Tort/Negligence – Asbestos Exposure – Civil Practice – Federal Jurisdiction – Federal Officer Removal Statute

South Carolina Lawyers Weekly staff//June 23, 2014//

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Bradley v. Richland County Landfill, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-127-14, 4 pp.) (Joseph Anderson Jr., J.) 3:14-cv-00779; D.S.C.

Holding: Even though the defendant-landfill was subject to federal regulations that set minimum standards for the handling and disposal of asbestos and for the warnings of its hazards, this was not enough to allow defendants to remove plaintiff’s state-court negligence action to federal court under the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1), which permits the removal of cases filed in state court against “any officer (or any person acting under that officer) of the United States or of any agency thereof,” sued in an official or individual capacity for “any act under color of such office….”