Loyal v. Norfolk Southern Corp.

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• finding that an employee was aware of the risk of hearing loss due to repeated mandatory hearing tests as part of his employment and his previous complaints to his supervisor regarding excessive noise
• upholding release where “hearing loss was a risk known and foreseeable to [the plaintiff] at the time he signed the release” where plaintiff had complained about excessive noise on the job and had regular hearing tests as part of his employment
• adopting Wicker and stating, “Only the Sixth Circuit has adopted a bright line rule that a release may be valid only with regard to injuries that are known at the time the release is executed. The majority of courts have not so found.”
• in an industry where claims for occupational diseases are common, \it is important to both the employer and employee to be able to settle potential claims regarding injuries or diseases prior to actual discovery\
• plaintiff never claimed that he was unaware of the risk of hearing loss, had complained about excessive noise on the job, had regular hearing tests as part of his employment, release was not for specific injury
• “Clearly, in an industry, such as the railroad industry, that has a number of known occupational risks and diseases, it is important to both the employer and employee to be able to settle potential claims regarding injuries or diseases prior to actual discovery.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).