For years, Texas has led the nation in occupational deaths, with the top percentage typically arising from construction. Despite apparent efforts to combat the inherent risk in construction and other industrious trades, employers have touted that new employees receive mandatory OSHA training in the hopes of mitigating the risk present while on the job. Still,…
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Figure 1- The Canadian Pacific train that derailed in North Dakota on 3/26/23. Photo credit: www.APNews.com On Sunday night of March 26, 2023, a Canada Pacific train derailed, affecting 31 of its 70 cars, which caused hazardous materials including petroleum for asphalt to spill out into the surrounding land. This incident marks yet another hazardous…
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Figure 1 – Norfolk Southern freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Photo credit: www.apnews.com. On Tuesday morning, February 21, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) chief Michael Regan ordered that Norfolk Southern Railroad Company to pay for the cost of remediation for Norfolk Southern’s train derailment, in which 38 derailed. Of those…
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In a recent opinion from the Dallas Court of Appeals, the Court affirmed the lower court’s finding that Dallas County was a proper venue for Deere & Co., or John Deere. Deere & Co. v. Bernal, Cause No. 05-22-00916-CV, 2023 Tex. App. LEXIS 261 (Tex. App.—Dallas Jan. 17, 2023, no pet. h.). Since 1999, Deere…
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Under Texas law, a plaintiff in a personal injury lawsuit is limited, inter alia, by the notion that one may not recover twice for the same injury; or, as it is said in practice: no double recovery. Nevertheless, Texas holds—as do a majority of states—that the defendant-tortfeasor must be held to compensate the plaintiff for…
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In December 2022, a community protest formed in the Southwest Houston neighborhood of Southwest Crossing; in response to Centerpoint Energy’s new propane facility that was recently constructed on the neighborhood’s fringe. Centerpoint, the Houston-based energy giant, reportedly began building propane-air peak-shaving facilities throughout Houston since 2019. Centerpoint is a beneficiary of an approximately $16 billion…
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In August 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) proposed an expansion of consumer protections from domestic and foreign air carriers, which would codify a well-settled interpretation of the law that is an unfair business practice for 1) an air carrier, or a ticket agent to refuse to provide requested refunds to consumers when a…
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The Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (“LHWCA” or the “Longshore Act”) is a federal workers’ compensation scheme designed to provide coverage to maritime employees who are injured or killed in an incident “occurring upon the navigable waters of the United States (including any adjoining pier, wharf, dry dock, terminal, building way, marine railway, or…
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