Remember, New OSHA Reporting Requirements Go Into Effect January 1, 2015
Posted on Dec 15, 2014
As a reminder, OSHA’s final rule expanding employer notification requirements when a worker is killed on the job, or suffers a work related hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye goes into effect for employers in states covered by federal OSHA on January 1, 2015. OSHA contends that this expanded data will assist its task of targeting compliance assistance. There are two key changes in the new rule: first, the list of industries that are exempt from routinely keeping OSHA injury and illness records has been updated and second, the reporting requirements themselves have been...
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Expert Opinion Properly Discounted When In Conflict With Federal Regulation In Mining Case
Posted on Dec 15, 2014
The Sixth Circuit denied a mining company’s petition for review in a black lung benefits case, holding that the ALJ had properly discounted the company’s expert’s opinion where it conflicted with relevant federal law. The court also found that the ALJ properly weighed pulmonary function tests. The mining company had challenged the ALJ’s underlying decision on both grounds. In the underlying case, the miner had presumptively established his eligibility for benefits by showing that (1) he had been employed in the mines for more than 15 years, and that (2) he suffered from a totally disabling...
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BOEM Increases OPA Liability Limit To $133.65 Million
Posted on Dec 12, 2014
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a final rule yesterday that increases the limit of liability for damages caused by any Responsible Party for an offshore facility from which oil is discharged, or which poses a substantial threat of an oil discharge, as described in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, from $75 million to $133.65 million. The agency announced that the rule adjusts the liability limit to reflect significant increases in the Consumer Price Index since the passage of the Oil Pollution Act. Importantly, the rulemaking does not affect the level of oil spill financial...
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Insurer Has To Defend Claims Involving Alleged Defective CNG Fuel Filtration Equipment
Posted on Dec 12, 2014
Company A, a gas company, purchases compressed natural gas (“CNG”) fuel filtration equipment from Company B in August 2011. According to Company A, the equipment failed to conform to its specifications and failed to remove the appropriate amount of oil from the CNG fuel. Subsequently, Company A’s customers reported oil contamination and resultant loss of the use of their fleets’ vehicles. Company A undertook to correct the issues and reimbursed its customers for their issues. Company A then filed suit against Company B, who in turn filed a third-party complaint...
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Arkansas High Court Says Workers’ Comp Commission Must Decide Issues of Employer Status
Posted on Dec 12, 2014
Company A owns and operates a nuclear power plant, and hires Company B to provide civil engineers to lift and remove a generator from a turbine building and then to replace it with a newly refurbished generator. During the work, an employee of Company B dies as a result of injuries from a steel beam falling on him. His estate sued Company A in Arkansas state court. Company A filed a motion to dismiss asserting that because the worker was a statutory employee of Company A, the exclusive remedy provisions of the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Act applied and that the case was within...
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Case Against Utility Remanded For Punitive Damages Trial Over Decision Not To Relocate Utility Pole
Posted on Dec 12, 2014
The Court of Appeals of Ohio affirmed a jury’s verdict that found in favor of a motorcyclist injured after striking a deer and swerving off a public road where he hit a utility pole. Yesterday, the appellate court sustained the bulk of the verdict for approximately $700,000 against the owner and operator of the utility pole, on the grounds that the utility failed to abide by the county’s previous request to relocate the pole. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the motorcyclist for qualified nuisance and to his wife for loss of consortium, and for general negligence....
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Verdict For Automotive Manufacturer Reversed Where Trial Judge Erred In Admitting Entire NHTSA Report
Posted on Dec 11, 2014
On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals of Missouri reversed a jury verdict in favor of an automotive manufacturer and remanded the case for a new trial. In 2003, a Missouri state trooper was killed and a passenger in his car was severely injured when a truck driver veered onto the shoulder of the interstate and collided with the patrol car. The fire began in the left rear fender, at the area where the fuel filler neck extended between the fuel fill door and the fuel tank. The impact severed the filler neck, which allowed gasoline vapor to escape that was almost immediately ignited by the...
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