News & Of Interest

Communications Decency Act Protects TikTok from Wrongful Death Suit (PA)

The Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently held that social media platform TikTok, Inc. and ByteDance, Inc.(a technology company) are immune from a mother’s wrongful death claim under the Communications Decency Act. Tawainna Anderson, the mother of a deceased 10-year-old Nylah Anderson, sued TikTok after her daughter died when she attempted to perform a viral TikTok challenge known as the...Read More

NJ Bad Faith Claim Dismissed As Mere Denial Of Coverage Is Not Grounds For Bad Faith

The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey recently granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss a bad faith claim where the insurer merely denied coverage and declined to settle with the plaintiff, reiterating that more than a denial of coverage is required to establish bad faith on the part of an insurer.  In Terrance Minor v. Allstate New Jersey Insurance Co., ABC Corp. (1-5)...Read More

Speculation On Causation Of Infections Will Not Be Permitted By New York Courts

In Michael Pecora v. Fitness International LLC, 2023 NY Slip Op 00103 (2d Dept. 2023), plaintiff alleged he contracted infections at his local gym as a gym member in July 2014. He received an infection on his stomach, received medical treatment for that infection, and then alleged that after use of the gym sauna, he thereafter developed MRSA (a bacterial infection) one day later. Plaintiff...Read More

Federal Rule of Evidence 702 Standard of Care for Medical Experts Requires Sufficient, Supported, and Reliable Expert Testimony

In the recent case of M.D.R. by Rivera v. Temple University Hospital, The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found that under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, for a plaintiff to prove that a hospital is liable for medical negligence, the plaintiff cannot merely provide expert testimony that shows a deviation from that expert’s subjective perception of the...Read More

Dismissal Granted Where Claim Against Party Added After the Statue of Limitations Did Not Relate Back to Filing of Original Complaint

In Coleman v. Western Oilfields Supply Co.,, the Judge Brann of the Middle District of Pennsylvania rejected the application of the relation back doctrine and granted a Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss based on the two-year statute of limitations.  Willie Coleman was injured while setting up a gas well at Chief Oil & Gas, LLC’s well pad in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania.  Evergreen Oilfield...Read More

Surveillance Footage May Be Deemed Speculative For Showing Causation

Generally speaking, in order to establish liability for a personal injury action, plaintiff must identify the cause of their injury without engaging in speculation. Courts oftentimes provide liberal application of this and will permit inferences from the facts of the underlying circumstances.  However, mere speculation as to the cause of a fall, when many causes present themselves, will not be...Read More

Plaintiff’s Comparative Negligence Not Admissible In A Strict Liability Action (PA)

In Cote v. Schnell Industries, 2022 WL 16814032 (M.D. Pa. Nov. 8. 2022), Cote was injured while working at a transfer yard moving sand used in “fracking” operations from railcars to tractor-trailers for delivery to fracking customers. When Cote reached his hand into a piece of equipment to dislodge the wet sand so the sand could be properly transported onto the conveyor belt, his co-worker...Read More

Step Risers Into Showers Are Not Open And Obvious (NY)

New York Courts recently held that a step riser in a shower stall in a gym locker room is not obvious and not dangerous. In Lore v. Fitness International LLC , plaintiff tripped and fell on a tiled single-step riser while entering a shower stall in the locker room at defendant’s gym. The single-step riser was approximately 4.5 inches high but was tiled in the same color and pattern as the...Read More