability To Determine Whether To Modify or Limit the Ordinary Duty of Care Risk Reversal
Posted on May 12, 2014 in Product Liability, Transportation | Comments Off on Courts Using Foreseeability To Determine Whether To Modify or Limit the Ordinary Duty of Care Risk Reversal
The Restatement (Third) of Torts provides that an actor ordinarily has a duty to exercise ordinary care when the actor’s conduct creates a risk of physical harm, but that in exceptional cases, when policy principles warrant denying or limiting liability in a particular class of cases, a court may decide that the actor has no duty or that the ordinary duty of care requires...
DOT Issues Emergency Order Requiring Bakken Crude Train Operators To Notify State Emergency Response Commissions; FRA and PHMSA Urge Shippers To Avoid Older DOT-111s
Posted on May 8, 2014 in Investigations, Transportation | Comments Off on DOT Issues Emergency Order Requiring Bakken Crude Train Operators To Notify State Emergency Response Commissions; FRA and PHMSA Urge Shippers To Avoid Older DOT-111s
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued an emergency order mandating that all railroads operating trains containing more than 1,000,000 gallons of Bakken crude oil notify State Emergency Response Commissions (SERCs) about the operation of such trains through their states within 30 days. The written notification must provide a reasonable estimate of the number of trains...
Facility Owner’s Demand for Insurance Coverage from Common Carrier To Defend Case Against Carrier’s Injured Employee Allowed To Proceed
Posted on May 1, 2014 in Litigation, Transportation | Comments Off on Facility Owner’s Demand for Insurance Coverage from Common Carrier To Defend Case Against Carrier’s Injured Employee Allowed To Proceed
In an underlying suit, a worker alleged negligence against the owner of a facility to which he was making a delivery when he was injured. In turn, the facility owner sued the worker’s employer, a common carrier, asserting that the carrier had breached its duty to defend and indemnify under a Contract Carriage Agreement. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky...
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