Workplace Injuries

Despite a worker’s wrongful death from chemical exposure in violation of labor laws, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that state-law personal injury lawsuits can’t be brought by railroad maintenance workers against locomotive equipment manufacturers. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his opinion that state-law personal injury lawsuits of this nature are preempted by the Locomotive Inspection Act, a federal safety…

A federal jury awarded Andrew Barati, a Metro-North Railroad worker who filed a personal injury lawsuit against his employer, about $1 million in punitive damages last month. Barati accused Metro-North of the labor-law violation of wrongful termination, and the jury agreed he had been fired in retaliation for reporting a work-related injury. The decision was based on the Federal Railroad…

While Apple has received much recognition for the all-glass exteriors that make their stores stand out from the rest, that distinctive design has a downside too, because it has now resulted in a premises liability lawsuit. Evelyn Paswall, a New York City grandmother, is suing the Calif.-based company for $1 million after she walked into the glass door at one…

Led by former Washington Redskins quarterback Mark Rypien, 126 former National Football League players filed a mass-tort lawsuit in a U.S. District Court on Friday. The lawsuit alleges that the NFL violated labor laws by deliberately hiding information about the risks of head injuries, thus exposing players to serious personal injuries such as brain damage and neurological disorders. The players…

Many states, including New York, require that workers are given meal breaks. Wal-Mart employees in Pennsylvania alleged that they were denied their meal and rest breaks or that they were cut short. They believed this to be a clear labor law violation. Two employees took their case to court as a class action lawsuit on behalf of over 187,000 Wal-Mart…