Partial Fall Through Interior Of Scaffold Not Enough For Liability Under New York Scaffold Law
Posted on Oct 7, 2014
While constructing railroad tunnel emergency ventilation facilities in Manhattan, a drill running foreman who worked for the project’s general contractor partially fell through a 14-inch by 16-inch hole while working on a scaffold. He brought suit against the project owner and the project owner’s safety monitor. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted summary judgment to the defendants on the plaintiff’s claims under New York State Labor Law § 240, which imposes a form of strict liability on all parties involved in the construction of scaffolds and other...
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Deliberate Intent Action For Miner’s Death Dismissed By West Virginia Federal Court
Posted on Oct 7, 2014
In March 2009, a roof bolter for a West Virginia mining company was injured when a short shank metal wrench came out of a drill chuck and struck him in the head. After a CT scan that night showed no fracture, he returned to work the next day, but was found dead in his bed in December 2010. An autopsy revealed that he died of a seizure and that “in the setting of a traumatic seizure disorder following a remote head injury at work while employed as a professional coal miner.” His estate brought a deliberate intent action against the mining company for which he worked. The U.S. District...
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Welding Contractor’s Suit Against Construction Company For Negligently Building Platform Continues
Posted on Oct 6, 2014
Following a welding contractor’s employee’s fall of more than twenty feet while working at a construction company’s site, the individual and the welding contractor (who was paying his workers’ compensation benefits) brought suit against the construction company alleging that it negligently constructed the platform from which the worker fell. Last week, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia denied the construction company’s motion to dismiss. The court found that the plaintiffs adequately alleged a claim of negligence under Georgia law by pleading that the company...
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Coal Operators Face Broader Reporting Requirements Under Pennsylvania Law According To State’s High Court
Posted on Oct 4, 2014
Several coal mining operators challenged the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (“DEP”) interpretation of the state’s Bituminous Coal Mine Safety Act (the “State Act”) with respect to “accident” reporting and with respect to requiring fire extinguishers on certain mining vehicles. Specifically, the State Act requires mine operators to notify the DEP of “accidents” within 15 minutes of their discovery and defines “accident” as “an unanticipated event, including any of the following,” and lists 14 examples. The DEP in these cases contended that the operators violated this...
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Montana Judge Reduces Punitives In Automotive Case But Award Still Vulnerable On Appeal
Posted on Oct 2, 2014
In May, we posted that 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. Last week, the presiding judge affirmed the jury’s award but reduced the punitive damage award to $72,960,012 given that just more than $8 million were awarded as compensatory damages. At trial, the manufacturer had argued that the crash occurred because the teens were lighting fireworks in the car while the plaintiffs blamed the allegedly defective steering...
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New York Jury Levies $7 Million Award Against Power Company For Contractor’s Asbestos Exposure
Posted on Oct 1, 2014
Following a two-week trial, a New York jury on Monday awarded a contractor for a power company $7 million for exposure to asbestos during the construction of a power station. The verdict was broken up for $3.5 million for past pain and suffering and $3.5 million for future pain and suffering. According to Law360, the defense argued that the power company did not exercise supervision or control over the work of the contractors, but one of the company’s employees testified that the company specified asbestos should be used and how to use it.
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Tenth Circuit Affirms Indemnification Award Involving Incident At Wyoming Well
Posted on Sep 29, 2014
In 2001, an owner and operator of oil and gas wells entered into a master services agreement with a contractor for work on a Wyoming well. The agreement contained an indemnity provision whereby the contractor agreed to indemnify the owner “from and against all claims, damages, losses …” resulting from either the contractor’s or the owner’s negligence. Under the contractor’s commercial general liability insurance policy, its insurer agreed to insure the contractor against damages because of bodily injury “assumed in a contract or agreement that is an ‘insured contract,’” including...
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