In re Agent Orange Product Liability Litigation
| Decision Date | 20 November 1979 |
| Docket Number | MDL No. 381. |
| Citation | 506 F. Supp. 737 |
| Parties | In re "AGENT ORANGE" PRODUCT LIABILITY LITIGATION. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York |
Victor J. Yannacone, Jr., Yannacone & Yannacone, Patchogue, N. Y., Schlegel & Trafelet, Ltd., L. Steven Platt, Daniel C. Sullivan, Sullivan Associates, Ltd., Chicago, Ill., Hy Mayerson, Spring City, Pa., Dorothy Thompson, Los Angeles, Cal., W. T. McMillan, W. T. McMillan & Co., associated counsel for Australian plaintiffs, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Jerry G. Wieslander, Frank G. Wieslander, Altoona, Iowa, Lewis A. Royal, Samuel Zelden, Des Moines, Iowa, David Jaroslawicz, New York City, Newton B. Schwartz, P. C., Benton Musslewhite, Inc., Houston, Tex., Melvin Block, Brooklyn, N. Y., Marshall A. Bernstein, Bernstein, Bernstein & Harrison, Philadelphia, Pa., Louis B. Merhige, New Orleans, La., Dennis M. O'Malley, Grant & Artesani, Boston, Mass., David C. Anson, Deconcini, McDonald, Brammer, Yetwin & Lacy, Tucson, Ariz., Phillip E. Brown, Hoberg, Finger, Brown, Cox & Molliga, San Francisco, Cal., Leslie Hulnick, Wichita, Kan., Sidney W. Gilreath, Knoxville, Tenn., Stephen J. Cavanaugh, Bellaire, Tex., Robert P. Schuster, Spence, Moriarty & Schuster, Jackson, Wyo., Alton C. Todd, Brown & Todd, Alvin, Tex., Jules B. Olsman, Southfield, Mich., Gerald J. Adler, Crow, Lytle, Gilwee, Donoghue, Adler & Weninger, Sacramento, Cal., Jack E. London, Miami, Fla., David J. Ghilardi, Madison, Wis., Dante Mattioni, Philadelphia, Pa., Elgin L. Crull, Louisville, Ky., Charles J. Traylor, Grand Junction, Colo., Victor L. Marcello, Talbot, Sotile, Carmouche, Waquespack & Marchand, Donaldsonville, La., Janet T. Phillips, Rodgers, Monsley, Woodbury & Berggreen, Las Vegas, Nev., William G. Morgan, William A. Cohan, Denver, Colo., William J. Risner, Tucson, Ariz., James L. Witzel, McKelvey, Cottom & Witzel, East Lansing, Mich., Robert I. P. Pasternak, Jane R. Kaplan, Berkeley, Cal., Norton Frickey, William D. Nelsch, Denver, Colo., Robert C. Huntley, Jr., Racine, Huntley & Olson, Pocatello, Idaho, Jacque B. Pucheu, Pucheu & Pucheu, Eunice, La., Jeffrey M. Stopford, Litvin, Blumberg, Matusow & Young, Philadelphia, Pa., Joseph D. Jamail, Jamail & Kolius, Houston, Tex., Leonard W. Schroeter, J. Kathleen Learned, Schroeter, Goldmark & Bender, P. S., Seattle, Wash., Bennett, DiFilippo, Davison, Henfling & Alessi, East Aurora, N. Y., James A. George, George & George, Baton Rouge, La., James F. Green and Robert A. Taylor, Jr., Ashcraft & Gerel, Washington, D. C., Arden C. McClelland, McClelland Law Offices, Missoula, Mont., Dennis B. Francis, Gillenwater, Whelchel & Nichol, Knoxville, Tenn., Daniel E. Becnel, Jr., Becnel & Faucheux, Reserve, La., Don S. Willner, Willner, Bennett, Bobbitt & Hartman, Portland, Or., John E. Sutter, Peter T. Nicholl, Ashcraft & Gerel, Baltimore, Md., John J. Lowrey, Chicago, Ill., Donald H. Dawson, Harvey, Kruse & Westen, P. C., Detroit, Mich., Jonathan N. Garver, Cleveland, Ohio, Kenneth N. Molberg, Dallas, Tex., Russell L. Cook, Jr., Fisher, Roch & Gallagher, Houston, Tex., Irwin E. Schermer, Schermer, Schwappach, Borkon & Ramstead, Minneapolis, Minn., David D. Noel, Jenkins & Jenkins, Knoxville, Tenn., Thomas E. Allen, Curtis, Crossen, Hensley, Allen, Curtis & Altman, St. Louis, Mo., Phil M. Cartmell, Jr., Gage & Tucker, Kansas City, Mo., Wayne B. Harbarger, III, Littlefield, McDermand & Harbarger, Sacramento, Cal., William T. Jorden, Erie, Pa., Devine & Morris, Atlanta, Ga., Byron N. Fox and Gary K. Hoffman, Brown & Fox, Kansas City, Mo., Ernest L. Caulfield, New Orleans, La., Thomas E. Connolly, Schneider, Reilly, Zabin, Connolly & Costello, P. C., Boston, Mass., Gary W. Anderson, Erler, Taylor & Anderson, Louisville, Ky., Caenen & Niederhauser, Mission, Kan., John T. Golden, Robert F. Stein and William J. Stradley, Stradley, Barnett & Stein, Houston, Tex., Douglass D. Hearne & Associates, Austin, Tex., Lawrence M. Ludwig and Kirby G. Upright, Scranton, Pa., John F. Vecchio, Brenda S. Jenkins, Werner & Rusk, Houston, Tex., Richard R. Ravreby, Ravreby & Connolly, Carlsbad, Cal., Robert A. McNess, III, and Robert W. Knolton, Layton & McNees, P. C., Oak Ridge, Tenn., Henry E. Weil and Ronald S. Canter, Belli, Weil & Jacobs, Rockville, Md., Epstein & Kesselman, Synchef & Synchef, Chicago, Ill., John R. Mitchell and Jay M. Potter, Law Offices of John R. Mitchell, Charleston, W. Va., Richard C. McLean, Denver, Colo., Carlton T. Wynn, Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, Birmingham, Ala., Owen J. Bradley, New Orleans, La., for plaintiffs.
Leonard L. Rivkin, Rivkin, Leff & Sherman, Garden City, N. Y., for Dow Chemical.
Morton B. Silberman, Clark, Gagliardi & Miller, White Plains, N. Y., Baker & McKenzie, Chicago, Ill., for Thompson-Hayward.
Wendell B. Alcorn, Jr., Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, New York City, for Diamond Shamrock.
Townley & Updike, New York City, for Monsanto.
Joan Bernott, Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for third-party defendant U. S.
Roy L. Reardon, James P. Barrett and Michael V. Corrigan, Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, New York City, for Ansul Co.
Damien T. Wren, Lewis, Overbeck & Furman, Chicago, Ill., for Riverdale Chemical Co.
Lawrence D. Lenihan, Thomas B. Kinzler and Alfred H. Hemingway, Jr., Arthur, Dry & Kalish, P. C., New York City, for Uniroyal.
Bud G. Holman and William Krohley, Kelley, Drye & Warren, New York City, for Hercules, Inc.
William H. Sanders, William A. Lynch and Paul G. Lane, Blackwell, Sanders, Matheny, Weary & Lombardi, Kansas City, Mo., for N. A. Phillips.
John M. Fitzpatrick, Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish, Lelvy & Kauffman, Philadelphia, Pa., for Hooker Chemical Co.
Les J. Weinstein, McKenna & Fitting, Los Angeles, Cal., for Occidental Petroleum Co.
Claiming to be the harbinger of thousands of similar claims, plaintiff veterans and members of their families seek relief because of injuries claimed to have been sustained from use by the military in Vietnam of "Agent Orange", a defoliant chemical referred to for convenience as 2, 4, 5-T, which defendants manufactured and sold to the government.
For the second time in the nine month history of this MDL litigation, lead counsel for plaintiffs1 has filed a re-amended complaint after oral argument on defendants' motion to dismiss a prior amended complaint. While properly criticizing plaintiffs' disregard for the filing requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, all defendants indicate, by letter dated October 23, 1979, that they are "prepared to accept service of the TAVC third amended verified complaint in Chapman v. Dow, et al., * * *." Furthermore, defendants have signed a consent to the TAVC and agreed that:
To avoid further delay arising from the necessity for a new motion addressed to the TAVC, we would ask the Court to deem our motion with respect to the SAVC second amended verified complaint as having been made with respect to the TAVC. We do not contemplate, however, that any further briefing will be required with respect to our motion.
Accordingly, defendants' motion to dismiss or strike the SAVC in whole or in part, a motion argued to the court on October 3, 1979, is deemed directed against the TAVC filed October 22, 1979. For reasons set forth below, defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is denied, as is defendants' motion to dismiss or strike various allegations of the complaint.
The TAVC alleges two bases for jurisdiction: (1) the "equitable jurisdiction" of the federal courts; and (2) "federal question" jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331.
The first basis is without merit. Federal courts have no independent "equity jurisdiction"; they may grant equitable relief, but not unless there is an independent statutory basis for federal jurisdiction, which is conferred only by specific congressional enactment. See 7 Moore, Federal Practice, ¶ 65.032. (1979).
The second basis, federal question jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331, is alleged to arise under "the common law and/or the statutory laws of the United States of America." The court will first consider whether a private cause of action may be implied from statutory law, and then will turn to plaintiffs' claims under federal common law.
The TAVC lists four statutes "from which a cause of action can be implied": the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), 7 U.S.C. §§ 135-135k; the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act (FEPCA), 7 U.S.C. §§ 136-136y; the Toxic Substances Control Act (TOSCA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq.; and the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 2051 et seq.
The federal statute regulating herbicides, including defoliants such as 2, 4, 5-T, is FIFRA. Before 1972, FIFRA regulated "economic poisons", which were defined to include: "any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or dessicant." 7 U.S.C. § 135(a)(2). In 1972, Congress amended FIFRA by enacting the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act (FEPCA).2 FEPCA regulates "pesticides", which are similarly defined to include "any substance or mixture of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or dessicant * * *." 7 U.S.C. § 136(u). Thus, FIFRA, as amended by FEPCA, treats defoliants as "pesticides", which has led the parties to refer to 2, 4, 5-T as a pesticide, and leads the court to do likewise, although common usage would undoubtedly categorize 2, 4, 5-T and other defoliants as herbicides, not pesticides.
Because of FIFRA, the other two statutes under which plaintiffs ask the court to imply a private right of action, TOSCA and CPSA, are inapplicable to this litigation. TOSCA, enacted in 1977, regulates "chemical substances". However, "Such term does not include * * * any pesticide (as defined in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and...
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