Valero Files Reply Brief Supporting Motion for Summary Judgment, Says Benzene Plaintiff’s Reliance on La. Law ‘Misplaced’

NEW ORLEANS –– Valero Refining-Texas, L.P. (NYSE:VLO), has filed a reply brief supporting its motion for summary judgment, contending that maritime law governs the claims and, as such, the plaintiff’s employers held the duty to warn of benzene hazards.

In its reply brief, filed June 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the defendant maintains that the plaintiffs’ reliance on Louisiana law is misplaced.

Edward F. Authenment III filed the complaint, contending that his work as a deckhand and tankerman from 1977 to 1980 required him to load and unload barges containing a variety of …