Guilbeault v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

• Citation: 84 F.Supp.2d 263
• Decision Date: 12 January 2000
• Docket Number: No. 98-035-L.,98-035-L.
• Parties: Leo GUILBEAULT, Plaintiff, v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, Defendant.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Rhode Island

84 F.Supp.2d 263

Leo GUILBEAULT, Plaintiff, v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, Defendant.

No. 98-035-L.

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

January 12, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ralph R. Ryan, Pawtucket, RI, Stephen R. White, Warwick, RI, for Plaintiff.

Joseph A. Kelly, Paula A. Kelly, Carroll, Kelly & Murphy, Michael T. Sullivan, Morrison, Mahoney & Miller, Providence, RI, Richard G. Stuhan, Paul D. Koethe, Steven N. Geise, Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, Cleveland, OH, for Defendant.

DECISION AND ORDER

LAGUEUX, District Judge.

In January 1998, plaintiff Leo Guilbeault filed a complaint against defendant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Thereafter, defendant moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground that it violated Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 8(a)(2), requiring that the complaint set forth "a short and plain statement of the claim[,]" and 8(e)(1), requiring the pleading to be "simple, concise, and direct." Defendant's motion was granted and plaintiff was given leave to file an amended complaint. Plaintiff then filed the First Amended Complaint which is now under scrutiny in this Court. Defendant has moved to dismiss the Complaint in its entirety for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Plaintiff has opposed the motion.

This Court initially referred the matter to U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lovegreen pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(B)(1994). Judge Lovegreen issued a Report and Recommendation, concluding that defendant's motion should be granted in part and denied in part. After a de novo review, this Court concludes that defendant's motion to dismiss should be granted as to all claims. However, plaintiff will be given the opportunity to file a second amended complaint consistent with this opinion.

I. Background

Plaintiff, a resident of Rhode Island, began buying and smoking Camel brand cigarettes in 1951. In 1997, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He maintains that his lung cancer was caused by his smoking. In January 1998, plaintiff filed a complaint against defendant, the company that designs, manufactures, sells and distributes Camel brand cigarettes. The Complaint was thirty-two pages long and contained references to more than fifty documents. Defendant moved to dismiss the Complaint claiming that it violated the dictates of Rule 8, which requires concise pleading. The motion to dismiss was granted and plaintiff was given time to amend the Complaint. Thereafter, plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint, which is the subject of the present motion.

The First Amended Complaint is twenty-one pages long and does not contain references to many of the previously mentioned documents. However, as Judge Lovegreen noted, it still appears to contain an enormous amount of material that is extraneous to plaintiff's claims. This may be because, as plaintiff's counsel admitted at oral argument, it was "modeled after" a similar complaint filed in Florida. While this Court appreciates the need for efficiency in drafting complaints, it cautions attorneys for suit filers that a complaint should be tailored to the grievances and facts pertaining to the individual filing the complaint. In any event, defendant has not brought another Rule 8 motion to dismiss and this Court will go forward with an analysis of the First Amended Complaint.

The First Amended Complaint (after one wades through excess verbiage) alleges three theories of recovery: 1) strict product liability, 2) negligence and 3) conspiracy. The strict liability claim is based on the alleged defective design of defendant's cigarettes and on defendant's failure to warn of the dangers of smoking. The negligence claim is also based on defective design and failure to warn with the additional claim that defendant's cigarettes were negligently manufactured. The conspiracy claim rests mainly on allegations of fraud.

Defendant has moved to dismiss the whole First Amended Complaint for failure to state any claim upon which relief can be granted. Specifically, defendant contends that plaintiff's design defect and failure to warn claims fail because the dangers of smoking have been "common knowledge" for some period of time, thus rendering cigarettes not unreasonably dangerous as a matter of law. In the alternative, defendant argues that plaintiff's design defect claims fail as a matter of law because plaintiff has not alleged a safer feasible alternative design and that plaintiff's failure to warn claims fail because they are preempted by federal law. In addition, defendant argues that plaintiff's negligent manufacturing claim fails because plaintiff has failed to allege a necessary element of that claim, namely, a deviation from defendant's standard cigarette design. Finally, defendant argues that plaintiff's conspiracy claim fails because the underlying intentional tort of fraud was not pleaded with particularity as required by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) and because plaintiff has not alleged justifiable reliance on specific misrepresentations.

This matter was referred to Magistrate Judge Lovegreen and he made the following recommendations: 1) defendant's motion to dismiss the design defect and failure to warn claims based on the "common knowledge" doctrine should be denied, 2) defendant's motion to dismiss the design defect claims on the ground that plaintiff has failed to allege a safer feasible alternative design should be denied and, further, that defendant's attorneys should be sanctioned under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 for misrepresenting Rhode Island law on this issue, 3) plaintiff's failure to warn claims are preempted by federal law insofar as they are based on conduct subsequent to 1969, but they should not be dismissed because the claims are based on pre-1969 conduct, 4) defendant's motion to dismiss the negligent manufacturing claim should be granted and 5) defendant's motion to dismiss the conspiracy claim based on a violation of Rule 9(b) should be granted, but dismissal should be without prejudice to allow plaintiff to replead that claim with particularity.

Defendant has objected to the Report and Recommendation. See 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C)(1994). Plaintiff has not.

After a de novo review, this Court grants defendant's motion to dismiss the strict liability and negligence claims based on the "common knowledge" doctrine and grants the motion to dismiss the conspiracy/fraud claim based on plaintiff's failure to comply with Rule 9(b). This Court concludes, however, that plaintiff may amend the complaint to attempt to state a claim on which relief could be granted consistent with the reasoning below. Finally, this Court declines to adopt the Magistrate Judge's recommendation to sanction defendant's lawyers for their arguments regarding the requirement of pleading a safer feasible alternative design.

II. Applicable Law

A. Standard of Review

In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the Court construes the complaint in the light most favorable to plaintiff, taking all wellpleaded allegations as true and giving plaintiff the benefit of all reasonable inferences. See Figueroa v. Rivera, 147 F.3d 77, 80 (1st Cir.1998). Dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) is appropriate only if "it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). However, "minimal requirements are not tantamount to nonexistent requirements." Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 514 (1st Cir.1988). The standard "does not mean...that a court must (or should) accept every allegation made by the complainant, no matter how conclusory or generalized ....'[E]mpirically unverifiable' conclusions, not `logically compelled, or at least supported, by the stated facts,' deserve no deference." United States v. AVX Corp., 962 F.2d 108, 115 (1st Cir.1992) (citations omitted).

Recommendations made by magistrate judges on dispositive pretrial motions, such as a 12(b)(6) motion, are reviewed de novo by the district court. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b).

In making a de novo determination, the district court "may accept, reject, or modify the recommended decision, receive further evidence, or recommit the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions." Fed.R.Civ.P. 72(b); see also 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C)(1994). In reviewing a magistrate judge's recommendations, the district court must actually review and weigh the evidence presented to the magistrate judge, and not merely rely on the magistrate judge's report and recommendation. See United States v. Raddatz, 447 U.S. 667, 675, 100 S.Ct. 2406, 65 L.Ed.2d 424 (1980); Gioiosa v. United States, 684 F.2d 176, 178 (1st Cir.1982).

B. Strict Product Liability

Rhode Island has adopted the law of strict product liability set forth in the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A (1965). See Ritter v. Narragansett Elec. Co., 109 R.I. 176, 283 A.2d 255, 261-63 (1971). Section 402A provides:

Special Liability of Seller of Product for Physical Harm to User or Consumer

(1) One who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer or to his property is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate user or consumer, or to his property, if

(a) the seller is engaged in the business of selling such a product, and

(b) it is expected to and does reach the user or consumer without substantial change in the condition in which it is sold.

(2) The rule stated in Subsection (1) applies although

(a) the seller has exercised all possible care in the preparation and sale of his product, and

(b) the user or consumer has not bought the product from or entered into any contractual relation with the seller.

Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A (1965). For a plaintiff to prevail in such a case, he or she must prove:

(1) that there was a defect in the design or...