Louisiana Lawyer Blog

No one doubts the essential functions 18-wheelers provide in the daily exchange of commodities as large truck drivers tend to cover as much as 5,000 to 6,000 miles a week. However, due to the inherent nature of such trucks, drivers are at a greater risk of injury or even death when being involved in an accident with an 18-wheeler. In fact, the number of fatalities resulting from large truck accidents increased by 31% nationally from 2009-2018, according to U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Unfortunately, Louisiana also experienced an increase in the number of fatal crashes involving 18 wheelers. According to FARS, Louisiana’s fatal crashes with large trucks increased by 42% as the number spiked from 67 in 2015 to a somber 95 in 2018. Nationally, there were 4,475 fatal crashes at the hands of 18-wheelers in 2018.

Just last week, an 18-wheeler traveling southbound on LA Highway 578 struck a 58-year-old man going east at a Highway intersection in Franklin Parish. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Based on the published Western District of Louisiana opinion, Pennier, et al. v. Morton Int’l, et al., 2011 WL 6160207, (W.D. LA 6/24/2011), on June 12, 2009, a Louisiana salt mine worker was pressure washing equipment inside Morton’s salt mine in Weeks Island near New Iberia, Louisiana when the salt mine’s roof collapsed, causing fatal injuries. His family hired Broussard & David, LLC to bring a wrongful death action against his employer, Morton Salt, alleging fraudulent misrepresentation on the part of Morton’s employees.

Typically, the Louisiana Worker’s Compensation law constrains an employee’s recovery for on-the-job injuries. A narrow exception to Worker’s Compensation allows an employee to avoid this limited recovery by proving that the employer acted intentionally with the substantially certain knowledge that an injury may result.

Based on Pennier, et al. v. Morton Int’l, et al., 2011 WL 6160207, (W.D. LA 6/24/2011), the attorney representing the family of the deceased worker, Blake R. David of Broussard & David, LLC, escaped Worker’s Compensation exclusivity by establishing, through employee and manager testimony, Morton employee knowledge that its employees had used illegal bolting practices for a substantial time before the Salt Mine’s roof collapsed. Morton’s employees were required by law to routinely check and accurately record the torque on salt mine roof bolts with a torque wrench in order to avoid roof collapse. However, Morton’s employees forged bolt torque forms with made-up findings without ever checking the bolt’s torque, and then lied to Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) government inspectors about their bolting procedures to avoid citations. Later, reports from MSHA found that the roof collapse causing the miner’s death resulted from poor installation methods in the bolting procedures by Morton’s employees. Broussard & David’s litigation discovery led to the alleged fraud findings.

In a recent landmark, unanimous opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of environmental justice for Louisiana and to hold the oil and gas industry accountable for the devastating effects of Big Oil on the fragile Louisiana coast, coastal parishes, and ecosystems.  The court rejected the motion to place coastal lawsuits under the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary, and these cases will fall under the jurisdiction of Louisiana state courts, effectively moving cases previously bogged down by seven years of delays quickly to trial. Richard Broussard, of Broussard & David in Lafayette, LA co-represented the Louisiana coastal parishes alongside John Carmouche of Talbot, Carmouche, and Marcello in Baton Rouge.  As the opinion was released, Broussard counted it “as a huge step forward for the citizens of Louisiana and all those who value the future of our environment.”

Environmental justice crusader, Ret. Lt. General Russell Honore, who has devoted his post military career to lead Louisiana’s charge for environmental protection, was equally impressed with the court’s decision for accountability for the nearly 25 billion dollars in catastrophic damage that has been caused by oil and gas in Louisiana.  Honore shared with Bayou Brief earlier this week, “Big Oil is no longer the sacred cow in Louisiana.  They need to clean up the mess, abandon the wells and pits, and pay for the decades of pollution of our wetlands.  Big Oil owns the (state) legislature, with their flag over the Capitol, but as courts proved in the BP case, these companies can and should be held accountable.”

LSU professor and spokesperson for protection of Louisiana’s coasts, James Carville called the court’s opinion “The best day Louisiana has had in the 21^st Century.”  This monumental ruling is noted as the 85^th failed attempt by oil and gas companies to divert lawsuits from Louisiana state courts.  This is the first opinion issued on the matter by the right-leaning Fifth Circuit, and Carmouche relayed to the Bayou Brief, “For our coastal parishes to have won in this court, the fact the vote was 3 to 0 in favor of the coastal parishes of Louisiana, and the fact that all three judges who voted to give our state courts the authority to determine the future of coastal Louisiana are appointees of President Trump demonstrates the restoration of Louisiana’s coast is not a partisan issue, but an issue of law and equity.”  

On January 6, the attorney for the Dudek family, a couple who tragically lost their child due to the tip over of a popular dresser from IKEA, announced a settlement of this matter. IKEA settled for $46 million after the toddler was crushed to death when the dresser toppled over on top of the child. This dresser has been appropriately recalled after at least five other children were killed. This is not the first settlement with these circumstances ending in this tragedy. In 2016, Ikea settled with three families in eerily similar circumstances for $50 million.

The current case arose when the Dudeks sued IKEA arguing that the company knew this furniture line was prone to tip over and fail to warn customers. In an effort to mitigate this problem IKEA offered a wall anchoring kit before issuing a full recall of the dresser line.

The Dudeks purchased the dresser in 2008, but claim they never got an alert about the recall. On May 24, 2017, Mr. Dudek went into his son’s room to find him trapped beneath the 70-pound IKEA dresser. Joseph passed away from asphyxia after being smothered and choked by the tip over.

On November 7, 2019, a helicopter is presumed to have crashed in the Gulf of Mexico. The helicopter was owned and being flown by Panther Marine. Panther Marine was operating the aircraft under Panther Helicopters of Belle Chasse. The helicopter was hired by Cox Oil. 

The last communication was about ten minutes before the helicopter was expected to land. Unfortunately, the crew did not reach their destination.

 Because the last known location of the helicopter was approximately 13 nautical miles off the coast of Louisiana, the Coast Guard is searching for the two passengers. “The passengers were transiting from one offshore rig to another” the Coast Guard stated. Since beginning the search, the Coast Guard discovered debris at 40 nautical miles.  As of Saturday November 9th, the Coast Guard was still searching.