Worker Cannot Maintain Civil Tort Claims Against Car Manufacturer for Alleged Exposure to Formaldehyde
Posted on Mar 18, 2019
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi granted summary judgment to a car manufacturer in a case brought by a worker injured at the car manufacturer’s plant. The worker alleges the manufacturer exposed him to formaldehyde-gas emissions on three separate dates that caused him to develop epilepsy. He brought claims for fraudulent misrepresentation, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, which forced the court to consider whether the intentional tort exception to Mississippi’s workers’ compensation regime applied. If it did not,...
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Monsanto verdict reduced but case highlights jury realities in products cases
Posted on Oct 25, 2018
A jury in San Francisco found that “Roundup,” the world’s most popular and widely used herbicide, caused a school groundskeeper’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma resulting in a $78.5 million verdict against the manufacturer of this product, which has been used internationally since the 1970s. The Monsanto trial reveals three present realities that manufacturers face in product liability cases; lay jurors must draw conclusions on complex scientific issues that qualified scientists and doctors continue to debate; the “right” expert can persuade a jury to disbelieve proven scientific data, even when the...
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OSHA’s Initial Deadline for Form 300A Electronic Reporting Delayed
Posted on Jun 27, 2017
OSHA is proposing to extend the initial submission deadline for reporting 2016 Form 300A data from July 1, 2017 to December 1, 2017. OSHA will separately seek comment on other proposals to reconsider, revise, or remove certain provisions of the proposed injury and illness reporting rule. The delay in the initial submission deadline occurred because the data collection system, which originally was supposed to launch in February 2017, will not be ready for launch until mid-summer.
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Injured Railroad Workers Cannot Sue Railroad in State Where Injury Did Not Occur and Where They Do Not Live
Posted on May 30, 2017
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier today that the Montana Supreme Court incorrectly asserted personal jurisdiction over a railroad in two cases regarding on-the-job injuries. Even though both suits were pursued in Montana state courts, neither of the injured workers resided in Montana and neither were injured in Montana. Montana’s Supreme Court predicated its finding of personal jurisdiction under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), which makes railroads responsible for money damages to their employees for on-the-job-injuries, and Montana’s personal jurisdiction rules. The case...
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Practical Implications for Energy Companies of Trump Administration’s Use of Congressional Review Act
Posted on May 24, 2017
Upon taking office with the promise to reduce regulations, the new administration and the U.S. Congress used the Congressional Review Act to repeal 14 “midnight” regulations passed by the previous administration. Of the 14 repealed regulations, there are three that are of note for companies involved in mining operations domestically, in oil and gas exploration abroad, or who are subject to OSHA oversight. The repeal of the OSHA regulation, for example, shortens the five-year recordkeeping requirement to six months. Eversheds Sutherland attorneys David Baay and Robert Lemus provide a...
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Judge Strikes Expert Report Containing OSHA Policy Interpretation
Posted on May 12, 2017
On Wednesday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio granted summary judgment to the owner of a slag plant in a case brought by a worker who sustained serious injuries from falling off an unguarded screen deck in a tower. Summary judgment became possible once the court decided to exclude the testimony of the plaintiff’s primary expert witness. The proffered expert witness report contained a section regarding OSHA’s policy with respect to allocation of duty and responsibility among employers at multi-employer work sites. The expert used this policy to conclude...
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Minors’ Involvement Affords Insight into Settlement Numbers for Fatality at Geothermal Plant
Posted on May 11, 2017
Settlement numbers in wrongful death cases are not often discernible given the confidentiality of most agreements, but where minors are involved, numbers generally are placed into the public record because of the court’s required settlement approval process. Such was the case yesterday in a California wrongful death case arising from a workplace fatality when a worker fell into an exposed pipe at a geothermal facility. Survived by his wife and three children who brought suit against the facility owner, the worker’s employer, and others, the parties ultimately agreed to settle...
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