Rail Worker's Meso Claim Preempted by Locomotive Inspection Act, U.S. Sup. Ct. Holds

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that state law design defect failure-to-warn claims filed on behalf of a rail worker exposed to asbestos while repairing train brakes and boilers are preempted by federal laws regulating the field of locomotive safety. Kurns, et al. v. Railroad Friction Products Corp., et al., No. 10-879 (U.S. Sup.).

In a decision handed down Feb. 29, the nation's highest court refused to disturb an 85-year-old precedent in Napier v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., a case that defined the preemptive effect of the Locomotive Inspection Act on claims arising within the context …