Evidence Of Prior Incidents/Injuries Not Impermissibly Admitted By California Trial Judge
Posted on Nov 4, 2014
The Court of Appeal of California (4th Division) affirmed a jury verdict in favor of two plaintiffs who, while not wearing any wetsuit bottoms or similar protective clothing, sustained permanent injuries when falling off the back of a three-passenger watercraft. A jury returned a verdict against the watercraft manufacturer, the owner of the personal watercraft, and the operator of the watercraft (each was one-third liable). The jury awarded one plaintiff $3.385 million in damages, including past and future medical expenses and past and future noneconomic losses, plus $1.5 million in...
Continue Reading
Oklahoma Federal Court Holds FRA Crossing Inventories Admissible In Finding Rail Crossing Public
Posted on Nov 2, 2014
In Oklahoma litigation arising from a fatality caused by a train striking a car as it passed through a railroad crossing, a key issue dictating the requisite duty of care became whether the crossing was whether the crossing was public or private. The parties disputed the admissibility of Federal Railroad Administration Crossing Inventories related to the particular crossing. The defendant railroad argued that they were inadmissible reports pursuant to 23 U.S.C. § 409, which provides: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, reports, surveys, schedules, lists, or data compiled or...
Continue Reading
No Common Law Duty To Make Defibrillators Available To Invitees In California
Posted on Nov 2, 2014
The Ninth Circuit recently certified a question to the California Supreme Court on whether the California common law duty of reasonable care owed to on-site business customers includes an obligation to obtain and make available on the premises an automated external defibrillator (AED) for use in medical emergencies. The case arose after a shopper experienced a sudden cardiac arrest and died before the paramedics arrived. The store did not have an AED. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California held that the store owner did not have a common law duty to maintain an AED...
Continue Reading
Louisiana Federal Judge Dramatically Reduces $9 Billion Punitive Damage Award To $37 Million
Posted on Oct 30, 2014
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty (Western District of Louisiana) cut a total punitive damage award from $9 billion to $36.875 million, an award 244 times smaller than the jury had determined. The case involved the first trial in an MDL involving the potentially unsafe effects of a diabetes drug. Throughout the lengthy almost 200-page opinion, Judge Doherty expresses her criticism of the defendants’ actions and pleads to the higher courts for more guidance in determining when large-scale punitive damage awards are permissible. After walking through the U.S. Supreme Court’s...
Continue Reading
Eighth Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of Brakeman’s Retaliatory FRSA Claim
Posted on Oct 29, 2014
In December 2009, a railroad brakeman with a long history of good work performance committed a serious safety violation for which he accepted responsibility and agreed to disciplinary measures including a year of probation. In September 2010, the railroad dismissed the brakeman following an investigation into a separate serious safety violation committed in June 2010. In March 2011, the brakeman filed a complaint with the Department of Labor alleging that his discharge was motivated, at least in part, by complaints he made in the months preceding his discharge that constituted safety...
Continue Reading
Consumer Product Safety Commission Announces $4.3 Million Settlement With Mini-Bike/Go-Cart Manufacturer
Posted on Oct 29, 2014
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced yesterday that it reached a settlement with the manufacturer of mini-bikes and go-carts for $4.3 million after the manufacturer failed to immediately report to the CPSC alleged defects and an unreasonable risk of serious injury involving eleven of the company’s models. The CPSC had alleged that the gas cap could leak or detach from the fuel tank, which posed fire and burn hazards, and that the throttle could stick given an alleged improperly positioned fuel line and throttle cable, which posed sudden acceleration hazards. The...
Continue Reading
Offshore Welder’s Estate’s Tort Claims Can Proceed To Trial
Posted on Oct 28, 2014
In November 2012, a welder was injured in an explosion on an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico and later died from his injuries. In August 2014, one of the offshore contractor defendants moved for summary judgment, contending that at all material times, the welder was its borrowed employee under the nine-factor test set forth by the Fifth Circuit in Ruiz v. Shell Oil Co., and that it was therefore immune from tort liability under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. The nine Ruiz factors required the court to consider: Who has control over the employee and the work he...
Continue Reading
FEATURED
The Crisis Response & Incident Investigation Team at Eversheds Sutherland has substantial experience in guiding companies through crises, big and small, in providing a coordinated response to help mitigate risk and liability. More>>