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NYC Transit Workers Sue Engine Makers Over Fumes
By
Melissa Lipman
Law360, New York (August 19, 2008) -- More than 15 suppliers of diesel buses and engines— including General Motors Corp. and Cummins Inc. — have been hit with three suits byformer New York City Transit Authority employees alleging that the products releasedunsafe exhaust that caused a variety of health problems for the workers.The suits, filed in the Supreme Courts of the State of New York for New York, Kings andBronx counties, accuse the automotive makers of negligence, strict products liability, loss of services, wrongful death, and conscious pain and suffering.The plaintiffs — split across the three suits — are 13 former transit authority bus drivers,shifters and mechanics, or their next of kin in the case of several deceased individuals, whoallege they suffered a variety of health problems, including cancer, respiratory andcardiovascular diseases, after "suffer[ing] repeated, long term exposure to the dieselexhaust particles ... in the course of their employment."The complaints claim that the defendants were negligent in failing to provide sufficientinformation on the risks allegedly posed by their products and in failing to meet thestandards for diesel engine emissions under the Clean Air Act.The plaintiffs further accuse the companies of turning off the engines' "emission control'defeat devices'" after the products had met the necessary pre-sale testing standards."The Defendant manufacturers assumed a special responsibility to the public, which expectsthem to stand behind their products," according to the complaints.The complaint also argues that the manufacturers should be held strictly liable for theproducts since "at the time of manufacture, it was feasible, technologically andeconomically, to design the diesel engines and buses, and to provide warnings andinstructions, in a manner that would eliminate or reduce the harmful health effects of thediesel exhaust particles.""The cure for the problem was in the hands of the diesel engine manufacturers. They're theones who could prevent the diesel particulate matter from being emitted from their engines.They could have done it with simple engineering changes in the design of their engine,which they resisted doing because it would cost them money," said plaintiffs' co-counselJohn E. Durst, Jr.
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