Morrison Mahoney Partner Ted Murphy won a defense verdict under the Longshore Act for our client, a designer and builder of vessels for the United States Navy.
The plaintiff (a long-time employee of our client) contended that his metastatic small bowel cancer and severe pulmonary impairment were causally related to his exposure to a variety of chemicals used in our client’s shipyard throughout the years. Prior to trial, the court dismissed the cancer portion of the claim for lack of sufficient expert evidence. The case proceeded to trial on the pulmonary aspect of the case. Each party called two experts in addition to the treating physician. The plaintiff also relied upon the opinion of an independent medical examiner who concluded (prior to the development of the cancer) that the plaintiff’s pulmonary impairment was, in fact, related to his exposures.
Ted was able to overcome this unfavorable opinion and the federal administrative law judge hearing the case determined that plaintiff did not meet his burden of proof on the causation issue largely because of the effects of his cancer and related treatment on his pulmonary system.
