Louisiana Lawyer Blog

Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against Tesla Following California Crash

May 9, 2019 | by Broussard & David

The family of a Walter Huang has filed a wrongful death suit against Tesla Motors Inc. following a crash that ended his life. On March 23, 2018, Mr. Huang was traveling southbound on Highway 101 when his vehicle, a Tesla Model X, misread the lane lines, failed to detect a concrete traffic barrier, failed to brake the car, and instead, accelerated the car until it struck the median at 71 miles per hour (according to an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board). Huang was killed on impact.

According to the suit, “Based on Tesla’s advertising and promotional material, Decedent Walter Huang believed the Tesla Model X’s technology was such that the autopilot features included designed-in programs, software, hardware, and systems that would eliminate the risk of harm or injury to the vehicle operator.” It continues to allege that Mr. Huang “reasonably believed the 2017 Tesla Model X vehicle was safer than a human-operated vehicle because of the Defendant’s claimed technical superiority regarding the vehicle’s autopilot system, including Tesla’s ‘traffic-aware cruise control’, ‘autosteer lane-keeping assistance’ and other safety components.” Huang’s family notes that, despite these advertisement claims by Tesla, Mr. Huang complained on numerous occasions about his vehicle’s autopilot problems that Tesla was never able to resolve.

Plaintiff’s attorneys hold that Tesla either knew or should have known about the vehicle software’s defects that consequently left owners and operators of the Model X in danger of crashing, and moreover, Tesla either knew or should have known that said owners and operators were wholly unaware of the Model X’s defects. Thus, these operators should have been notified of the software issues, sparing them of potential harm. Instead, Mr. Huang was unknowingly driving a computer-operated vehicle that had the potential to malfunction and crash at any moment, and this potential was tragically actualized resulting in Mr. Huang’s death.

Illusory Bill Passes Louisiana House of Representatives

May 6, 2019 | by Broussard & David

A bill that claims to lower Louisiana’s auto insurance rates has passed through the state’s House of Representatives following a vote of 69-30. House Bill 372, proposed by Rep. Kirk Talbot, is based on the purported fact that Louisiana ranks as having the second-highest auto insurance rates in the United States. The cause, according to Talbot, is the increasing number of car crashes and, consequently, increased expenses for the insurance companies who are thus forced to raise their rates. In reality, the bill is nothing more than a scheme to bolster the wealth of insurance companies and gain their political support, all the while presenting the enticing disguise to Louisiana residents that their insurance rates will be radically reduced.

Talbot’s bill, also known as the “Omnibus Premium Reduction Act of 2019”, proposes an insurance carrier wishlist of way to save money on claims without any reduction in insurance premium costs. The first of which is to increase the prescriptive period for filing suit from one to two years. This change would certainly reduce lawsuits (as our neighbors in Texas and Mississippi have at least two years to file suit). In doing so, the bill encourages lengthened legal negotiations following automotive incidents resulting in a greater number of settlements and, therefore, reduced court costs. In a similar vein, the bill also reduces the jury threshold from the previous 50,000-dollar minimum to a mere 5,000 dollars, theoretically dissuading attorneys from taking cases to court, and again, resulting in reduced court costs. Talbot also puts forward the idea of limiting the amount of recoverable medical expenses following a car crash to that amount that is paid by the health insurance company rather than the amount billed. Lastly, Talbot wants to change the law so the insurance companies can no longer be defendants (just at fault drivers). Consequentially, according to Talbot, by reducing the expenses of insurance companies, the insurance companies unilaterally choose to lower the cost of their premiums for Louisiana residents.

Opponents of the bill rightly argue that its power-hungry proponents are taking advantage of honest citizens. Though the bill presents itself as looking out for Louisiana drivers, the bill will instead leave many victims of negligent and careless driving without being able to obtain the justice they deserve. Rather than settling cases outside of court and reducing court costs, the bill will force justice-seeking plaintiffs to take their cases to a jury trial, prolonging a verdict and clogging up courtrooms that could otherwise be free had the case been more expeditiously ruled by a judge. Moreover, by reducing the possible amount of medical expenses to be recovered by a given victim, the victim will often be left paying for large portions of his medical bills, himself, instead of that expense being charged to the person responsible for his damages.

Plaintiffs Seek Immediate Access to Landfill in Air Pollution Lawsuit

January 11, 2019 | by Broussard & David

The plaintiffs in an air pollution lawsuit are requesting immediate access to a landfill in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana in order to conduct environmental testing. The lawsuit is one of roughly eighty that have been filed against the parish landfill, claiming that an abundance of strong odors is making living conditions unbearable in the surrounding area. Such tests, the plaintiffs argue, are essential to a well-rounded, well-informed case.

Against the plaintiffs’ motion are a multiplicity of tests that have already been conducted by the parish and state and that have concluded that the majority of the odors have origins distinct from the landfill in question. One particular study conducted by a California-based company pointed to a number of other potential sources of the smells, such as two privately owned landfills adjacent to the parish landfill. On the contrary, plaintiffs argue that there has been no “comprehensive analysis” of the gases emitted from the landfill, but rather, the state tests only looked for a limited subset of chemicals, resulting in an insufficient test scope.

Thus, to resolve the apparent testing issue, plaintiff’s attorneys are requesting access to the parish landfill to conduct their own private testing of the emissions and have hired a Maryland-based environmental scientist for the job. “Absent a prompt opportunity to inspect and sample at the landfill,” they say, “petitioners will lose the opportunity to obtain the most pertinent site-specific information that would help establish what has transpired over the last year and how those conditions affected petitioners.”

Louisiana Fishermen Fighting for Water Rights

January 7, 2019 | by Broussard & David

The Louisiana Sportsmen Coalition is in a battle with the Louisiana oil industry over rights to use coastal marshwaters for their respective enterprises. Representatives of local fisherman argue that oil companies who own nearby lands have unjustly also claimed ownership of adjacent waters that flow in and out of manmade channels. The sportsmen state that the waters, though very good for fishing, are being treated as off-limits, and the fishermen themselves are being treated as trespassers. Specifically, they say, “It has gotten to the point where [oil companies] are having local law enforcement agencies, like the sheriff’s office and justices of peace, write criminal trespassing tickets to people.”

The conflict came to a head last year when a professional Bassmaster fishing tournament was held in these areas. The world-renowned fishermen, individuals who make a living by these tournaments, unknowingly wandered into “privately owned” waters and were met by authorities. Following the tournament, the Bass Angler Sportsmen Society (B.A.S.S.), the national organization responsible for the well-known Bassmaster tournaments officially announced that it would no longer schedule professional tournaments in Louisiana tidewaters, a decision that will, without doubt, negatively impact the state’s fishing industry. Thus, as the sportsman’s coalition argues, the battle over water access is more than a debate about who can travel where; it is actually a battle over the prioritization of industries, and favor traditionally lies with the oil industry.

Unfortunately for the fishermen, a recently proposed bill that would have granted public access to the marshwater failed in Louisiana’s House of Representatives. The bill argued that because the waters are “running waters”—they freely flow into positively public waterways such as the Gulf of Mexico—they cannot be partitioned as either public or private, and therefore, their default status would be considered public. Opponents of the bill argued that just as one can claim ownership of dry land, one can claim ownership of the bottomlands underneath the water, for coastal erosion is constantly converting dryland into bottomland. The House’s vote reinforces Louisiana’s status as one of the only coastal states that does not consider tidal waters open for public use.

Wrongful Death Suit Filed After Cruise Excursion Incident

December 21, 2018 | by Broussard & David

A wrongful death suit has been filed against Royal Caribbean Cruises, LTD following a zipline incident wherein a 27-year-old woman was seriously injured and her newlywed husband was killed. The incident occurred as a part of a shore excursion in Roatan during the journey of the Allure of the Seas, though the excursion was operated by an independent contractor, Extreme Caribe Zip Line Tour.

The 24-year-old husband, Igal Tyszman, did not survive his injuries after his wife, Shir Frenkel, became stuck halfway down the zipline, and he had already begun his descent. Tyszman had no way of stopping or slowing down, and he collided with Frenkel in midair. Records indicate that the zip line operators could not communicate to each other when one person had completed their ride and, thus, it was safe for the next person to begin, communication that could have prevented the tragedy.

The suit alleges that Extreme Caribe has a history of zip line incidents, citing more than ten, one of which led to a woman having both of her legs severed, and it asserts that Royal Caribbean was well aware of this and other incidents involving the excursion operator but failed to make those issues known to the participants. Additionally, the cruise ship misled the family to believe that the excursion was operated by the cruise company, itself. The plaintiff’s attorneys state, “These newlyweds were expecting a fun excursion with the highest safety standards, and that is obviously not what they received; and the consequences in this case proved tragic.” In addition to Frenkel’s physical injuries—multiple rib fractures, splenic fracture, multiple transverse fractures, and more—she also will have to undergo treatment for the emotional and mental trauma resulting from her husband’s death.

Controversial Neoprene Plant Emissions Result in Lawsuit Against School Board

December 18, 2018 | by Broussard & David

A lawsuit has been filed against the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board as a result of potentially carcinogenic emissions from a nearby neoprene manufacturing plant. The plant, located in Laplace, Louisiana, is one of only a few in the country that produces polychloroprene, a solid substance used to make adhesives, automotive or industrial parts, coatings, dipped goods, neoprene wetsuits, and the like. Consequently, however, manufacturing plants of this kind emit into the air a gaseous form of the liquid chemical chloroprene, which the Environmental Protection Agency has deemed to be a “likely carcinogen”.

The chemical plant has been owned by Denka Performance Elastomer since 2015, but it was formerly owned by Dupont Performance Elastomer who operated the plant since 1969. The specific health effects of chloroprene are not definitively known; however, many local residents are concerned that they are at risk. These fears have been previously articulated in lawsuits against Denka, but now those fears are directed at the school board. According to the case, which was filed by a parent whose child attends the school, “There is presently and has been for years a very serious health hazard and/or life-threatening health hazard to the children/students who attend school at Fifth Ward Elementary School.”

In response to the suit, the EPA established six monitoring stations around St. John Parish, one of which was located at the school in question, and data confirmed the suspicion of high chloroprene levels at the school. Denka, however, maintains the position that chloroprene is being wrongly depicted as a harmful chemical. According to the 2015 National Air Toxics Assessment also conducted by the EPA, St. John Parish residents have the highest risk of cancer from an airborne pollutant, but it is unknown if this risk is due to chloroprene or some other cause. With more research being conducted by the day, the parish school board is determined to prove the safety of its students.

Louisiana Court Rules in Favor of Bayou Bridge Pipeline

December 14, 2018 | by Broussard & David

On December 6, the 16^th Judicial District Court in St. Mary Parish Louisiana ruled in favor of the Bayou Bridge pipeline, issuing a mere $450 punishment for trespassing in an eminent domain suit filed by three local residents. The lawsuit, filed in late July of 2018, argued that Energy Transfer, LP (formerly Energy Transfer Partners), the owner of the pipeline, illegally began construction on privately owned land without proper permission.

The Bayou Bridge pipeline is a 163-mile underground oil pipeline intended to transport oil from the Louisiana-Texas border to St. James Parish. Many residents do not mind their land being used to house the pipeline, but many other residents are very opposed to the idea, claiming that the land being used is “not valueless, vacant land…. The property is part of a larger vital and vibrant ecosystem filled with life that includes trees, wildlife, fish, and birds, and it plays an important role in the economic health and well-being of the state beyond its borders.” Thus, for the landowners who filed the suit, the challenge is not about money, but it is rather about protecting the land.

The defense claimed that they had eminent domain over the land, allowing them to take it through expropriation due to the fact that the land was used for the public’s interest. The Court agreed, allowing them to continue the pipelines construction, but assessed a small penalty for trespassing—150 dollars to each plaintiff—given that they did not exercise due diligence in notifying the property owners prior to the beginning of construction. The plaintiffs continue to hold that it is not in the public’s interest to facilitate coastal erosion, the natural consequence of digging, carving, and drilling into Louisiana’s marshland. Additionally, the plaintiffs argue, the pipeline places the utilized land at risk of an oil catastrophe, citing Energy Transfer’s history of 3.6 million gallons of oil spilled in the last sixteen years.

Neoprene Plant in Laplace Facing Air Pollution Lawsuits

December 10, 2018 | by Broussard & David

A neoprene-producing chemical plant is facing multiple lawsuits as a result of potential carcinogens released into the air. The Denka Performance Elastomer plant located in Laplace, Louisiana, is said to be one of the only chemical plants in the country that releases the chemical chloroprene into the air.

According to a study by the Environmental Protection Agency, chloroprene is “a volatile, flammable liquid used primarily in the manufacture of polychloroprene,” 90 percent of which is found in solid form to make adhesives, automotive or industrial parts, coatings, dipped goods, or in this case, neoprene. One result of the polychloroprene manufacturing process is the release of chloroprene into air as exhaust. Similar EPA studies assert that chloroprene is a “likely carcinogen” and that safe levels of chloroprene in the air remain under 0.2 micrograms of chloroprene per cubic meter of air.

Local residents claim that their proximity to the plant causes them to live in fear that they will one day suffer from cancer, and their fear is not unfounded. A 2015 EPA survey of the air showed that St. John Parish, Louisiana, had the highest risk of cancer from an airborne pollutant in the country. It is unknown if this finding is directly related to chloroprene; however, the plant in question is one of only fourteen in the country that produce the chemical, and it has been in operation since 1963 (though its owner company has changed since its founding).

14-Year-Old Oil Leak Finally Ordered to be Fixed

December 4, 2018 | by Broussard & David

A Coast Guard mandate has finally been issued to plug an oil leak off the coast of Louisiana. The destroyed Taylor Energy platform, MC-20 Saratoga, has been leaking since Hurricane Ivan which struck the Gulf Coast in 2004. The leak releases between 11,000 and 29,000 gallons of oil each day, which has been catastrophic. Measured across the fourteen years that the rig has been damaged, the spill could total 148 million gallons of oil or more.

Though Taylor Energy Company is no longer an active oil supplier—according to records, they have one remaining employee—they have been ordered by the Coast Guard to establish a containment plan including a potential contractor. The leak was initially discovered in 2010 when researches were conducting evaluations of the Deepwater Horizon spill and noticed a sheen on the water that could not have been caused by that disaster. Further research was then conducted as to an alternate cause, and the result was the detection of the Taylor Energy leak.

Last week’s Coast Guard order states that Taylor’s containment plan must “eliminate the surface sheen and avoid the deficiencies associated with prior containment systems.” Failure to comply with the order will result in a fine of $40,000 per day. Naturally, the energy company is disputing the order, claiming that the sheen on the water’s surface is not a result of an ongoing oil leak. Instead, they say, the sheen is a result of the oil-saturated seafloor that unavoidably releases oil and gas bubbles, and thus, the oil wells are no longer actively leaking.

Coastal Litigation and the Louisiana Oil Industry

November 27, 2018 | by Broussard & David

That which has been boosting Louisiana economically for decades could at the same time be sinking it, literally. The oil industry has found a comfortable home in the southern part of the United States, hugely feeding the economies of Texas and Louisiana for as long as the current generations of residents can remember. In fact, the two states currently lead the country in oil production, and in Louisiana, the industry employs nearly 45,000 individuals. While statistics such as these paint the oil industry in a favorable light, though, many groups are calling its full impact on Louisiana into question.

Louisiana attorneys are certainly familiar with coastal litigation, protecting coastal plains and shores from environmental negligence or abuse, but as regards the oil industry, coastal litigation has almost exclusively been reserved for major incidents such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010. Major spills, however, are not the only occasions in which oil drilling damages the Gulf Coast. In fact, an August 2018 article of The Bayou Brief argues that the drilling itself is cause for environmental concern as it expedites coastal erosion. That which is largely responsible for building up Louisiana’s economy—oil—is also responsible for tearing down its shores and critical wetlands.

Why, then, has the state not seen an increase in litigation to combat this coastal damage? According to the aforementioned article, the answer is candid but simple: money. Industry economists argue that if it faced increased litigation, it risks falling into another major recession leading to job cuts and profit decreases. Advocates for the continued drilling without environmental responsibility argue that plaintiff’s attorneys who pursue such litigation selfishly have no concern for the economic growth of the state; however, this is simply not the case. Rather, the pursuit of such coastal litigation places the long-term priority of ecological conservation above the short-term monetary concerns putting the ecosystem at risk.