Speaker Pelosi Works To Help Injured Workers From Gulf

August 3rd, 2010

When the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010 numerous crew members suffered serious personal injuries and 11 workers were killed.

And now it appears that insult has been added to injury as the battle over how the injury victims should be compensated intensifies.

As reported by NBC and others, because the basis of the workers’ wrongful death actions took place off-shore, maritime lime limits the amount of compensation that can be paid to their families.San Francisco Personal Injury Attorney Discusses Changes To Maritime Law For Injured Workers On Deepwater Horizon

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has promised the families of those killed and injured on the Deepwater Horizon that she would pass a bill to make sure that the families are compensated fairly.  And she has been doing just that.

The bill, according to NBC, seems to be stuck in the Senate in the longstanding fight between trial lawyers – who are seeking greater access to justice for injury victims – and powerful business interests who oppose any changes to the law that would aid consumers and personal injury victims.

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Personal Injury News

August 2nd, 2010

Wrongful Death Lawsuits Due to Aviation Accidents:

California Man Sues Gov. and Boeing Due to Jet Crash

According to the San Diego Union Tribune, a lawsuit has been filed against the federal government and Boeing after a Marine Corps jet crashed into a California home, killing four people.

The plaintiff is accusing the government and Boeing of negligence. The lawsuit claimed that the jet “had a history of warnings and system failures” that both the government and the manufacturer were aware of, and should not have been flying.

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Gov. In Helicopter Crash

A Maryland man has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the death of his wife in a Maryland police helicopter crash in 2008.

According to the Washington Post, the plaintiff in the lawsuit is accusing the Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers of negligence in the crash that killed his wife and three others.

The lawsuit is seeking $7 million in damages.

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Drug Maker Settles Discrimination Suit

July 25th, 2010

According to media reports, a $15.36 million settlement has been reached in New York federal court between drug maker Sanofi-Aventis SA and more than 5,000 female employees who claim they were discriminated against.

The settlement is a result of a lawsuit filed by the women that accuses the company of gender bias in pay and promotions. As part of the settlement, Sanofi must eliminate any discriminatory pay scales and implement strong anti-discriminatory policies.

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BP Oil Lawsuits May Go To Judicial Panel

July 23rd, 2010

As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation is meeting next week in order to determine whether or not lawsuits – ranging form personal injury and wrongful death to property or economic damage – arising from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico are proper for consolidation.

The panel is a special body within the federal court system that manages multidistrict litigation arising from toxic tort and large class actions.

Many of the questions that would have to be determined are venue, what judges would be utilized, rules of consolidation and evaluation, will there be trials and if so where will those trials take place.  And regardless of the outcome of these decisions, one thing is very clear – the spill in the Gulf has altered the lives of millions of Americans from Texas to Florida forever.

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Rig Workers Warned About Safety Concerns Before Blowout

July 22nd, 2010

As reported by the New York Times, Transocean rig workers on the Deepwater Horizon were concerned with the safety of the rig and equipment but were pressed to continue drilling.

The widow of a rig worker who was killed when the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20 testified Thursday that her husband was gravely concerned about the danger of the work on the rig before his death.

Prior to the explosion on April 20 that killed 11 workers and caused the worst oil spill in US history, the rig had experienced numerous problems including frequent equipment malfunctions and near accidents.  In the year prior to the blowout there had been 15 accidents due to safety rule violations.

The testimony of the rig worker’s widow supports that position taken by some that rig workers were concerned with their safety but failed to speak up due to an even greater fear of retaliation.  The New York Times points out an independent survey of rig workers done a month before the blowout that supports this position.

The widow testifying before Congress urged lawmakers to enforce safety regulations more forcefully.

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Oil Companies Want Moratorium Lifted

June 21st, 2010

A New Orleans U.S. District Judge is scheduled to hear arguments this week regarding the moratorium on drilling.

The motion is being presented by a group of oil service companies who assert that the six-month moratorium on drilling projects in the Gulf of Mexico is excessive.

The moratorium was imposed by the federal government shortly after the BP oil spill in late April that left dozens with serious personal injuries, eleven dead, and has done countless damage to the Gulf of Mexico and states facing the Guld.

The oil companies claim that the suspension halted drilling at 33 existing exploratory wells without proof that the rigs posed a threat. They also claim that the six-month break could cost Louisiana thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in lost wages.

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BP Rig Supervisor Fired For Noting Safety Concerns

June 19th, 2010

According to the Huffington Post, a former project control supervisor on one of BP’s deepwater rigs – the Atlantis, was fired in 2009 after the supervisor expressed concerns about the safety.

The supervisor is quoted as saying, “I got a lot of pressure from the lead engineers and from the managers saying, ‘Don’t do that; don’t push so much; we don’t want to mess with that.’ I feel like the real reason I was fired was because I was trying to raise a safety issue, and you know BP has a long history of getting rid of people who try to raise safety issues. I was one of those victims.”

And this allegation comes as BP’s practices are getting a much closer look by federal regulators due to the disastrous spill and blowout on the Deepwater Horizon.

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BP Attempts To Dodge Liability

June 17th, 2010

Despite the numerous personal injuries, eleven wrongful deaths, and immesurable damage done to the Gulf of Mexico, BP CEO Tony Hayward testified before Congress today in what was largely an attempt at dodging liability by blaming others and dodging questions by simply not answering them.

When pressed on BP’s lousy workplace injury and safety record he blamed his predescesors.  When pressed on BP’s seemingly obvious gross negligence and lack of even the most basic workplace safety procedures on the Deepwater Horizon he simply didn’t recall or didn’t know.  And when pressed on why decisions were made on the Deepwater Horizon that went against BP’s own safety policies, seemingly in pursuit of profits, he simply blamed those who worked under him and federal regulators.

As shocking and alarming as Tony Hayward’s testimony, or lack thereof, was it was just as shockingly predictable.  What we are witnessing is a corporate giant who who has planned out a legal strategy and a strategy to survive and is sticking to it with alarming if not admirable discipline.

No matter how many workers are injured, not only in the Gulf but at wells around the world, no matter how much damage is done to the Gulf coast economy and environment, no matter how many personal injury victims, wrongful deaths, and ways of life are damaged and destroyed, BP will continue to do what it does and how it does it.  Because the $20 billion escrow fund that will be set aside for cleanup and damages and the $100 million to be set aside for fishermen pales in comparison to the profits BP will make by continuing to drill in the manner in which they have for years.

The only thing that will stop BP, protect workers, end the deaths and the injuries, and end the damage being done to our environment, is not an escrow fund, not a fine, not a lawsuit, not even a criminal prosecution, but the end of our dependence on oil.

As Rachel Maddow pointed out on MSNBC this evening, what we are lacking in the United States that would have prevented BP’s oil spill in the Gulf is not energy independence but an end to our dependence on oil for energy.

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Oil Executives & Congressmen Criticize BP’s Actions

June 15th, 2010

As Congress is holding hearings and investigating the BP oil spill, House Democrats made statements and read from a letter to BP CEO indicating their conclusions that BP cut corners and put time-lines and profits above safety.

And in testimony before Congress, oil executives from BP’s rivals all testified that their companies would not have drilled the well the way in which BP did that led to the blowout on the Deepwater Horizon.

According to the Washington Post, Rex W. Tillerson, chair and chief executive of Exxon Mobil submitted prepared testimony to Congress that referred to BP’ blowout as “…a dramatic departure from the industry norm in deepwater drilling.” Tillerson also demanded a critical review to “…know if the levels of risk taken went beyond industry norms.”

What oil executives sought to do was reassure Congressional investigators that what happened on BP’s Deepwater Horizon wouldn’t and couldn’t happen to their deepwater wells.  And the assurances come as the industry and its allies in Congress seek to lift the moratorium on deepwater drilling.

The problem, however, resides in the well reported and obvious fact that while deepwater drilling technology has significantly advanced, safety technology and clean up capabilities have not advanced.

So, all assurances aside, if any of the BP’s rivals were to suffer a similar blowout – there are no assurances that the response or damage would be any different.

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Prop 14 Will Hurt Personal Injury Victims

June 7th, 2010

If Proposition 14 passes tomorrow personal injury victims will lose.

The Proposition on its face sounds good enough – open up primaries in hopes that more moderate middle of the road candidates will have a shot at running on behalf of their party.  Because isn’t that were compromise comes from – the middle of the road, right?  Wrong!

There is nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.  And I wish that I could take credit for that sentence but it came from a much more famous Texan than I, Jim Hightower, the last democrat to serve on the Texas Supreme Court before tort reformers did to that state what they dream of doing to California.

What Proposition 14 will do is increase the overall spending on elections, which if you are from Wall Street or you made a bundle in Silicon Valley off of back-dated stock options that’s probably no big deal.  But if you are trying to back candidates that are concerned with the rights of consumers and personal injury victims, it’s a serious problem.

Besides, don’t take my word for it – just take a close look at who is backing the proposition: business groups, insurance companies, and the state Chamber of Commerce.  A group of folks that isn’t exactly a friend to injured workers, personal injury victims, and consumers.

Vote no on Proposition 14.  You’ll be glad that you did.

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