La. Federal Court Retains Jurisdiction of Asbestos Matter, Allows Parties Leave to Appeal Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Dispute

NEW ORLEANS –– A Louisiana federal court has retained jurisdiction over an asbestos suit, in part determining that the plaintiff did not have to be physically employed on an Outer Continental Shelf in order for the defendant to establish federal jurisdiction.

In the Sept. 4 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana wrote that the plaintiff’s work on and in support of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) structures was enough to provide a “sufficient connection to the operations on the OCS.”

While the court ultimately denied the plaintiff’s motion to remand, it acknowledged that its decision concerned …