Norton Rose Fulbright wins summary judgment in workplace injury lawsuit

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright secured a summary judgment victory for a staffing and recruiting company and Chuck Johnson in a workplace injury lawsuit, resulting in the dismissal of claims seeking more than US$1 million in damages.

The plaintiff, who previously worked for Valence Chemicals, Inc. as an oilfield chemical equipment operator, alleged that he suffered a torn ACL while working at a jobsite and claimed that Johnson's supervision caused the injury. According to the allegations, the plaintiff was injured after being forced to jump off of an ISO tank without a ladder.

The company and Johnson moved for summary judgment, arguing that the plaintiff's claims were barred by the applicable statute of limitations. After the trial court initially denied the motion, Norton Rose Fulbright was retained to evaluate potential appellate options and develop a strategy to challenge the ruling. At that point, Norton Rose Fulbright acted as co-counsel with lawyer Chris Freeman of Arnold and Freeman, P.C.

Although the court declined to permit an immediate appeal, it indicated a willingness to revisit its prior ruling. Norton Rose Fulbright subsequently renewed its limitations arguments, contending that the claims against the company and Johnson were time-barred. The plaintiff contended that the statute of limitations should be tolled because a third defendant (Triple Crown Resources) had fraudulently concealed the identities of the company and Johnson until after the statute of limitations expired.

Norton Rose Fulbright argued that fraudulent concealment of the identity of a potential party is not sufficient to toll the statute of limitations where the plaintiff otherwise had knowledge that he had a cause of action (that is, that he was injured). The firm also maintained that any alleged inappropriate conduct was done by Triple Crown Resources and should not be attributed to the company and Johnson.

Following briefing and argument, the court granted the motion for reconsideration and entered summary judgment in favor of the company and Johnson, dismissing the claims against them. In its order, the court reconsidered the authorities cited by the defendants and granted summary judgment in their favor.

"This result demonstrates the value of moving for pre-trial dismissal on affirmative defenses like statute of limitations," said Nathan Baum, Norton Rose Fulbright's lead partner on the case. "By continuing to push for reconsideration and ultimately prevailing on the limitations defense on summary judgment, we achieved a complete victory for our clients where they had previously received an adverse ruling."

Norton Rose Fulbright's litigation and disputes lawyers advise many of the world's largest corporations and financial institutions on sophisticated multijurisdictional disputes, including international arbitrations and alternative dispute resolution.