“Paymaster” May Not Be Considered Rig Worker’s Employer In Context Of Vicarious Liability For Negligence Under General Maritime Law
Posted on Apr 3, 2014
Confronted with an issue of first impression in the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana concluded that where a company serves only as a “paymaster,” that company cannot be considered a rig worker’s employer in the context of vicarious liability for negligence under general maritime law. The court granted summary judgment to the company serving as paymaster for three rig workers in a case brought by another rig worker who was injured after pirates boarded a jack-up rig working off the coast of Nigeria and shot him in the leg with an AK-47 rifle at...
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OSHA Sends Message With $2.3 Million Proposed Fine That Exposing Workers to Hazardous Substances Without Proper Training, Safeguards, and Precautions Is Not Acceptable
Posted on Apr 2, 2014
OSHA has proposed fines of more than $2.3 million for a New York real estate developer for exposing its workers and the workers of various contractors to asbestos and lead hazards during cleanup operations of a psychiatric center in preparation for a tour of the site by potential investors. The work at issue included removing asbestos- and lead-contaminated debris, asbestos-containing floor tiles and insulation, and lead-containing paint from walls, windows, door frames, and other surfaces. According to OSHA, the company knowingly failed to inform the workers about the presence of asbestos...
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FAA Proposes $325,000 Civil Penalty Against Chemical Company for Hazardous Materials Violations
Posted on Apr 1, 2014
The FAA recently proposed a $325,000 civil penalty against a chemical company for alleged violations of HAZMAT Regulations. The FAA alleges that the company shipped a hazardous material on two separate cargo flights. The material, Acrolein, can become explosive when combined with air and is classified as a toxic/poisonous material under federal law. Acrolein is prohibited from being transported on all passenger and cargo aircrafts. The FAA discovered the alleged violation when cargo flight personnel tried to inspect a shipment that was emitting strong odors. The personnel began to experience...
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District Courts Increasingly Reluctant To Grant Summary Judgment on Borrowed Servant Doctrine
Posted on Apr 1, 2014
Seven miles off the coast of Mobile, Alabama, a worker was injured when he fell from a pipe onto a natural gas platform while attempting to re-bolt a flange that was leaking flammable gas. Following the incident, the worker filed for and received workers’ compensation benefits under the Longshoreman and Harbor Worker Compensation Act. Employed by a services company, the worker subsequently brought suit against the platform owner, who contended that workers’ compensation immunity from suit extends to it given that the worker was a borrowed servant from the services company. Given evidence...
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BP Prior Incidents Again at Issue in Oil Spill Litigation
Posted on Mar 31, 2014
As we previously reported in “Be Prepared for the Inevitable ‘Process Safety’ Attack,” Corporate Counsel (Jan. 23, 2014), available here, the private plaintiffs in last year’s liability trial stemming from the 2010 Gulf oil spill were permitted to introduce evidence of some of BP’s most notable prior incidents through the opinion of a renowned process safety expert, notwithstanding U.S. District Judge Carl J. Barbier’s previous ruling that evidence of these incidents would be excluded by Federal Rules of Evidence 404(b) and 403. Notably, Judge Barbier’s Order did not exclude expert...
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Most of BSEE Accident Report Deemed Admissible in Worker Injury Case
Posted on Mar 31, 2014
In litigation arising from a worker injury on an offshore platform allegedly caused by the bursting of a bladder of a potable water tank, the tank manufacturer sought a preliminary order declaring the BSEE accident investigation report and all of its attachments admissible pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8), the hearsay exception for public records. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana found the reasoning of the Fourth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits persuasive and held that the portions of the accident report containing legal conclusions about the probable...
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Florida Court Concludes Claims Arising from Nigerian Plane Crash Brought by Estates of U.S. Citizens or Residents Can Be Heard in United States
Posted on Mar 31, 2014
In June 2012, a plane carrying 153 people, including several Americans, crashed on approach to a Nigerian airport. The flight was domestic to Nigeria, traveling from Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria. Mass-tort lawsuits were filed in the United States, both by the estates of individuals who were citizens or residents of Nigeria (or other foreign countries) and by the estates of individuals who were U.S. citizens or residents. The estate of the pilot moved to dismiss the U.S. cases on forum non conveniens grounds. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that the Nigerian...
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