United States Third Circuit
Kurns v. A.W. Chesterton Inc., 09-1634
In plaintiffs' suit on behalf of a decedent, asserting a number of state law causes of action related to decedent's alleged exposure to asbestos during the years he was employed by a railroad company, district court's grant of defendants' motion for summary judgment is affirmed where: 1) Congress' intent in enacting and amending the Locomotive Inspection Act (LIA) was to preempt completely the field of railroad parts and appurtenances, and the locomotive components which are the subject of plaintiffs' product liability actions undoubtedly fall within that category; 2) FELA has been recognized as the appropriate avenue of relief in several of the state supreme court cases which held that tort claims claiming asbestos exposure and seeking recourse under state law were preempted by the LIA; and 3) because the express purpose of the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) was to maintain, not decrease, federal uniform regulation of the railroad industry, the rationale of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania's Norfolk & Western opinion is rejected and plaintiffs' argument that the FRSA narrowed the scope of the LIA preemption as it applies to product liability claims arising out of locomotive parts and appurtenances is rejected as well.
Appellate Information
- Argued 01/11/2010
- Decided 09/09/2010
- Published 09/09/2010
Judges
Court
- United States Third Circuit
Counsel
- For Appellant:
- Richard P. Myers, W. Thomas McGough, Jr