US Bans Asbestos

Today, March 18, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to prohibit ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, the only known form of asbestos currently used in or imported to the United States. The ban on ongoing uses of asbestos is the first rule to be finalized under the 2016 amendments to the nation’s chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which received near-unanimous support in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The action marks a major milestone for chemical safety after more than three decades of inadequate protections and serious delays during the previous administration to implement the 2016 amendments.

Long Overdue Public Safety Worker Coverage

Legislation has been reintroduced to provide workers’ compensation benefits for certain public safety workers who developed an occupational illness or injury flowing from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A closer look at the legislation reveals that it removes defenses such as causal relationship, statute of limitations, and jurisdiction. Complicated statutory and regulatory challenges may ultimately offset the benefits offered. 

Household Contact Awarded $30 Million Verdict for Mesothelioma

Employers have a responsibility not only to their employees but also to their household contacts, individuals who live in the employee’s home. Employees who are exposed at work may carry the toxic substances home on their clothes or their body.

TSCA Update

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is beginning the process of prioritizing five additional toxic chemicals for risk evaluation under the nation’s premier chemical safety law. If, during the 12-month-long statutory process, the EPA designates these five chemicals as high-priority substances, the EPA will then begin risk evaluations for these chemicals. 

Toxic Flight Attendant Uniforms Result in a $1.1 Million Verdict

Wearing an employer-designated work uniform shouldn’t result in severe and debilitating occupational exposures. Unfortunately, some American Airlines flight attendants suffered injuries from wearing the flight uniforms prescribed by their employer. The lawsuit that they filed lawsuit resulted in a $1.1 Million award.

New EPA Rule Will Lighten the Burden of Proving an Asbestos-Related Disease Claim

In many occupational asbestos claims, it has been challenging to establish that asbestos fiber was used in the workplace. That will soon change under recently announced US Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] Rules.

EPA Seeks Reporting of Asbestos Fibers

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to require comprehensive reporting on all six fiber types of asbestos as the agency continues its work to address exposure to this known carcinogen and strengthen the evidence that will be used to protect people from this dangerous chemical further. Historically asbestos, a known carcinogen, has been present in workplaces causing significant occupational exposures to workers, sometimes fatal, and has generated a long wave of workers’ compensation claims.

OSHA: America Airlines Fined for Retaliating Against Worker Who Reported Hazardous Fumes in Cabin

Federal safety and health investigators have determined that one of the nation's largest airlines retaliated against flight attendants who reported worker illnesses caused by toxic fumes entering aircraft cabins.

NJ Sues Several Companies for Environmental Pollution

Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Commissioner of Environmental Protection (DEP) Shawn M. LaTourette announced today the filing of seven new environmental enforcement actions across the state.

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Claims

Drinking water at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, was contaminated by toxic substances, and it is estimated that over one million military personnel, their families, and civilians who lived and worked near Camp Lejune training facility between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, may have been exposed to hazardous substances.

Burn Pit Legislation Signed into Law

President Biden signed legislation that will provide medical benefits from the Veterans Administration to service members exposed to toxic burn pits while deployed overseas in recent conflicts. The President signed the Sargent First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. It embodies some of the goals we strived to achieve in the decades-long burn pit litigation project.

EPA Launches Community Engagement Efforts on New Ethylene Oxide Risk Information

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just announced its plans to engage and inform communities, states, Tribes, Territories, and stakeholders about up-to-date information on the risks posed by air emissions of ethylene oxide (EtO) from commercial sterilizers, as well as EPA’s efforts to address these risks. EPA is releasing new information on specific facilities where lifetime risk levels are the highest to people who live nearby and is encouraging impacted communities to participate in a series of public engagements to learn more. Later this year, EPA expects to propose an air pollution regulation to protect public health by addressing EtO emissions at commercial sterilizers.

Republican Senators Block Final Passage of The Bipartisan Toxic Exposure Bill That Would Assist Veterans

In a stunning reversal the much-anticipated legislation that would aid veterans exposed to toxic burn pits, and water contamination at Camp Lejune and other war sites was blocked by a unified group of 25 Republican Senators. The widely bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 previously passed the senate 84-14.

NJ Supreme Court Enhances Workplace Safety and Adopts an Updated Standard for Medical Causation

A divided NJ Supreme Court upheld a verdict for an employee who suffered mesothelioma, a fatal cancer, as a result of a product manufacturer’s failure to warn of the lethal nature of the product in the workplace. The Court acknowledged that even minor exposure to asbestos could cause disease.

OSHA reminds fireworks/pyrotechnics industry to put worker safety first in advance of July 4 celebration

As Independence Day approaches, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration urges employers in the fireworks and pyrotechnics industry to be vigilant and protect workers from hazards while manufacturing, storing, transporting, displaying, and selling fireworks for public events.

Burn Pit Claims: US Supreme Court Allows Veteran to Sue a State Agency for Employment Discrimination

In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Breyer, the US Supreme Court reversed a lower court and remanded the case allowing a veteran to sue the state of Texas. It held under the US Constitution that the States agreed it would yield their sovereignty to the Federal Government to raise and support the Armed Forces.

"Unmasking COVID" in 2022, Where Are We Now?

A panel of infectious disease experts and public health specialists of the Veterans Administration who have been involved in the national COVID response discuss strategies to contain the spread of the Omicron variant and stay safe.

Jury awards $650K in damages for Massachusetts contractor’s unlawful retaliation against injured immigrant worker

A federal jury in the District of Massachusetts has found that a Massachusetts employer and his company retaliated against an employee who reported an on-the-job injury. The jury awarded $650,000 in damages – $600,000 in punitive damages and $50,000 in compensatory damages – as a result.

California Supreme Court Agrees to Review COVID Take Home Liability Case

The California Supreme Court has accepted for review the question of whether the workers’ compensation act bars a claim against an employer by a household contact of an employee who contacted COVID at work. The court granted the request, made under California Rules of Court, rule 8.548, that the court will decide questions of California law presented in a matter pending in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. 

The Toxic Legacy of Ford Motor Company

The State of New Jersey is suing Ford Motor Company [FMC] for environmental pollution due to dumping its toxic waste in Ringwood, New Jersey. FMC operated a huge assembly plant in Mahwah, New Jersey, from 1955 through June 1980.