Mealey's Personal Injury : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Personal Injury

April 24, 2024
$12.25M Settlement Approved In Neighborhood Class’s Case Over Smokestack Demolition

CHICAGO — A federal magistrate judge in Illinois granted final approval of a $12.25 million settlement between the companies that caused a smokestack to be demolished at a coal power plant in a Chicago neighborhood and a class of residents in that neighborhood who alleged that they were exposed to a “plume of toxic debris and particulate matter” as a result of the demolition, causing breathing issues.
April 24, 2024
Chicago Jury Returns $45 Million Asbestos Verdict Against J&J Entities

CHICAGO — An Illinois jury held Johnson & Johnson entity Kenvue Inc. 70% liable for a woman’s mesothelioma after finding that it and a second subsidiary could be responsible as a continuation of their parent company and awarding $45 million to her six children.
April 24, 2024
Md. Appeals Court Finds No Error In Excluding Medical Experts In Malpractice Suit

BALTIMORE — A Maryland appeals court found no abuse of discretion in a trial court excluding two experts in a medical malpractice lawsuit after finding that their testimony changed between their depositions and their testimony during a hearing to determine their admissibility under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
April 23, 2024
Panel Remands Negligence Suit Against ‘Misclassified’ Assisted Living Facility

CINCINNATI — An Ohio appellate court reversed in part and remanded a breach of contract and negligence suit filed against an assisted living facility by a former resident, finding that the trial court “erred as a matter of law” when it “misclassified” the facility as a residential care facility and granted summary judgment to the facility on a resident’s claim for violations of a nursing home resident’s rights.
April 23, 2024
Treating Physician Cannot Testify On Injury Causation In Crash Case, Judge Rules

DETROIT — Because a treating physician “did not independently determine the cause of” a woman’s injuries, “he is not qualified to offer an opinion on the same,” a Michigan federal judge ruled, granting a motion to exclude filed by the U.S. government in a personal injury suit.
April 22, 2024
Panel: Arbitration Provision Is Not Enforceable As Signed By Health Care Surrogate

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida appellate court on April 19 reversed and remanded a lower court’s order compelling arbitration in a negligence and wrongful death suit filed against a nursing home, finding that because the person signing the admission agreement on behalf of the deceased former resident signed as her health care surrogate (HCS) rather than her attorney-in-fact, the admission agreement’s arbitration provision is not enforceable.
April 22, 2024
Supreme Court Will Address Whether ‘Ghost Gun’ Parts Are Subject To Gun Control Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 22 granted the federal government’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling invalidating 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 considered by some manufacturers to not require serial numbers or a firearms background check before sale.
April 22, 2024
Expert Can Offer Medical Causation Testimony, New York Federal Judge Says

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A biomechanical engineer can opine on medical causation in a crash suit because he has adequate medical training, a New York federal magistrate judge ruled, rejecting a motion to exclude filed by a man who claims that he was injured in the crash.
April 22, 2024
11th Circuit Affirms Denial Of Cruise Worker’s Petition To Vacate Award

MIAMI — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the denial of a cruise worker’s petition to vacate an arbitral award rejecting his claims against his employer for negligence in connection with a sound speaker falling onto his foot, holding that the trial court lacked the power to vacate the award as it is not the primary jurisdiction in which the award was issued.
April 19, 2024
Arizona Federal Judge: Expert Out In Design Defect Case Against Gun Manufacturer

PHOENIX — Testimony by an expert retained by a man who alleges that his handgun accidentally discharged due to a design defect is inadmissible, an Arizona federal judge ruled, finding that his conclusions are unreliable under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
April 18, 2024
High Court Won’t Address Whether Habeas Is Proper For COVID-Related Prison Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition for writ of certiorari of a prison inmate seeking the review of a decision of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirming a California federal court’s ruling that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the inmate’s habeas corpus petition alleging that conditions in the prison caused by COVID-19 rendered his custody to be unlawful.
April 18, 2024
Pa. Federal Judge Limits Testimony From Expert In Broken Window Injury Case

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — An expert retained by a man who was injured while installing a window air conditioning unit may testify, but a Pennsylvania federal judge partially granted a motion to exclude and barred testimony that he ruled does not require a specific expertise.
April 17, 2024
Engineering Firm Says It Owes Flint Bellwether III Plaintiffs No Duty Of Care

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — An engineering firm that is a defendant in the litigation over the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., has filed a brief in Michigan federal court arguing that the court should grant the firm summary judgment on the professional negligence claims brought by a group known as the Bellwether III plaintiffs because the firm says it did not owe them a duty of care as a matter of law.
April 17, 2024
Woman’s Experts In Pressure Cooker Explosion Case Admissible, Judge Says

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Experts on what caused a pressure cooker lid to suddenly explode can testify in a personal injury suit, an Arkansas federal judge ruled, denying the manufacturer’s motion to exclude.
April 15, 2024
John Crane Says Evidence Falls Short In $1.75M Asbestos Verdict

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The encapsulated asbestos in gaskets and packing could not have caused a man’s fatal exposure to asbestos, but even if they did, there is no evidence that a warning would have prevented it, and the lack of action by the worker, his employers and related premises owners are all superseding causes, John Crane Inc. told a South Carolina judge in a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict after a $1.75 million verdict.
April 11, 2024
Nursing Home Counsel Enters Appearance In Estate’s $50K Negligence, Survival Suit

MEDIA, Pa. — Legal counsel representing a skilled nursing facility (SNF) and related entities entered an appearance in a Pennsylvania state court after the estate of a former resident filed a complaint against them asserting claims for negligence, survival and wrongful death for the defendants’ alleged failure to “timely treat” pneumonia that led to the former resident’s death.
April 11, 2024
Ohio Jury Finds Worker’s 8 Conditions Were Aggravated By Injury, Must Be Covered

SIDNEY, Ohio — A mechanical contractor’s employee’s eight disc bulge and spinal stenosis conditions were aggravated by an injury he sustained at work in 2003 and should be covered under workers’ compensation, an Ohio jury ruled in eight verdicts.
April 09, 2024
Norfolk Southern To Pay $600M To Settle Ohio Train Derailment Litigation

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and Norfolk Southern Corp. (Norfolk Southern collectively) and the plaintiffs suing them filed notice in Ohio federal court on April 9 indicating that they have reached a $600 million agreement in principle to resolve the class action pertaining to alleged injuries from the release of toxic chemicals in the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio; a third-party lawsuit among Norfolk Southern and railcar companies continues.
April 08, 2024
Washington Judge Excludes AI-Enhanced Video From Murder Trial

SEATTLE — An artificial intelligence-enhanced video of a mass shooting does not meet the Frye v. United States standard, and the admission of such opaque and nonpeer-reviewable evidence would likely only introduce prejudice and complications into a murder trial, a Washington state court judge said in excluding the video.
April 05, 2024
Judge Excludes Expert Who Says Man’s Movements Suggest Jump, Not Fall, From Truck

NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge granted a motion filed by a man who was injured when he allegedly fell from a moving tractor-trailer to exclude an expert who opines that the man jumped instead of fell.
April 05, 2024
Magistrate Judge Allows Biomechanical Testimony From Expert In Injury Suit

MIAMI — A federal magistrate judge in Florida carved out the specific testimony that one expert retained by a Carnival Corp. may offer in a personal injury suit but largely denied a man’s motion to exclude under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
April 04, 2024
Court Enters Defense Judgment In Smoker’s Widower’s Wrongful Death Suit

BOSTON — A Massachusetts state court judge on April 3 entered judgment in favor of two tobacco companies and a local retailer, dismissing all claims brought by the widower of a dead smoker who started smoking around age 10 and smoked for 50 years before dying at 65 from lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
April 04, 2024
Judgment Entered Dismissing Smoker’s Daughter’s Suit Against Tobacco Company

BOSTON — A Massachusetts state court entered a judgment in favor of a tobacco company after a jury awarded no damages to the daughter of a dead smoker who was diagnosed with lung cancer more than 25 years after quitting smoking. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
April 01, 2024
California High Court Affirms Ruling Denying Care Home’s Bid To Compel Arbitration

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court affirmed an appellate court’s judgment upholding a lower court decision denying a nursing home’s motion to compel arbitration in an elder abuse and negligence suit filed against the nursing home related to a former resident’s fall and fracture, finding that the arbitration agreement signed by the resident’s agent under a health care power of attorney was not a health care decision within the agent’s authority.
March 29, 2024
Parties Complete Briefing On Ghost Gun Regulation In U.S. Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a challenge by the U.S. government to a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmance of a Texas federal court decision 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 considered by some manufacturers to not require serial numbers or a firearms background check before sale, the parties’ briefs were distributed March 27 for an April 12 conference in the U.S. Supreme Court.