Justia Injury Law Opinion Summaries

Plaintiffs sued defendants, Dow Chemical Company ("Dow") and Dole Food Company, Inc. ("Dole"), for physical and psychological injuries they sustained from exposure to a pesticide, dibromocholoropropane, Dow supplied to Dole to use on its banana plantations. At issue is whether the over $97 million judgment a Nicaraguan court awarded plaintiffs is enforceable under the Florida Uniform Out-of-country Foreign Money-Judgments Recognition Act ("Act"). The court affirmed the district court's holding that the Nicaraguan judgment is not due recognition and enforcement under the Act where the Nicaraguan court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and/or personal jurisdiction over the defendants, where the judgment was "rendered under a system which does not provide... procedures compatible with the requirements of due process of law" under the Act, and where recognizing the Nicaraguan judgment would be repugnant to Florida public policy.

Plaintiff sued CSX Transportation, Inc. ("CSX") seeking damages for injuries that he sustained in an accident involving a rail car CSX delivered to his employer. At issue was whether the district court erred by admitting a video depicting the accident and if the district court did erroneously admit the video, whether the erroneous admission was prejudicial. The court held that the district court abused its discretion by admitting the video without proper foundation under the substantially similar conditions standard in Barnes v. Gen. Motors Corp. The court also held that the district court's erroneous admission of the video was prejudicial where the video unfairly prejudiced the jury on the pivotal issue of the case.