Greg Adkisson, et al v. Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. (Rule 23 – Civil Procedure and TSCPA)

Style: Greg Adkisson, et al v. Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.

TSC Docket Number: M2021-01239-SC-R23-CV

Link to Trial Court Opinion: Trial Court Order

Summary by Trial Court:

Jacobs was hired by the Tennessee Valley Authority (“TVA”) to manage cleanup and remediation efforts at the Kingston Fossil Fuel Plant following the December 2008 coal-ash spill. TVA and Jacobs entered into a contract, according to which Jacobs developed a comprehensive Site-Wide Safety and Health Plan (“SWSHP”) governing the site. The plaintiffs here are individuals who worked on the remediation efforts, plus some of their spouses. The workers suffer from a variety of medical conditions, which they claim were caused by Jacobs’s negligence with respect to air monitoring, dust control, the use of personal protective equipment, and worker training, all in violation of Jacobs’s contract with TVA and the SWSHP.

Issues to be Reviewed by TSC:

(1) Are the requirements of the TSCPA an affirmative defense that must be pleaded in a responsive pleading, or are they prima facie requirements that can be raised at any stage of litigation?

(2) Do the TSCPA’s requirements apply to all cases involving exposure to silica or mixed dust, or, if coal ash is silica or mixed dust within the meaning of the TSCPA, are plaintiffs’ claims exempted from the TSCPA’s requirements because they are raised under the common law?

(3) Does coal ash, which contains silica, fibrogenic dusts, and other components that may cause injury, but are not “fibrogenic dusts,” constitute “silica” or “mixed dust” such that the requirements of the TSCPA would apply in these cases?

(4) If coal ash does qualify as silica or mixed dust, does the TSCPA apply even if plaintiffs’ claims are based on injury resulting from exposure to elements of coal ash that are not silica or fibrogenic dusts?

Permission to Appeal Granted: March 24, 2022

Appellants’ Briefs Filed:

Appellees’ Briefs Filed:

Appellants’ Reply Brief Filed:

Appellees’ Reply Brief Filed:

Amicus Briefs Permitted:  

Oral Argument Date: June 1, 2022

Link to Oral Argument Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1Ks4K_gcZg

All parties have agreed to file an agreed stipulation to dismiss all claims by all Plaintiffs with prejudice.

Date of TSC Opinion:

Opinion of the TSC:   [insert link]

TSC Summary of the Opinion: