Court: Appellate Court of Maryland - A Maryland appellate court has affirmed a lower court’s decision that granted summary judgment to the defense in a toxic substance exposure case....more
Jurisdiction: Illinois Circuit Court – Cook County - This lawsuit involved a survival and wrongful death action brought under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) in Illinois. Plaintiff, Annette Sanders, represented...more
In a much anticipated ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion that prohibited an out-of-state plaintiff from suing an out-of-state defendant for out-of-state behavior. While the decision in...more
Most jobs present some level of risk to employees. However, most occupational risks are well known, which gives prospective employees the ability to make the decision whether the job is worth the potential risk involved....more
Court: Court of Appeals of Tennessee, At Jackson - Plaintiff Annie Dowdy is a former employee of defendant BNSF Railway Company. She filed suit against BNSF under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (“FELA”), alleging...more
The Mallory v. Norfolk case—currently pending before the US Supreme Court—could potentially overturn recent rulings on issues related to personal jurisdiction and impact many businesses across the country....more
Court: Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division Decedent Joseph Murray worked for the defendant Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) from 1976 to 2011 as a brakeman/conductor. His wife filed a wrongful death and...more
After contracting colon cancer, Robert Mallory sued Norfolk Southern in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, alleging workplace exposure to carcinogens. Even though Mr. Mallory...more
We previously wrote about how, under the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. McCall, 863 S.E.2d 81 (Ga. 2021), merely registering to do business with the Georgia Secretary of State confers general...more
It would not be surprising to find Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. become mandatory class material across law schools in the future. The case presents a thought-provoking discussion of specific and general...more
Interpretation of the phrase “in use” as used in the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA) continues to baffle courts across the country, including the Supreme Court of the United States. On April 28, 2022, the Supreme Court let...more
Advanced Wage Agreements offer to pay “advanced wages" to an injured seaman, in addition to the legal obligations to pay maintenance and cure, in exchange for the seaman agreeing to arbitrate his personal injury claim if and...more
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) requires retained expert witnesses to provide an expert report which gives “a complete statement of all opinions the witness will express and the basis and reasons for them.” Fed. R....more
Birmingham attorneys Turner Williams and Al Teel obtained summary judgment in their favor on behalf of R.J. Corman Railroad Switching Company, LLC in McGinnis v. Alabama River Cellulose, LLC, et al., Case No....more
The Kansas Supreme Court recently reversed the Kansas Court of Appeals, and re-instated a three-plus million dollar jury verdict in favor of an injured BNSF Railway worker. It did so after finding that it was for the jury —...more
In 1908, Congress enacted the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA) to protect and compensate railroad employees injured on the job. While the railroad industry and overall employee protections (workers compensation, etc.)...more
FELA plaintiffs have long pointed out that Congress placed FELA cases in the hand of juries “to the maximum extent proper.” Tiller v. Atl. Coast Line R. Co., 318 U.S. 54, 68 & n. 30 (1943). But how often to the railroads make...more
On March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court issued a decision in BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos, which ostensibly was limited to the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). However, FELA is incorporated by reference in the Jones Act,...more
Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion in BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos, holding that a railroad’s payment to an injured worker for lost wages is taxable under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA)....more
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court held in BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos that a railroad’s payment to an employee for work time lost due to an on-the-job injury is taxable compensation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act...more
On March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States decided BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos, No. 17-1042, holding that a railroad’s payment to an employee for lost wages due to an on-the-job injury is taxable “compensation”...more