Significant Punitive Damage Award Levied Against Car Manufacturer in Montana
Posted on May 15, 2014
Yesterday, 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. At trial, the manufacturer argued that the crash occurred because the teens were lighting fireworks in the car while the plaintiffs blamed the allegedly defective steering knuckle. The plaintiffs were allowed to introduce evidence of more than one hundred previous warranty replacements for steering knuckles to the jury. The jury also awarded the family $8.6 million in...
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Foreign Tire Manufacturer Dismissed from Kansas Product Liability Case for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction
Posted on May 14, 2014
In a products liability case involving an injury resulting from an allegedly faulty motorcycle tire, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas granted motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction where the plaintiffs failed to show that a foreign tire manufacturer and its parent companies had “minimum contacts” with Kansas sufficient for the court to reasonably exercise jurisdiction. The court indicated that the plaintiffs merely offered “conclusory allegations” both for the proposition that the manufacturer and its parent companies should be considered the same entity and...
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Pennsylvania Court Affirms Dismissal of Workers’ Compensation Claims Where Injury Occurred in New York
Posted on May 14, 2014
A Pennsylvania state court affirmed an order from the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board that dismissed the petitioner’s workers’ compensation claims for lack of jurisdiction. Section 305.2 of the Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Act permits jurisdiction for out-of-state injuries if, inter alia, the employment was principally localized in Pennsylvania or the employment contract was made in Pennsylvania and the employment was not principally located in any state. The petitioner argued that jurisdiction was proper where he had previously worked for his employer on several individual jobs...
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Indemnity Agreement Precludes Temporary Employee Provider’s Recovery of Workers’ Compensation Claim Payments in Illinois
Posted on May 14, 2014
The plaintiff, a temporary employee provider, signed an indemnity agreement with the defendant, a company that “borrowed” the temporary employees, agreeing to indemnify the defendant “against any and all claims” asserted by the temporary employees “as a result of or incidental to the work performed.” The temporary employee provider alleged it was due $1.6 million under the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Act, which provides that, absent an agreement to the contrary, an employee loaner must be reimbursed by the employee borrower for amounts paid for workers’ compensation claims. Relying on...
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U.S. District Judge Excludes FDA 510(k) Evidence in Medical Device MDL
Posted on May 14, 2014
In an MDL regarding the safety of certain medical devices, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia granted the plaintiffs’ motion in limine to exclude FDA 510(k) evidence related to the FDA’s pre-market notification process on the grounds that the process does not go to the safety or efficacy of medical devices and because of the potential to mislead and confuse the jury. U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin considered the motion under Illinois law, where a plaintiff must prove that a product is “unreasonably dangerous” under either the consumer expectation test...
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Pain Pump Manufacturer Obtains Summary Judgment Where Alleged Injuries Not Reasonably Foreseeable at Time of Device’s Use
Posted on May 14, 2014
The Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment to the manufacturer of a pain pump inserted into a patient’s shoulder to infuse anesthetic while she recovered from surgery in 2002. The patient brought suit alleging that the pain pump caused chondrolysis (the loss of articular cartilage in a joint) on theories of negligence and strict products liability for failure to warn under Minnesota law. The Eighth Circuit agreed with the district court that based on the medical literature existing at the time of the surgery, it was not reasonably foreseeable to the...
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Alleged Safety Failures in Transporting Crude by Rail Leads to Criminal Charges
Posted on May 13, 2014
The Quebec prosecutor’s office has announced it will seek criminal charges against a rail company and three of its employees following the Lac-Mégantic derailment and explosion last year. The director of criminal and penal prosecutions posted the public statement on the government’s website last evening. The statement asserts, “After having analyzed the body of evidence, the three individuals and the company are accused of having caused the death of 47 people by criminal negligence.” Companies involved in the transportation of crude by rail face heightened scrutiny of their safety policies...
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