Business Law
—  By Ron Hackmode_comment0 Comments

SEVENTH CIRCUIT SAYS PLAINTIFFS CAN’T ESCAPE WORKERS COMP EXCLUSIVITY BY ARGUING NEIGHBORHOOD/COMMUNITY ASBESTOS EXPOSURE

Under a new Illinois case, plaintiffs cannot avoid the restrictions of a state’s workers’ compensation statute by claiming exposure to asbestos in the plant’s neighborhood ambient air caused their asbestos related disease, rather than the exposures that occurred during their long employment history. The Seventh…
Products Liability
—  By Ron Hackmode_comment0 Comments

CORPORATE DEFENDANTS BEWARE – MISSOURI APPELLATE COURT AFFIRMS $10 MILLION PUNITIVE DAMAGE VERDICT IN ASBESTOS CASE WITH ONLY “CIRCUMSTANTIAL” EVIDENCE OF KNOWLEDGE BY THE DEFENDANT OF THE HAZARD

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, on May 2, 2017, affirmed a $10 million dollar punitive damages verdict, as well as a $1.5 million actual damages verdict, against Crane Co. in Poage v. Crane Co., No. ED103953 (Mo. App. E.D. 2017). This case is…
Business Law Business Law Resources Labor and Employment Law Uncategorized
—  By Gerry Richardsonmode_comment0 Comments

Employer Forms Disclosing & Authorizing Background Checks Must Exclude Liability Waivers

Good Reasons Support the Use of Background Checks in the Hiring Process. Many employers run background checks on job applicants before they make an employment offer.  Doing so enables such employers to confirm the truthfulness and accuracy of background information provided by job applicants, such as…
Business Law Business Law Resources
—  By Ron Hackmode_comment0 Comments

Big change in Missouri Personal Jurisdiction Law for Non-Missouri Corporations

The Missouri Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision filed on February 28, 2017, held that non-Missouri corporations would not be held subject to the personal general jurisdiction of Missouri courts in civil suits, unless the corporation was organized under Missouri law, had its principal place…
Business Law Business Law Resources Labor and Employment Law
—  By Larry Sewellmode_comment0 Comments

Rescuing Your Defined Contribution Retirement Plan

A plan sponsor of a preapproved, prototype or volume submitter defined contribution plan, including a profit-sharing, 401(k) or money purchase plan, was required to amend and restate the plan’s governing documents by April 30, 2016. See the article “Deadline Looming for Changes to Your Company’s…
Environmental Law
—  By Ron Hackmode_comment0 Comments

Employers and Product Suppliers Beware: Is Welding Rod Litigation Going to Come Back

The publication of a new study in Neurology, that contends the long-term effects of airborne manganese from welding may be associated with an increasing appearance of Parkinsonism symptoms in welders and other exposed individuals, may resurrect a species of toxic tort litigation that was thought…
Business Law Labor and Employment Law
—  By Gerry Richardsonmode_comment0 Comments

Legislature Revives Right to Work Law and MHRA Amendments

During its legislative sessions in both 2015 and 2016, the Missouri General Assembly passed a right to work law.  In each instance, then Governor Jay Nixon vetoed those laws, and the legislature’s backers of those laws lost veto override votes. Similarly, since a Missouri Supreme Court’s…