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PRODUCT LIABILITY
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| The Occupational Safety and Health Act does not require that sideboom pipe-laying tractors have rollover cages, but that does not protect tractor makers from product liability lawsuits. PHOTO: John Boykin |
Federal Safety Rules Don’t Pre-empt State Law
Lack of guidelines is no defense shield, appeals court says
by DAVE LENCKUS
Published on April 02, 2007 : AM CST
Copy right, Crain Communications, 1004-2007, Business Insurance Publication Article
Lack of guidelines is no defense shield, appeals court says
by DAVE LENCKUS
Published on April 02, 2007 : AM CST
Copy right, Crain Communications, 1004-2007, Business Insurance Publication Article
PHILADELPHIA—Manufacturers of equipment used in the workplace are not shielded from product
liability claims in state court even if federal safety regulations do not set out how the equipment must
safeguard users, a federal appeals court ruled.
In what attorneys say is a precedent-setting decision, a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in
Philadelphia ruled that federal safety law in most cases does not pre-empt state tort law claims against
equipment manufacturers.
The March 26 ruling overturned a federal district court decision in the case, which involved a product
liability suit stemming from a tractor rollover that killed the equipment's operator.
In its ruling, the 3rd Circuit panel noted that the New Jersey Supreme Court had ruled in an unrelated
case that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act did pre-empt a product liability lawsuit that,
like the current case, had been filed in New Jersey state court. But the 3rd Circuit panel determined that
the earlier case involved an unusual type of situation that did not apply in the tractor rollover case.
"If the (appeals) court had ruled the other way, it would have been shocking to me," said employer
attorney Julie Pacaro of Cozen O'Connor P.C. in Philadelphia.
Some federal statutes, such as the interstate commerce law, are intended to "occupy the
field" they cover and, therefore, pre-empt related state laws, Ms. Pacaro said.
That was not Congress' intention when it enacted OSH Act, she said. Instead, the act is
protective in nature, because it is designed to prevent injuries, she said. But after a
workplace accident, it does not replace workers' rights that state laws guarantee, she said.
The 3rd Circuit case centers on the 2002 death of construction worker Charles Lindsey, who was
crushed when a tractor he was operating rolled over at a job site in Franklin Township, N.J. The
equipment, a sideboom pipe-laying tractor manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. of Peoria, Ill., did not have a
rollover protection cage.
While OSH Act regulations mandate that manufacturers install rollover cages on some tractors, they do
not require the cages on sideboom pipe-laying tractors.
liability claims in state court even if federal safety regulations do not set out how the equipment must
safeguard users, a federal appeals court ruled.
In what attorneys say is a precedent-setting decision, a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in
Philadelphia ruled that federal safety law in most cases does not pre-empt state tort law claims against
equipment manufacturers.
The March 26 ruling overturned a federal district court decision in the case, which involved a product
liability suit stemming from a tractor rollover that killed the equipment's operator.
In its ruling, the 3rd Circuit panel noted that the New Jersey Supreme Court had ruled in an unrelated
case that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act did pre-empt a product liability lawsuit that,
like the current case, had been filed in New Jersey state court. But the 3rd Circuit panel determined that
the earlier case involved an unusual type of situation that did not apply in the tractor rollover case.
"If the (appeals) court had ruled the other way, it would have been shocking to me," said employer
attorney Julie Pacaro of Cozen O'Connor P.C. in Philadelphia.
Some federal statutes, such as the interstate commerce law, are intended to "occupy the
field" they cover and, therefore, pre-empt related state laws, Ms. Pacaro said.
That was not Congress' intention when it enacted OSH Act, she said. Instead, the act is
protective in nature, because it is designed to prevent injuries, she said. But after a
workplace accident, it does not replace workers' rights that state laws guarantee, she said.
The 3rd Circuit case centers on the 2002 death of construction worker Charles Lindsey, who was
crushed when a tractor he was operating rolled over at a job site in Franklin Township, N.J. The
equipment, a sideboom pipe-laying tractor manufactured by Caterpillar Inc. of Peoria, Ill., did not have a
rollover protection cage.
While OSH Act regulations mandate that manufacturers install rollover cages on some tractors, they do
not require the cages on sideboom pipe-laying tractors.
