Mealey's Personal Injury
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November 29, 2023
FELA Asbestos Plaintiff Warns: Georgia Ruling Will Impact Every Daubert Case
ATLANTA — A man tells the Georgia Supreme Court that it must review a divided appellate court ruling excluding his Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) expert’s opinion that exposure to asbestos and other toxins caused lung cancer, saying the divided and “fractured” ruling shows the court rushed its opinion and warning that the confusion the ruling creates could result in it being cited by both parties in every trial court case applying Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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November 29, 2023
Jury Awards $11M To Estate For Smoker’s Lung Cancer Death
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida state court jury awarded $10 million in punitive damages against only one tobacco company defendant after awarding $1 million in compensatory damages against it and another tobacco company in favor of the estate of a woman who died from lung cancer after smoking for more than 40 years. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
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November 29, 2023
Man Alleging Injuries From Ankle Monitoring Device Says Colorado Law Applies
DENVER — A man suing the manufacturer of an alcohol tracking ankle monitor for injuries to his skin rejected arguments that the laws of the state in which the arrest occurred should apply or that he failed to state a claim and urged a federal court in Colorado to deny a motion to dismiss.
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November 29, 2023
Panel Urged To Reverse No Cancer Finding In Engle Case By Smoker’s Widow
MIAMI — A dead smoker’s widow tells a Florida appellate panel in a reply brief that it should reverse a defense judgment against her and remand her case for a new trial, arguing that the jury’s finding that her dead husband did not have lung cancer was likely the result of improperly admitted deposition testimony and the court’s improper jury instructions.
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November 28, 2023
Panel Affirms Order Refusing To Compel Arbitration In Death Suit Against Care Home
LIMA, Ohio — An Ohio appellate court on Nov. 27 affirmed a lower court order that denied a motion by a long-term care (LTC) facility to stay a negligence and wrongful death suit filed against it and compel arbitration, finding that the lower court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the arbitration agreement the decedent signed when admitted to the assisted living portion of the facility did not apply to her later admission to the skilled nursing division of the facility.
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November 28, 2023
6th Circuit: No Error In Excluding Treating Physician, Summary Judgment Affirmed
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment awarded to a truck driver involved in a collision, finding that the man he struck did not prove causation and that his expert was properly excluded.
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November 27, 2023
Golf Course Is Arm Of Tribe, Entitled To Tribal Immunity, Washington Panel Finds
SEATTLE — A company that owns and operates a golf course is entitled to sovereign immunity from a personal injury suit brought by a man who was injured on the course because the company is an arm of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, a Washington panel found in affirming a trial court’s judgment dismissing the case.
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November 21, 2023
Jury Awards More Than $165M Against Monsanto For PCB Injuries At Seattle School
SEATTLE — A Washington state jury on Nov. 20 awarded a combined total of $165,082,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to former teachers and staff at a Seattle area school for injuries stemming from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), finding that Pharmacia LLC, a successor to Monsanto Co., was negligent when it supplied a product that was not safe and that Monsanto misrepresented facts about the dangers of PCBs.
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November 17, 2023
Michigan Court Partially Reverses Expert Exclusion Ruling On Interlocutory Appeal
TROY, Mich. — An expert who is not board-certified in surgical critical care cannot opine on whether doctors who are board-certified breached the applicable standard of care, a Michigan appeals court ruled in an interlocutory appeal, partially reversing a trial court’s ruling in a wrongful death medical malpractice case.
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November 17, 2023
5th Circuit Says No Error In Expert Testimony, Upholds $5M Verdict For Crash
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a $5 million verdict for a woman and her brother who were injured in a car crash and allege that a Honda vehicle design defect was at fault, finding that the expert witnesses were properly admitted and rejecting other points on appeal.
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November 17, 2023
Pipe Maker Awarded $8.8M Asbestos Verdict Disputes Tainted Jury Narrative
LOS ANGELES — The fact that the jury unanimously voted against imposing punitive damages demonstrates that there was no “serious . . . misconduct” tainting jurors who eventually awarded a nearly $9 million asbestos verdict, a couple argues in California trial court briefs opposing motions for new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV).
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November 17, 2023
Panel Upholds $3.3M Judgment Against Philip Morris For Smoker’s Death From COPD
MIAMI — A Florida appellate panel on Nov. 15 affirmed a trial court’s entry of a $3.3 million judgment in favor of a Cuban immigrant’s estate against a tobacco company that a jury previously found liable for hooking him on cigarettes and causing his death from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), finding that the trial court did not err by denying the company’s pretrial motion for summary judgment.
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November 15, 2023
Magistrate Recommends Not Striking Expert Reports In Care Home Negligence Suit
GREENSBORO, N.C. — A North Carolina federal magistrate judge on Nov. 14 recommended denying a skilled nursing facility’s summary judgment motion and motion to strike expert witness reports in a negligence suit against the facility by the estate of a former resident, finding that the estate has shown that failure to comply with the expert disclosure deadline was harmless and there is no basis for summary judgment without excluding the expert reports.
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November 15, 2023
Final Approval Of JP Morgan’s $290M Settlement Granted In Epstein Sex Crimes Case
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted final approval of a $290 million settlement to be paid by JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. (JPMC) in a lawsuit by a class of women allegedly abused or trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein who accuse JPMC of being liable for facilitating those crimes by maintaining Epstein’s accounts and awarded class counsel 30% of the settlement amount and expenses of more than $1 million.
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November 14, 2023
Judge Allows Expert’s Testimony, Denies Summary Judgment In Fatal Rollover Case
MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin federal magistrate judge denied a motion to exclude an engineering expert retained by the estate of a man killed when a Caterpillar Inc. dump truck rolled over, finding that his testimony meets the requirements of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. and the manufacturer’s objections can be addressed through cross-examination.
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November 14, 2023
5th Circuit Panel Upholds Lower Court Invalidation Of ATF Ghost Gun Parts Ban
NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a decision of a Texas federal court finding unlawful a rule promulgated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that broadened the definition of “firearm” to include parts of “ghost guns,” which can be assembled into weapons but, before the rule, were not required to have serial numbers and could be obtained without a firearms background check.
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November 10, 2023
$500,000 Verdict Returned For Bellwether Plaintiff In Hernia Mesh Case
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A jury in an Ohio federal court has awarded $500,000 to a man who alleges that he suffered permanent injuries and significant pain and suffering when the hernia mesh used during surgery failed.
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November 09, 2023
Ankle Monitoring Device Maker Moves To Dismiss Claims Alleging Injuries To Skin
DENVER — The manufacturer of an ankle monitoring device moved to dismiss a putative class complaint alleging that the device caused skin injuries, arguing that the laws of the state in which the arrest occurred should apply and that the plaintiff fails to state a claim.
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November 08, 2023
Settlement Reached In Coverage Row With Care Home, Insurer, Ancillary Care Company
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A nursing home and an ancillary care company and its insurer on Nov. 7 filed a stipulation of dismissal in North Carolina federal court advising that they settled the nursing home’s breach of contract suit against the company and insurer seeking to have them indemnify and defend the nursing home in an underlying arbitration proceeding related to the death of a former resident.
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November 07, 2023
Split Panel Affirms Judgment For Senior Living Facility In Premises Liability Case
ATLANTA — A split Georgia appellate court panel affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to an assisted living facility in a premises liability suit against it after a resident’s fall led to his death, finding that because the crack in the pavement where the man tripped “was a commonly occurring open and obvious static condition,” the facility lacked the superior knowledge necessary to prove premises liability.
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November 07, 2023
Man Alleging Injury Through CoolSculpting Appeals To U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — CoolSculpting manufacturer Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc. on Nov. 6 waived its right to file a response to a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a man who argues that an appellate court erred in granting the company summary judgment after finding that he was warned about the risk of paradoxical adipose hyperplasia (PAH) and that his claim fails under the risk-utility or consumer expectations tests.
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November 07, 2023
Pennsylvania High Court To Review Disease Act Exclusivity In Asbestos Case
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted a petition and agreed to decide whether under the state’s Occupational Disease Act, a man’s asbestos-related injury case properly belongs before a trial court or the state’s workers’ compensation system.
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November 03, 2023
Judge: 1 Claim Remains, Some Expert Testimony Allowed In Cruise Injury Case
MIAMI — A Florida federal judge partially dismissed a lawsuit against a cruise liner company filed by a woman who claims to have been injured in her stateroom and partially granted its motion to exclude certain experts from testifying.
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November 02, 2023
Del. Court Denies Dismissal, Says Claims Against Rehab Don’t Fall Under PREP Act
NEW CASTLE, Del. — A Delaware state court denied dismissal to a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility in a wrongful death and negligence suit against it filed by the daughter of a woman who died after purportedly contracting COVID-19 at the facility, finding that the complaint was timely filed and that the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) does not provide immunity for the claims against the facility.
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November 02, 2023
Flint Class Plaintiffs Propose $8M Settlement With Engineering Firm
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The class plaintiffs in the Flint water crisis litigation have moved in Michigan federal court for preliminary approval of an $8 million settlement with one of the firms that provided engineering and consulting services to the city of Flint.