Photo of Lazaro Aguiar

Lazaro is an attorney in Husch Blackwell's Toxic Tort and Product Liability groups.

On June 21, 2023, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff introduced the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (the “Act”) (Senate Bill 2073), which is legislation focused on online experiences of minors. Recently passed by both the House and Senate, the Act soon awaits President Biden’s review. If signed into law, it will impose significant obligations on online gaming and media platforms, particularly those serving users under 17.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) “walkaround” rule went into effect on May 31, 2024. The rule is controversial, to say the least, and even before its effective date, it was targeted by industry and trade groups, with perhaps the most high-profile of these efforts being a federal lawsuit in Texas filed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., among other plaintiffs.

In a 4-3 decision, the Iowa Supreme Court issued an opinion that significantly narrowed Iowa’s new statutory asbestos defense – holding the defense only protects asbestos product defendants who did not manufacture or sell the asbestos in question. See Beverage v. Alcoa, Inc., No. 19-1852, 2022 WL 2182351 (Iowa June 17, 2022). This statutory asbestos defense was part of Iowa’s 2017 tort reform.

Recently, in Moore v. Elec. Boat Corp., No. 21-1566, 2022 WL 278535 (1st Cir. Jan. 31, 2022), a government contractor-defendant successfully appealed remand based on 28 U.S.C. § 1442, the so-called Federal Officer Removal Statute.

Moore serves as a reminder – especially to asbestos defendants – that contractors acting under the direction of a branch of the military (or any U.S. agency) should determine the extent of the government’s involvement.  A fact-intensive inquiry, such evidence may be sufficient

In Murphy v. Viad Corporation, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan recently considered the issue of specific personal jurisdiction in the context of asbestos claims under the standard set forth by the Supreme Court of the United States in its recent decision in Ford Motor Co. v. Mont. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court. In doing so, the Court reinforced that specific jurisdiction cannot be established where the products at issue were never sold or marketed in that forum.