2nd Circuit Refuses to Apply Pennsylvania Rule of Causation to Seaman's Benzene Lawsuit

NEW YORK -- The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld an award of summary judgment to several vessel owners and operators, ruling that a plaintiff in a benzene exposure lawsuit failed to provide sufficient evidence of causation. Wills, et al. v. Amerada Hess Corp., et al., No. 02-7913 (2nd Cir.).

In the Aug. 11 decision, the 2nd Circuit also rejected the plaintiff's claim that the burden of proving causation had shifted to the defendants under the standards set in The Pennsylvania (86 U.S.). According to the 2nd Circuit, Pennsylvania shifts the burden of causation to the defendants, in order …