Removal of LHWCA Claims Does Not Withstand Preemption Analysis, Judge Says

NEW ORLEANS - A federal court has ruled that it does not have jurisdiction over an asbestos case where the defendants, in removing the action from state court, argued that the plaintiff's state law claims were preempted by the Longshore and Harbors Workers' Compensation Act (LHWCA). Hernandez v. Todd Shipyards Corporation, et al., No. 04-1629 (E.D. La.)

In a decision issued July 7, Judge Lance M. Africk of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana remanded the case, determining that the removing defendants failed to show that the LHWCA satisfies the test for complete preemption of the …