Enhanced Process Safety Planning for Public Transportation Systems Coming Soon
Posted on Feb 9, 2016
Certain well publicized catastrophic accidents in recent years across various industries has prompted an emphasis on process safety. Lapses in process safety often lead to the low-frequency, high-risk type of accidents. On Friday, the Department of Transportation continued this trend of focusing on process safety. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to carry out statutory mandates in the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. The proposed rules would require operators of public transportation systems that receive federal financial...
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Hand Signals Work in Baseball But Can Be Improper Coaching in Courtroom
Posted on Feb 7, 2016
During a recent trial related to a 2012 New Jersey train derailment and chemical leak in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, the judge ejected one of the lead plaintiffs’ attorneys for improperly coaching witnesses. Specifically, the lawyer acknowledged that he told the witness that if the witness started to ramble while on the stand, he would touch his eyeglasses. The judge indicated that the lawyer could have no further contact with any witnesses or parties in the case and stated he would report the conduct to the ethics authorities. Bottom line — signals...
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Failure To Amend Insurance Coverage Disclosures Found Sanctionable
Posted on Jan 26, 2016
On Friday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin granted a motion for sanctions against attorneys representing the manufacturer of a catwalk from which an egg farm worker fell and was seriously injured. At the beginning of the case, the attorneys made the following initial disclosure about available insurance coverage from the company’s German insurer: “Liability coverage is provided by [ ]. This coverage is adequate to cover the damages apparently at issue in this case.” Approximately one year later, however, the insurer informed the...
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Expect Heightened Scrutiny Of Worker Relationships For Possible “Joint Employment”
Posted on Jan 21, 2016
The scenarios in which a worker, even though not technically a company employee, is found to be a company employee under a theory of “joint employment” for purposes of various laws continues to increase. Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division issued an Administrator’s Interpretation establishing new standards for determining joint employment under the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act. The interpretation explains that the concept of joint employment under these acts should be broadened...
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Primary Insurer Wins Reinsurance Dispute Over Large Asbestos Settlement
Posted on Jan 21, 2016
Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York granted summary judgment to the primary insurer of a pump manufacturer in a dispute with the primary insurer’s reinsurer. Beginning in 1997, more than 140,000 claims were filed against the pump manufacturer alleging asbestos-related bodily injuries. In two separate cases, one in California and one in New York, the pump manufacturer disputed the amount of coverage available to it from the primary insurer. The primary insurer eventually reached a settlement with the pump manufacturer. The reinsurance certificates...
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Fifth Circuit Finds Two “Occurrences” In Rejecting Rig Owner’s Insurance Claim
Posted on Jan 21, 2016
On Tuesday, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a judgment for the insurers of a drilling rig that rejected a claim from the rig owner for approximately $17 million in losses. Following a storm in February 2010, a jack-up drilling rig encountered severe weather and the rough seas caused the rig’s legs to become misaligned, which added to the rig’s difficulties caused by twenty years of wear and tear from its hydraulic-jacking system. The rig owner sent the rig to dry dock for repairs (though did not realize that the legs were misaligned) and then after the rig serviced a couple of other...
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Wrongful Death Case In Concrete Crushing Machine Incident Remanded To Louisiana Court
Posted on Jan 20, 2016
Following the death of a Louisiana worker pulled into a concrete crushing machine, the worker’s mother brought suit against a number of entities in state court, some of which were Louisiana companies and some of which were out-of-state entities. The out-of-state entities, including the manufacturer of the machine, removed the case to federal court on the grounds that the in-state entities were improperly joined. Yesterday, however, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana granted the plaintiff’s motion to remand the case back to state court. The two...
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