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Us Circuit Court Of Appeals News

07 Dec 2023

Structural Safeguards in Coast Guard Suspension and Revocation Proceedings

Chief Judge Brudzinski has been an Administrative Law Judge with the U.S. Coast Guard since 2003 and its Chief Administrative Law Judge since 2013.  He has lectured extensively and has authored many articles on Coast Guard suspension and revocation proceedings for MarineLink publications, among others. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Coast Guard

This article examines 10 structural safeguards in Coast Guard Suspension and Revocation (S&R) Proceedings that ensure Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) decisional independence. These safeguards separate potential agency influences from the ALJ decision making process and are critical to mariner due process and fundamental fairness. We will start with an overview of Coast Guard S&R proceedings, followed by brief discussions of the Administrative Procedure Act, Administrative Law Judges, and U.S. Office of Personnel Management oversight.

16 Oct 2023

Massachusetts Offshore Wind Farm Dodges Lawsuits over Environmental, Fishing Concerns

Credit: Avangrid

A U.S. judge has rejected challenges to federal environmental permits and construction approvals for a $4 billion offshore wind farm near Massachusetts, which commercial fishing groups have claimed will harm whales and impair their businesses.U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston last Thursday tossed the final two federal district court lawsuits directly challenging the Vineyard Wind project roughly 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, which would be the first commercial…

11 Jul 2023

US Court Revives Lawsuit Against Royal Caribbean Over Toddler's Death

© JULOR / Adobe Stock

A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean Cruises by the parents of an 18-month-old girl who died after slipping through her grandfather’s hands and falling through an open cruise ship window.The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta restored two negligence claims over the July 2019 death of Chloe Wiegand, who had been in a children’s play area aboard the ship Freedom of the Seas, which was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Her grandfather Salvatore Anello testified that he picked Chloe up and put her feet on the windowsill…

17 May 2023

Alaska LNG Project Clears Legal Hurdle

(Image: Alaska LNG)

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit filed by environmental groups challenging federal approvals needed to construct a $39 billion project that would move natural gas from Alaska’s North Slope across the state.A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's review of plans for the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corp's project satisfied the National Environmental Policy Act requirements to take a hard look at environmental impacts of major proposals…

23 Feb 2023

Supreme Court Sides With Offshore Worker in Overtime Case

© W.Scott McGill / Adobe Stock

An oil rig supervisor who earned more than $200,000 a year working for Houston-based Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc is entitled to overtime pay, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in a decision with costly implications for the oil and gas industry.The court in a 6-3 decision authored by liberal Justice Elena Kagan decided that because the rig supervisor, Michael Hewitt, was paid a daily rate of $963 and not a salary, an overtime pay exemption in federal wage law for highly paid workers did not apply to him.The justices affirmed a 2021 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S.

04 Nov 2022

US Supreme Court Justice Won't Block Extradition Linked to Sewol Ferry Sinking

File photo: South Korea Coast Guard

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Thursday rejected a bid by a businessman to block his extradition to South Korea to face embezzlement charges that stemmed from a 2014 ferry sinking that killed 304 people.Sotomayor rejected Yoo Hyuk-Kee’s request to prevent his extradition from going forward while he appeals lower-court rulings rejecting his effort to avoid being sent to South Korea to face trial on the seven embezzlement charges against him.Sotomayor is the justice assigned to review emergency appeals from a group of states that include New York…

18 Aug 2022

US Court Vacates Decision to Block Federal Oil, Gas Leasing Pause

Credit: Lukas Z/AdoheStock

A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday vacated a lower court's decision to block the Biden administration's pause on new oil and gas leasing on federal land and waters - a key piece of the president's climate change strategy - and sent the case back to that court for further proceedings.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the Louisiana district court decision to block the Interior Department's leasing pause after Louisiana and a dozen states sued the administration established…

20 Jan 2022

Appeals Court Revives BP’s Fight Over Deepwater Cleanup Workers’ Claims

Crewmembers on board Coast Guard Cutter Walnut deploy an oil skimmer into oil the ship collects in its inflatable boom, July 2, 2010. The Walnut, homeported in Honolulu, Hawaii has been temporarily redeployed to the Gulf of Mexico to aid in the BP Deepwater Horizon response. - Credit:  Deepwater Horizon Response/(CC BY-ND 2.0)

A federal appeals court on Wednesday revived a fight between BP, two contractors, and an insurance company over who should pay for thousands of personal injury claims brought by cleanup workers after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and fire in 2010.The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed most of a lower court’s rulings for contractors National Response Corp and O’Brien’s Resource Management, and for O’Brien’s excess-liability insurer, Navigators Insurance Co.The decision was not a complete win for BP, however.

01 Oct 2021

5th Circ. Won't Reconsider Ruling on FLSA Exemption for Seamen

© Pongpob / Adobe Stock

A U.S. appeals court on Thursday said workers who use cranes attached to boats to load equipment onto offshore oil rigs are not "seamen" exempt from overtime pay under federal wage law, reviving a collective action against liftboat operator All Coast LLC.The full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 15-2 to deny en banc review to All Coast and reinstated a three-judge panel's unanimous February ruling that said the workers were engaged in industrial activities that had no bearing…

17 Mar 2016

Transocean Defeats Shareholder Appeal over Gulf Spill

Transocean Ltd on Thursday won the dismissal of an appeal by shareholders accusing the owner of the doomed Deepwater Horizon drilling rig of deceiving them about its safety practices prior to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the lead plaintiff waited two months too long to sue over alleged misstatements in an Oct. 2, 2007, proxy statement for the offshore drilling company's merger with GlobalSantaFe Corp. Shares of Transocean rose 3 percent after the decision was issued. Geoffrey Johnson, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, declined to comment. Transocean and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

05 Oct 2015

US Orders EPA to Rewrite Ship Ballast Water Dumping Rules

A federal appeals court in New York ordered the government to rewrite its rules regulating the discharge of ballast water by ships, in a victory for environmental groups that said the rules were too lenient and threatened the nation's waterways. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday said the Environmental Protection Agency acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" when it decided in 2013 to follow an international standard governing the discharge of harmful organisms, though technology was available to adopt a higher standard. Writing for a 3-0 appeals court panel, Circuit Judge Denny Chin also said the EPA, using its authority under the Clean Water Act…

08 Sep 2015

BP Wins One US Court Ruling, Loses Another Over 2010 Gulf Spill

U.S. Coast Guard photo

A U.S. appeals court said BP Plc, which in July reached a $18.7 billion settlement of federal, state and local claims over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, must face one of two proposed class-action lawsuits claiming that the oil company defrauded shareholders over the disaster. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said investors who bought BP's American depositary shares in a 33-day period soon after the spill may pursue group claims that BP initially "lowballed" the oil flow rate, and that the share price tumbled as the crisis' magnitude became known.

30 Jun 2015

Ex-BP Engineer Deserves New Gulf Spill Trial -US Appeals Court

Photo: NOAA

A former BP Plc engineer deserves a new trial on an obstruction of justice charge related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans agreed with a lower court judge's decision last June to throw out the defendant Kurt Mix's December 2013 conviction. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval acted after learning that the jury forewoman admitted to having heard in a courthouse elevator that other BP employees were being prosecuted over the spill…

11 Jun 2015

US Appeals Court Rejects Challenge to Shell Spill Plans in Alaska

A divided federal appeals court rejected an effort by environmental groups to void a U.S. agency's approval of two oil spill response plans by Royal Dutch Shell Plc related to the company's oil leases in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas on Alaska's Arctic coast.   By a 2-1 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday rejected a claim that the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which is part of the Department of the Interior, acted unlawfully in approving the plans, which relate to leases from 2005, 2007 and 2008.   Many environmental advocates oppose offshore energy exploration in the Arctic, on concern that any spill might prove difficult to clean up once production begins.     (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

05 Jun 2015

Jury Weighing Question of Whether BP Exec Lied About 2010 Oil Spill

A U.S. federal jury has begun its deliberations on whether a former BP Plc  executive lied about how much oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April 2010. Prosecutors and a lawyer for defendant David Rainey made their closing arguments to the jury on Friday morning in a case brought by the government over statements Rainey made to agents from the FBI and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nearly a year after the spill. Rainey, BP's former vice president of exploration in the Gulf, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if found guilty of willfully making a fraudulent statement to federal law enforcement agents. The April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig led to 11 deaths and the largest U.S.

02 Jun 2015

Environmentalists Sue Over Shell Plan to Drill in Arctic

Several environmental groups sued the United States on Tuesday to derail Royal Dutch Shell PLC's plan to drill in the Arctic Ocean as soon as July. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, gave conditional approval in May to Shell's resumption of fossil fuel exploration in the Arctic, which was paused after a mishap-filled 2012 season. The decision was met with approval by some Alaska lawmakers, who believe it will bring money and jobs to the state, as well as protests from environmentalists. The Sierra Club and nine other groups sought to overturn the government's decision in a petition with the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. Shell representatives could not be reached for comment.

08 May 2015

BP Wins Right to Appeal Gulf Spill Damages Claims

BP Plc deserves the right to have a federal appeals court review some damage claims awarded under the settlement to compensate people and businesses harmed by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans said BP did not expressly waive its right to appeal various claims determinations made under the 2012 settlement following review by a district court. BP argued that rules adopted by the federal judge who oversees that settlement compromised that right. BP is trying to hold down the costs of the settlement arising from the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers and caused the largest U.S. offshore oil spill.

11 Jan 2015

BP, Anadarko Fail to Win Review of Gulf Spill Fines

BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp narrowly failed to persuade a U.S appeals court to reconsider its 2014 ruling that they could face civil fines under federal pollution laws over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. By a 7-6 vote, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals let stand a three-judge panel's decision to uphold a 2012 ruling from U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, in which he said the companies could face Clean Water Act penalties. Barbier is scheduled on Jan. 20 to begin a non-jury trial to determine pollution fines. BP is appealing his Sept. 4 ruling that it was grossly negligent in causing the spill, exposing the London-based company to roughly $18 billion of potential fines.

30 May 2014

BP Tries Again to Sidestep GoM Spill Payments

BP Plc has asked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to allow the company to avoid making payments to businesses demanding compensation for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill while litigation continues. The company acted after the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction earlier in the day that had prevented payments being made. Last week, the court had decided not to revisit a decision rejecting BP's bid to block payments to businesses that could not trace their economic losses to the disaster. Judge Scalia, who has responsibility for emergency applications arising from the 5th Circuit, can either act on BP's request himself or refer the matter to the nine-member court as a whole. There is no specific deadline by which the court must act.

21 May 2014

BP to Appeal Gulf Oil Spill Damages Ruling

BP Plc on Wednesday said it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a court ruling concerning the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which forces the company to pay some businesses for economic damages without the businesses having to prove the spill caused their losses. On Monday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans refused to disturb a March ruling from a three-judge panel over how to compensate businesses. BP has said paying such claims could push the estimated $9.2 billion cost of its settlement with those businesses, which the company helped negotiate, significantly higher.

20 May 2014

Appeals Court Not to Revisit BP Oil Spill Compensation Decision

A U.S. appeals court will not revisit a decision to reject BP Plc's bid to block businesses from recovering money over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, even if those businesses could not trace their economic losses to the disaster. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March voted 2-1 to authorize payments on so-called business economic loss claims, and said an injunction preventing payments should be lifted. BP asked the entire 5th Circuit to rehear the case. However, the 5th Circuit voted 8-5 to let the March ruling stand, according to a court filing made public on Monday. In a statement, BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said the company is disappointed in the decision, and is considering its options.

21 Apr 2014

U.S. Supreme Court Declines Exxon Mobil Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a ruling against Exxon Mobil Corp that ordered the company to pay $105 million in damages for polluting New York City's groundwater with a toxic gasoline additive. The decision not to hear the case leaves intact a July 2 U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld the judgment. In 2009, a jury concluded that Exxon contaminated water supply wells when the additive, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), leaked from its underground storage tanks in the borough of Queens.

04 Mar 2014

US Appeals Court, Says BP Bound by Gulf Spill Accord

A divided U.S. appeals court has rejected BP Plc's bid to block businesses from recovering money over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, even if they could not trace their economic losses to the disaster. By a 2-1 vote, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans late Monday upheld a Dec. 24 ruling by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, authorizing the payments on so-called business economic loss claims. It also said an injunction preventing payments should be lifted. The decision is a setback for BP's effort to limit payments under a multi-billion dollar settlement over the April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and rupture of BP's Macondo oil well. That disaster killed 11 people and triggered the largest U.S. offshore oil spill.