Eighth Circuit Upholds FAA Civil Penalty Enforcement Action Against Airline over Inoperable Landing Gear Despite Airline’s Voluntary Reporting
Posted on Mar 4, 2014
The Eighth Circuit upheld an FAA enforcement action against a Missouri-based airline company for violation of an airworthiness directive. In November 2007, the airline’s mechanics replaced a brake assembly on the main landing gear of an airplane. During the replacement, the mechanics installed gear pins to lock the assembly in place while they completed the repair. However, the mechanics neglected to update the logbook entry, and one of the gear pins was left in the airplane during the next flight. Consequently, the landing gear would not retract. Soon after take-off, the pilots...
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ALJ Finds Federal Mine Safety And Health Commission Has Authority To Review Validity of Safeguards Even Where No Citation Has Been Issued
Posted on Mar 4, 2014
An ALJ for the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission held that the Commission has the authority to review MSHA safeguards prior to the issuance of citations or orders. The ALJ, ruling on a motion to dismiss a coal company’s notice of contest to a MSHA safeguard, found that the Mine Act granted the Commission implied authority to determine the validity of a safeguard even if no subsequent citation or order had been issued. Because the Commission has express authority to review safeguards when deciding a citation, the ALJ determined that the Mine Act necessarily implies that the...
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Federal District Court Says Chemical Company’s Restoration of Property to Regulatory Standards Sufficient To Avoid Damages for Release of Wastewater on Plaintiff’s Property
Posted on Mar 3, 2014
Following a 2011 pipeline rupture and wastewater spill, a Louisiana federal district court granted in part and denied in part a chemical company’s motion for summary judgment in a case for alleged damages. As owner of the pipeline, the court found that under Louisiana law, the chemical company would be liable for any damages that the plaintiff’s land had incurred as a result of the spill. While the chemical company argued that it was not liable for damages because the property (1) had been cleaned to regulatory standards; (2) restored to its pre-spill condition; (3) contained no residual...
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California Appellate Court Says Disabled Pipefitter Has Disability Discrimination Claim Against Turnaround Service Provider
Posted on Mar 3, 2014
In a case brought by a worker under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, a California appellate court reversed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment to a multi-industry turnaround service provider. The worker, whose disability required him to wear a leg brace, was assigned to work as a pipefitter. As a pipefitter, the worker typically performed scaffolding work, but had temporarily requested groundwork after his leg brace broke. The worker asserted that he was not afforded groundwork and, therefore, had to continue to perform the scaffolding work. While performing the...
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Sixth Circuit Affirms Decision Requiring Coal Mine Operator To Revise Ventilation Plan
Posted on Mar 3, 2014
The Sixth Circuit affirmed an ALJ’s decision to uphold a Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration directive to an underground coal mine operator to revise its ventilation plan in response to a 2010 ignition. The ignition occurred at the face of a mine while a continuous mining machine was cutting coal. One of the machine’s bits made contact with a hard rock, causing a spark that ignited. While no injuries resulted, MSHA was notified because of the ignition in an underground mine. The subsequent investigation determined, among other things, that “possible dust/methane” ignited the...
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Sixth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment for Manufacturer of Custom Overhead-Gantry Milling Machine
Posted on Mar 3, 2014
The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of a manufacturer of a custom overhead-gantry milling machine that caused the death of a worker at a Michigan machining company. The worker’s estate brought suit against the manufacturer alleging negligent design and failure to warn after the machine’s cutting tool killed the worker. Prior to the lawsuit, the accident was thoroughly investigated by Michigan OSHA and no citations were issued given the presence of safety guards and the inexplicable fashion in which the incident unfolded. The district judge granted summary judgment on the...
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ELEVENTH CIRCUIT HOLDS INSURANCE COMPANY NOT LIABLE FOR NEGLIGENT INSPECTION WHERE INSPECTION WAS FOR UNDERWRITING – NOT SAFETY
Posted on Feb 28, 2014
In February 2008, a large explosion at a Georgia sugar refinery silo killed one employee and injured another. In the years and months leading up to the explosion, an insurance underwriter performed inspections of the refinery to perform property risk assessments for underwriting purposes. The deceased worker’s family and the injured worker argued that the insurer’s negligence in failing to identify the catastrophic threat of an explosion during its inspection caused the workers’ injuries. In granting the insurance company’s summary judgment motion, the Eleventh Circuit found that the...
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