In re Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., IP 00-9373-C-B/S.

• Decision Date: 27 July 2001
• Docket Number: No. IP 00-9373-C-B/S.,MDL No. 1373.,IP 00-9373-C-B/S.
• Parties: In re BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE INC., TIRES PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Indiana

153 F.Supp.2d 935

In re BRIDGESTONE/FIRESTONE INC., TIRES PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATION.

No. IP 00-9373-C-B/S.

MDL No. 1373.

United States District Court, S.D. Indiana, Indianapolis Division.

July 27, 2001.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Don Barrett, Barrett Law Office Pa, Lexington, MS, Victor Manuel Diaz Jr, Podhurst Orseck Josefsberg & Eaton, Miami, FL, Mike Eidson, Colson Hicks Eidson, Coral Gables, FL, Irwin B Levin, Cohen & Malad, William E Winingham, Wilson Kehoe & Winingham, Indianapolis, IN, for plaintiffs.

John H Beisner, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Washington, DC, Daniel P Byron, McHale Cook & Welch Pc, Indianapolis, IN, Mark Herrmann, Jones Day Reavis & Pogue, Cleveland, OH, Thomas S Kilbane, Squire Sanders & Dempsey LLP, Cleveland, OH, Mark Merkle, Krieg Devault Alexander & Capehart, Indianapolis, IN, Randall Riggs, Locke Reynolds LLP, Indianapolis, IN, Colin P Smith, Holland & Knight LLP, Chicago, IL, Thomas G Stayton, Baker & Daniels, Indianapolis, IN, for defendants.

ORDER GRANTING IN PART DEFENDANTS' MOTION TO DISMISS AS TO PLAINTIFFS' EIGHTH CLAIM FOR RELIEF AND RENDERING MOOT IN PART PLAINTIFFS' MOTIONS FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION

BARKER, District Judge.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1407, this court has jurisdiction over all pending federal cases concerning alleged defects in specified models of Firestone tires¹ ("the Tires") and in certain automobile models, most notably Ford Explorers. In addition to numerous wrongful death and personal injury cases, the Court also has before it putative class action cases seeking damages and other relief for injuries that various classes of Plaintiffs claim to have suffered as a result of the allegedly faulty tires and automobiles. Plaintiffs' Master Complaint, filed on January 2, 2001, covers these class action cases. Today, we address one part of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Master Complaint. For the reasons set forth below, the Eighth Claim for Relief, insofar as it requests the Court to order a "recall, buy back, and/or replace[ment of] the Tires," Master Complaint, ¶ 300, is DISMISSED, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). This ruling perforce disposes of the request for a recall of the Tires in Plaintiffs' Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, filed on January 29, 2001.² For the same reasons, Plaintiffs' Notice of Motion for Preliminary Injunctive Relief Against Defendant Ford Motor Company is also rendered moot to the extent that it asks for "an immediate safety recall, replacement, or refund, at Ford's expense" of all Model Year 1991-2001 Ford Explorers.

Finally, because this decision turns on a difficult and controlling question of law as to which there is substantial ground for difference of opinion and because a final resolution of this question may materially advance the ultimate completion of this litigation, the Court sua sponte certifies this order for interlocutory appeal, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). See also Ahrenholz v. Board of Trs. of the Univ. of Illinois, 219 F.3d 674, 677 (7th Cir.2000) (citing United Airlines, Inc. v. Mesa Airlines, Inc., 219 F.3d 605 (7th Cir.2000) as one of few instances where interlocutory appeal is appropriate where Mesa involved question of preemption). No stay of the proceedings in this court shall be effected by this interlocutory appeal.

Preemption Analysis

In their Eight Claim for Relief, Plaintiffs assert that the absence of any adequate remedy at law entitles them to injunctive and other equitable relief. Master Complaint, ¶ 299. Specifically, on behalf of the Tire Class,³ Plaintiffs ask the Court to order Defendants "to recall, buy back, and/or replace the Tires." Id. at ¶ 300.⁴

In support of their motion to dismiss, Defendants argue that Plaintiffs' request for a recall is preempted by the Motor Vehicle Safety Act ("Safety Act"), 49 U.S.C. § 30101 et seq. Brief I, Memo. in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. to Dis.: Overview, Reasons to Dismiss All Claims of Plaintiffs Who Have Not Alleged Injury, and Reasons to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Claims for a Court-Ordered Recall (Count VIII) ("Brief I") at 20.⁵

The Supremacy Clause preempts any state law that conflicts with federal law. Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., 505 U.S. 504, 516, 112 S.Ct. 2608, 120 L.Ed.2d 407 (1992). Once it is determined that the particular state law at issue is preempted by federal law, that state law is "without effect." Id. (citing M'Culloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316, 427, 4 L.Ed. 579 (1819)). Therefore, if the Safety Act is found to preempt any state law purporting to permit a court-ordered recall, then Plaintiffs' request for a recall must be dismissed pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) because it would be "beyond ... doubt that the [claimants] cannot prove any facts that would support [their] claim for relief." Save the Valley, Inc. v. EPA, 99 F.Supp.2d 981, 983 (S.D.Ind.2000) (quoting Craigs, Inc. v. General Elec. Capital Corp., 12 F.3d 686, 688 (7th Cir.1993)); see also Travel All Over the World, Inc. v. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 73 F.3d 1423, 1428-31 (7th Cir.1996) (examining defendants' express preemption defense under Rule 12(b)(6) when defendants failed to cite procedural rule in motion to dismiss).

Proper Stage to Address Preemption Arguments

As a preliminary matter, Plaintiffs argue that the Court should deny Defendants' motion to dismiss their request for a recall on the ground that a dismissal on the basis of preemption at this point in the proceedings would be premature. According to Plaintiffs, determining whether injunctive relief is available while ruling on a motion to dismiss is premature because the Court lacks the benefits of full briefing and an evidentiary hearing on the preliminary injunction motion. We do not share Plaintiffs' view as it applies to the issue of preemption.

Certainly, some courts have delayed ruling on a motion to dismiss when that ruling would necessarily implicate a request for injunctive relief. In Friends of Frederick Seig Grove # 94 v. Sonoma Cty. Water Agency, 124 F.Supp.2d 1161, 1172 (N.D.Cal.2000), the court conceded that it "may ultimately agree with defendants that injunctive relief is inappropriate," but held that "it is by no means evident that the court can reach such a determination on a motion to dismiss." Likewise, the Court in American Council of Learned Societies v. MacMillan, Inc., 1996 WL 706911, *4 (S.D.N.Y. Dec.6, 1996), declined to dismiss plaintiff's preliminary injunction claims on defendant's motion to dismiss until the court had the opportunity to hold an evidentiary hearing.

However, these cases are readily distinguishable from the situation we face here. The heart of the defendants' argument in Friends of Frederick Seig Grove, 124 F.Supp.2d at 1172, was that an earlier settlement order between themselves and a prior plaintiff represented the only workable solution to the environmental hazard facing the new parties, thus necessitating dismissal of a new plaintiff's claim for injunctive relief, which proposed an alternative plan. The court was unwilling to resolve the issue by means of the motion to dismiss because defendants had failed to present sufficient facts for the court to determine whether the plan in the original settlement agreement would in fact solve the environmental problem. Id. In American Council of Learned Societies, 1996 WL 706911 at *4, the court noted that defendant argued, in support of its Rule 12(b)(6) motion, that plaintiff would not suffer irreparable harm as demonstrated by plaintiff's delay in filing a motion for preliminary injunction. Finding such argument premature and believing that plaintiff would present facts at a preliminary injunction hearing explaining its delay in filing for preliminary injunctive relief, the court rejected defendant's argument that claims for preliminary injunctive relief should be dismissed on a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. Thus, both cases cited by Plaintiffs deal with factual issues, a resolution of which warranted full briefing and a hearing on preliminary injunction. Neither case dealt with a preemption issue. In contrast, here, a resolution of the preemption issue is entirely feasible and, indeed, appropriate at this stage. Whether federal law preempts state law-based judicial authority to order a tire or motor vehicle recall is a legal issue, not a factual one. See Moran v. Rush Prudential HMO, Inc., 230 F.3d 959, 966 (7th Cir.2000) ("A district court's preemption ruling is a question of law."). For this reason, Defendants' preemption arguments should be addressed at this stage of the proceedings, See Brown v. Kerr-McGee Chem. Corp., 767 F.2d 1234, 1237 (7th Cir.1985) (upholding district court's decision that federal law preempted injunction based on state law even though there had been no briefing or hearing on injunction).

Overview of Preemption

The Supreme Court has developed a complex analysis for determining whether a state law is preempted.⁶ The starting point in analyzing the scope of a statute's preemption requires that the Court acknowledge that "the purpose of Congress is the ultimate touchstone in every preemption case." Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr, 518 U.S. 470, 485, 116 S.Ct. 2240, 135 L.Ed.2d 700 (1996) (internal quotation omitted). Congress occasionally preempts the operation of state law in the express language of a statute. See, e.g., Cipollone, 505 U.S. at 518, 112 S.Ct. 2608 (noting that statutory language "[n]o statement relating to smoking and health shall be required in the advertising of ... cigarettes" expressly prohibited states from mandating particular cautionary statements in cigarette advertisements). Judicial interpretations hold that when Congress has not expressly preempted state law, it may do so through implied preemption, which can take a number of forms. When "federal law so thoroughly occupies a legislative field `as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it,'" it is referred to as "field preemption." I...