MSHA Proposes $1.1 Million Fine Following Deaths Of Colorado Silver Miners
Posted on Oct 22, 2014 in Construction, Workplace Safety | Comments Off on MSHA Proposes $1.1 Million Fine Following Deaths Of Colorado Silver Miners
Earlier this week, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) levied a fine of $1,077,800 yesterday after an investigation into the deaths of two Colorado silver miners in November 2013. According to the MSHA release, after approximately 1,600 pounds of deteriorated explosives were detonated underground in an open air blast, the company that owned the mine failed to inform the...
Delaware Court Finds Accident Reconstructionists Qualified To Testify In Helicopter Crash Case
Posted on Oct 17, 2014 in Investigations, Transportation, Workplace Safety | Comments Off on Delaware Court Finds Accident Reconstructionists Qualified To Testify In Helicopter Crash Case
The Superior Court of Delaware recently addressed the admissibility of expert opinion proffered by accident reconstructionists in a wrongful death action involving a helicopter crash over the Gulf of Mexico. Each party challenged the other’s experts asserting that the experts were unqualified and their opinions unreliable. The court found, in large part, that the plaintiffs’ experts’...
Punitive Damages Not Recoverable By Seaman Under Jones Act Or General Maritime Law According To Fifth Circuit
Posted on Oct 12, 2014 in Energy/Environmental, OSHA, Product Liability, Workplace Safety | Comments Off on Punitive Damages Not Recoverable By Seaman Under Jones Act Or General Maritime Law According To Fifth Circuit
In an en banc opinion, the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed that the survivors of a Jones Act seaman as well as injured seamen are not eligible to recover punitive damages under the Jones Act or general maritime law. The court’s opinion reversed a controversial panel opinion, which had held that such damages were available despite years of precedent to the contrary. In the underlying action,...
Personal Jurisdiction In USA Exists Over Offshore Company For Injury Off Russian Coast
Posted on Sep 26, 2014 in Energy/Environmental, Litigation, OSHA, Workplace Safety | Comments Off on Personal Jurisdiction In USA Exists Over Offshore Company For Injury Off Russian Coast
Following injuries sustained while working on a vessel off the coast of Russia, a U.S. worker brought suit against multiple entities involved in the operation claiming, among other things, that they provided faulty and unsafe equipment and that they failed to provide a safe workplace. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied the parent company of the...
Railroad Worker’s Retaliation Claims After Filing OSHA Complaint To Proceed
Posted on Sep 11, 2014 in Investigations, Litigation, OSHA, Transportation, Workplace Safety | Comments Off on Railroad Worker’s Retaliation Claims After Filing OSHA Complaint To Proceed
While working as a “train dispatcher,” the plaintiff was involved in an incident that almost resulted in the collision of two passenger trains. Several months later, the plaintiff filed a complaint with OSHA, the federal agency tasked with enforcing the whistleblower protections of the Federal Railroad Safety Act. His OSHA complaint alleged that the railroad instructed...
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...
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