RICHMOND, Ind. (AP) — An eastern Indiana judge has dismissed two unions from a civil lawsuit filed by a man badly burned when he fell into a tank of heated chemicals.

The Wayne Circuit Court judge's ruling dismissed Teamsters Local 135 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters as defendants in Zachary M. Hale's lawsuit.

The Palladium-Item reports that attorneys for the groups had filed motions citing federal rules which pre-empt unions from civil action in such cases.

Hale was 22 when the Richmond man fell in June 2011 into a tank at Levi Holdings containing caustic soda heated to about at an 200 degrees for use in cleaning tanker trucks.

Hale survived near-fatal injuries and infection from burns over more than 60 percent of his body, from his chest down.