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At the heart of each state’s Workers’ Compensation statute is the doctrine that an employer cannot be sued by an employee claiming that the employer’s negligence was the cause of a worker’s injury. This allows an injured worker an almost-immediate access to medical and income protection benefits, but also protects the employer against being the target of a liability lawsuit each time a worker is injured. However, there have been occasions in which a state legislature, in its eagerness to…

Frats plan to become off-campus independent organizations Earlier this month (August 2018) West Virginia University (WVU) President Gordon Gee notified WVU students, and their parents, of “dissident fraternities” that were planning to give up their status as WVU-recognized fraternities but would instead continue operations from off-campus locations as “independent organizations.” The fraternities’ planned relocations were apparently triggered by the imposition of new campus-wide academic standards and restrictions on fraternity social activities that became effective at the beginning of the new…

In a previous post on our website, we reported on the injuries sustained by 14-year-old Rodney Kim Jr, a freshman at Davidson High School in Mobile, AL. In that post we noted that Rodney’s parents, Rodney Senior and Mary Kim, stated that they had received private communications from other student-athletes, former employees at Davidson High, and a “whistleblower” connected to Davidson High School, stating that the “beatdown” endured by young Rodney was not an isolated incident but it was just…

According to early reports carried by Reuters and the Associated Press, the initial pipeline explosion occurred some 20 miles southeast of Midland, Texas and involved a natural gas pipeline that is reportedly owned by El Paso Natural Gas (EPNG) and operated by Kinder Morgan, Inc. of Houston. Although not confirmed at this time, it is assumed that workers somehow caused damage to the pipeline and the escaping natural gas immediately ignited. After firefighters and other first responders had brought the…

In so many ways, August 2, 2018, started like any other “regular day” in Midland County, Texas. Just before the noon hour, the Midland Fire Department and the Greenwood Volunteer Fire Department were called to leak involving a natural gas pipeline in the county. About an hour later, a fiery explosion occurred at the scene. The explosion resulted in seven injuries, including two firefighters. Five of the injured individuals were transported to area hospital burn units. One of the injured…