O'Connor v. Boeing North American, Inc.

• Decision Date: 12 June 2000
• Docket Number: No. CV 97-1554 ABC (RCX).,CV 97-1554 ABC (RCX).
• Citation: 114 F.Supp.2d 949
• Parties: Lawrence O'CONNOR, et al., Plaintiffs, v. BOEING NORTH AMERICAN, INC. and Rockwell International Corporation, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Central District of California

114 F.Supp.2d 949

Lawrence O'CONNOR, et al., Plaintiffs, v. BOEING NORTH AMERICAN, INC. and Rockwell International Corporation, Defendants.

No. CV 97-1554 ABC (RCX).

United States District Court, C.D. California.

June 12, 2000.

Capello & McCann, A. Barry Cappello, Santa Barbara, CA, Gancedo & Nieves, Tina Nieves, Pasadena, CA, for plaintiffs.

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, John Reding, San Francisco, CA, for defendants.

ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION AND MODIFYING SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION

COLLINS, District Judge.

Plaintiffs the estate of Marjorie Taaffe, the estate of Bernard Hudson, Cheryl Wernke, Kathy Hecker, and Maralyn Soifer¹ moved for reconsideration of this Court's March 28, 2000 Order, see 92 F.Supp.2d 1026. Defendants oppose. After reviewing the materials submitted by the parties and the case file, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' motion.

I. Standard of Review

The Court's previous Order granted Defendants' motion for summary judgment on Plaintiffs' claims. Plaintiffs now move for reconsideration under Fed. R.Civ.P. 60(b) and Local Rule 7.16. Under Rule 60(b), a "court may relieve a party ... from a final judgment, order, or proceeding for the following reasons: (1) mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect; ... or (6) any other reason justifying relief from the operation of the judgment." Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b). "[T]he words `mistake' and `inadvertence' ... may include mistake and inadvertence by the judge." Kingvision Pay-Per-View v. Lake Alice Bar, 168 F.3d 347, 350 (9th Cir.1999).

Under Local Rule 7.16, a party may move for reconsideration based on "a manifest showing of a failure to consider material facts presented to the Court before such a decision."

II. Analysis

A. Plaintiffs living outside the San Fernando Valley.

Three of the Plaintiffs assert that the Court incorrectly imputed them with knowledge of the media coverage of the Rocketdyne facilities' contamination. Plaintiffs assert that the Court erred by failing to consider evidence that they did not live in Valley during the time period identified by the Court. The Court agrees.

I. Estate of Taaffe.

In its Order, the Court concluded that the representative for the estate of Taaffe had presented "no evidence" that he "did not live in the San Fernando Valley from 1989 to 1992." See 92 F.Supp.2d at 1049-50.

Plaintiffs point out, however, that the representative for the estate of Taaffe has lived in Florida since 1983. (Sears Decl. Ex. 29 at 5087.)² Defendants point out that the address chart appears to list the decedent's address and not the representatives. However, the decedent died in August 1983. (Taaffe Decl. ¶ 5.) The chart listing the address indicates that it is the address of the individual from 1984 to the present. (Sears Decl.Ex. 29 at 5087.) In light of those dates, it is reasonable to infer that the address refers to Mr. Taaffe, the representative, and not Mr. Taaffe, the decedent. Moreover, Mr. Taaffe signed his declaration in Florida. (Taaffe Decl. at 4.) Mr. Taaffe presents sufficient evidence to create a genuine issue of fact as to whether he lived in the Valley during the identified period of time.

Accordingly, the Court VACATES the summary judgment against the estate of Taaffe and DENIES Defendants' summary judgment as to the estate's wrongful death claim.

2. Estate of Bernard Hudson.

In its Order, the Court deemed Lila Hudson, the representative for the estate of Bernard Hudson, to be a subscriber of the Daily News. 92 F.Supp.2d at 1045. Plaintiffs, however, presented evidence that Lila Hudson lived in Morongo Valley, outside the San Fernando Valley, during the applicable period of time. (Sears Decl. Ex. 29 at 5086.) This evidence creates a genuine issue of fact as to whether she could be deemed a reader of the Daily News. Accord 92 F.Supp.2d at 1049 n. 45.

Accordingly, the Court VACATES the summary judgment against the estate of Hudson and DENIES Defendants' summary judgment as to the estate's wrongful death claim.

3. Cheryl Wernke.

In its Order, the Court deemed Wernke to be a reader of the Daily News or one of the Valley Papers. 92 F.Supp.2d at 1045. Plaintiffs, however, presented evidence that Wernke lived in Nevada, outside the Valley during the applicable period of time. (Sears Decl.Ex. 29 at 5088.) This evidence creates a genuine issue of fact as to whether she could be deemed a reader of the Daily News or the Valley Papers. Accord 92 F.Supp.2d at 1049, n. 45.

Accordingly, the Court VACATES the summary judgment against Wernke and DENIES Defendants' summary judgment as to her personal injury claim.

B. Plaintiffs Diagnosed Within One Year of Filing.

Plaintiffs argue that the Court should amend its Order to allow two Plaintiffs, Hecker and Soifer, to sue for diseases diagnosed within the limitations period. Both of these Plaintiffs were earlier diagnosed with different diseases that Defendants' contamination allegedly caused outside the limitations period. Plaintiffs made the same argument on behalf of one Plaintiff, Hecker, in their summary judgment opposition and at the hearing. The Court, nevertheless, held that Hecker's claim was precluded because of her previous injury in 1983. 92 F.Supp.2d at 1038.

1. Suitability of motion for reconsideration.

Defendants assert that this Court should refuse to consider the argument on behalf of Hecker because Plaintiffs argued it in their summary judgment opposition and the Court considered it in its order. As to the argument on behalf of Soifer, Defendants contend that she fails to show why she did not raise this argument in the opposition to the summary judgment motion. However, the Court finds that this result inevitably flows from the way that the parties handled the summary judgment motion.

Although the Court took the time to consider the material individual factors of each Plaintiff, both Defendants and Plaintiffs refused to do so. Defendants presented charts that summarized some factors concerning the Plaintiffs but lumped them together. Not surprisingly, they failed to address, in the summary judgment motion and reply or the opposition to the motion for reconsideration, the unique factual scenario of Hecker and Soifer.

Plaintiffs, at least on the surface, appear to focus on the different individual factors. Indeed, they argued in their opposition to the summary judgment motion that Plaintiffs' claims had to be considered on a "plaintiff by plaintiff basis." (Pls.' Opp. to Mot. for Summ. Judgment at 1.) Plaintiffs, however, failed to do so. The argument on behalf of Hecker consisted, in whole, of the following:

Given the requirement of potential knowledge in order to start the accrual clock running, it is instructive to break the Plaintiffs down into the following five groups ...[:]

1. Plaintiffs who were diagnosed with an illness inside the statute of limitations: 2 (Noël Decl., ¶ 4); ...

Plaintiffs in Category 1 were diagnosed within one year of their respective filing dates and therefore should be excepted from this motion on that basis alone.

(Id. at 20-21. (emphasis in original).) The Court notes that Plaintiffs' opposition does not contain (1) a single express mention of Hecker; (2) any mention of the fact, pointed out by Defendants, that she had a previous injury allegedly caused by Defendants' contamination; or (3) any case citation or authority to address Hecker's individual circumstances.³ Moreover, the Court's review of the Noël Declaration showed that the two persons in Category One were Hecker and Mary Hellerstein. Thus, although Plaintiffs submitted a declaration from Soifer stating that she suffered an injury within the limitations period, Plaintiffs failed to direct the Court to that information. Given the multitude of evidence presented by the parties, the Court is not surprised that it did not catch that information although it reviewed each of the Plaintiffs' declarations.

Plaintiffs' presentation, therefore, neglected to include specific and necessary information and had mistakes. Nevertheless, the Court finds that, under the circumstances, such neglect and mistakes were excusable. The Court finds that the motion for summary judgment was unique in that it sought to address class claims and the claims of more than 70 Plaintiffs. Moreover, the burden of showing that a claim fell outside the limitations period falls on Defendants. Thus, if the Court's ruling erroneously dismissed a claim that was not time-barred under the traditional statute of limitations, the Court can correct its error of law under Rule 60(b). See Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. E.E.O.C., 691 F.2d 438, 441 (9th Cir.1982). Finally, Defendants do not challenge the timeliness of the motion.

Accordingly, the Court exercises its discretion to consider the merits of Plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration.⁴

2. Commencement of the Statute of Limitations.

Under California law, a limitations "period cannot run before plaintiff possesses a true cause of action, by which we mean that events have developed to a point where plaintiff is entitled to a legal remedy, not merely a symbolic judgment such as an award of nominal damages." Davies v. Krasna, 14 Cal.3d 502, 513, 121 Cal.Rptr. 705, 535 P.2d 1161 (1975). However, "although a right to recover nominal damages will not trigger the running of the period of limitation, the infliction of appreciable and actual harm, however uncertain in amount, will commence the statutory period." Id. at 514, 121 Cal.Rptr. 705, 535 P.2d 1161.

Although Davies provides that the limitations period does not begin to run when a plaintiff suffers nominal injury, the Court did not address the effect of the limitations period where two separate and distinct appreciable illnesses occur at different times. However, a California appellate court, in Martinez-Ferrer v. Richardson-Merrell, Inc., 105 Cal.App.3d 316, 164 Cal.Rptr. 591 (1980), wrestled with that question. Martinez-Ferrer first described the general...