West Virginia Federal Court Holds FRSA Retaliation Claim Not Affected By Arbitration Pursuant to Collective Bargaining Agreement
Posted on Jun 19, 2014
A railroad terminated a conductor after determining he was partially responsible for a train derailment. The conductor appealed his termination pursuant to the arbitration provisions in his collective bargaining agreement and the Railroad Labor Act (“RLA”). He separately filed an administrative complaint for retaliation under the Federal Railroad Safety Act (“FRSA”), alleging he was terminated for reporting an injury that occurred during the derailment. After the Department of Labor failed to issue a final decision within the statutorily prescribed 210-day period, the conductor brought...
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USA Today Report Critical of NTSB Investigations of Small Plane and Helicopter Crashes
Posted on Jun 18, 2014
A USA Today report published this week attributes “shortcomings” in NTSB investigations of private plane and helicopter crashes with compounding the number of deaths in general aviation incidents (reportedly nearly 45,000 since 1964 and roughly nine times greater than the number of deaths in passenger airline crashes). According to the report, investigators “repeatedly overlooked defects and other dangers of private aviation as they blamed individual pilots….The failure of crash investigators to find defective parts, dangerous aircraft designs, inadequate safety features and weak government...
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Mining Company Likely Precluded from Litigating Gas Pipeline’s Negligence Claims Against It After Not Contesting Administrative Agency’s Allegations
Posted on Jun 17, 2014
Following damage to a gas pipeline in Floyd County, Kentucky, the owner of the pipeline brought suit against a mining company alleging that its mining and reclamation activity caused the landslide that damaged the pipeline. While the case was ongoing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, the Kentucky Division of Mine Reclamation and Enforcement issued the mining company a Notice of Proposed Assessment for $33,700 in penalties and the assessor’s report contained a finding that the damage to the pipeline resulted from the reckless conduct of the mining company. The...
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Supreme Court of Texas Finds Purchasers of Used Goods Can Recover on Implied Warranty Claims in Case That Highlights Risk of Failing To Plead Affirmative Defenses
Posted on Jun 15, 2014
In Texas, the resale of a used good does not automatically terminate any remaining implied warranty obligations, according to the Supreme Court of Texas in a recent decision involving an engine manufacturer. The court reiterated that if a manufacturer disclaims implied warranties, which Texas law permits, such express language necessarily would apply to subsequent purchasers beyond the original purchaser, but the engine manufacturer in the case was precluded from introducing evidence of its express disclaimer language because of a failure to raise it as an affirmative defense in its...
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South Carolina Jury Verdict Against Automotive Manufacturer for Alleged Defective Speed Control Deactivation Switch Will Stand
Posted on Jun 14, 2014
After leaving a pick-up truck at a warehouse for the weekend only to return to find the warehouse essentially burnt down for a fire allegedly caused by the truck, a lawn maintenance and pressure washing company brought a products liability case against the pick-up truck manufacturer. The case alleged a flawed design of the speed control deactivation switch, arguing that it was “very foreseeable” that the thin membrane separating the constantly energized electrical component from the flammable brake fluid, could leak and enhance the risk of an engine fire. The jury found the automotive...
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Massachusetts Holds Automotive Manufacturer Owes Duty To Defend Dealer Only for Claims Alleging Manufacturer Was Sole Cause of Defective Motor Vehicle
Posted on Jun 14, 2014
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts confronted yesterday under what circumstances a motor vehicle manufacturer owes a duty under Massachusetts law to defend a motor vehicle dealer against a claim “predicated upon the negligent design or manufacture of a new motor vehicle, or any part or component thereof?” The court had to interpret the state’s law that provides for indemnification and defense by motor vehicle manufacturers and distributors of certain claims brought against motor vehicle dealers. See Mass. Gen. Laws c. 93B, § 8(a)-(b). The court concluded that a manufacturer owes...
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Kentucky Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment to Asphalt Kettle Manufacturer Following Worker’s Death
Posted on Jun 14, 2014
Following an explosion of an asphalt kettle that severely injured an employee of a roofing contractor working on a public school project, the worker subsequently died from a pain medication overdose and his estate brought suit against the asphalt kettle manufacturer alleging design defect, failure to warn, and breach of warranty claims. An asphalt kettle is used in the asphalt roofing industry to heat solid blocks of asphalt and pump the melted asphalt to a rooftop through a hot line pipe; the operator of the machine is charged with monitoring the kettle’s temperature and adjusting the flow...
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