MilSpecs, Wartime Production, and Ear Plugs: More Government Contractor Defense Observations
July 22, 2021 |Paul Majkowski’s article, “MilSpecs, Wartime Production, and Ear Plugs: More Government Contractor Defense Observations” was published in the American Bar Association Mass Torts newsletter.
The article reviews how not every military connection or supply is sufficient to invoke the government contractor defense or serve as a basis for federal officer removal.
Majkowski states, “These examples show the continued tensions created by the government contractor defense and the courts’ eff orts to balance those tensions. On the one hand, products associated with a military specification will be protected at least initially via federal officer removal, as will wartime production in the context of environmental contamination, even if other nonmilitary, non-wartime activity is mostly at issue. As the Seventh Circuit observed, there might be a dividing line in that analysis. On the other hand, not every military connection or supply is sufficient to invoke the government contractor defense or serve as a basis for federal officer removal, as seen in the PCB and ear plug cases.”
Read the full article here.
