Supreme Court Finds that Federal Law Preempts State Asbestos Lawsuit: Kurns v. Railroad Friction Products Corp.
A federal statute regulating locomotive safety preempts a state products liability and wrongful death lawsuit, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. A former railroad worker, and later his estate, sued multiple companies, alleging that exposure to asbestos in their products while he was a railroad employee caused his cancer. In Kurns v. Railroad Friction Products Corp., 132 S. Ct. 1261 (2012), the Supreme Court affirmed lower court judgments dismissing the lawsuit due to federal preemption.
George Corson, the decedent, worked for nearly three decades as a machinist and welder for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad. He worked in locomotive repair, installing brakeshoes; and in locomotive maintenance, removing boiler insulation. He ceased employment with the railroad in 1974, and received a diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma in 2005. He and his wife filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania state court in 2007 naming fifty-nine defendants, including Railroad Friction Products Corporation (RFPC) and Viad Corp. The lawsuit alleged that RFPC distributed products containing asbestos, and that Viad succeeded a company that manufactured and distributed products containing asbestos. The plaintiffs asserted causes of action for defective design and failure to warn of danger. Corson died after filing suit, and the court substituted his executor, Gloria Kurns, as a plaintiff.
The defendants removed the case to the federal district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. That court granted their motion for summary judgment based on the argument that the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA), 49 U.S.C. § 20701 et seq., preempted state claims for damages. The statute, enacted in 1911, requires “railroad carriers” to maintain locomotive equipment in safe working order. 49 U.S.C. § 20701(1). The Supreme Court held that the LIA preempts state claims for injuries by both railroad passengers and rail workers in Napier v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co., 272 U.S. 605 (1926). The Third Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s ruling, and the plaintiffs appealed.
The plaintiffs raised two arguments on appeal: they argued that the Federal Railroad Safety Act of 1970 (FRSA), 49 U.S.C. § 20101 et seq., modified the scope of preemption by the LIA. They also argued in the alternative that the LIA did not preempt their claims, because it involved injuries caused by asbestos contained in the equipment rather than by the locomotive equipment itself. The Court rejected the first argument, finding that the FRSA authorized the Secretary of Transportation to establish railroad safety regulations, but did not affect federal railroad statutes.
The plaintiffs’ second argument, that their particular claims are not within the scope of the LIA’s preemptions, had three parts. First, they argued that the LIA preempted claims arising from the operation of locomotives on rail lines, but not claims arising from repair or maintenance. Second, they claimed that, even if the court found that the LIA preempted their design defect claim, it should allow their failure-to-warn claim to proceed because it was separate from any design or operation of a locomotive. Finally, they alleged that the LIA did not preempt their claims because the statute did not apply to the defendants when Corson sustained his injuries during the period from the 1940’s to the 1970’s. Its jurisdiction was not expanded beyond common carriers until 1988. The Court rejected all of these arguments, finding that the Napier decision clearly extended the LIA’s preemption to any and all state injury claims arising from any aspect of the operation, repair, or maintenance of a locomotive.
The products liability attorneys at Cohn & Smith help recover compensation for people in South Florida who have suffered injuries due to dangerous or defective consumer products. Contact us today online, at (954) 431-8100, or at (305) 624-9186 to schedule a free and confidential consultation with one of our lawyers.
More Blog Posts:
Toxic Chemical Risk on the Rise, South Florida Injury Attorney Blog, February 8, 2012
Industrial Disease, South Florida Injury Attorney Blog, January 2, 2012
Jury Awards Widow in Florida Mesothelioma Lawsuit Nearly $1 Million, South Florida Injury Attorney Blog, May 20, 2009
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