Tolley v. Monsanto Co.
| Decision Date | 19 December 2008 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01316.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01334.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01312.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01335.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01310.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01327.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01329.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01357.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01338.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01340.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01309.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01331.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01354.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01324.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01358.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01332.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01347.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01328.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01352.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01322.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01342.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01318.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01306.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01348.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01307.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01359.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01326.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01314.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01339.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01353.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01345.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01343.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01351.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01337.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01356.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01344.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01355.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01325.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01346.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01330.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01321.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01315.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01311.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01341.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01323.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01305.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01313.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01350.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01349.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01317.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01333.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01308.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01320.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01336.,Civil Action No. 3:08-cv-01319. |
| Citation | 591 F.Supp.2d 837 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of West Virginia |
| Parties | William TOLLEY, et al., Plaintiffs, v. MONSANTO COMPANY, et al., Defendants. Mary Lou Brewer, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Everette Hedrick, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Chris Morris, Plaintiffs, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Robert Hedrick, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Sandra Parri, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Mary Hedrick, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Claude Pauley, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Leslie Jackson, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Roberta Jenkins, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Kenneth Phillips, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Maggie Conner, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Ruben Johnson, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Arlen Bailey, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Gordon Pottorff, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. William Bailey, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Ferriel Craigo, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. James Randolph, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Leonard Lett, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Herman Bartlett, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Donald Raynes, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Robert Cremering, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Walter Loveless, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Curtis Blackshire, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Stanley Farley, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Virginia Board, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Mary Reusch, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Ellen Mann, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Lloyd Boggess, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Olin McClanahan, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Gary Fisher, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Ralph Scarberry, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Margaret Frazier, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. James Bonnett, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Janice Scott, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Randy Smith, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Stephen Gillispie, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Ralph Turley, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Sterling Smith, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Terry Bradshaw, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Dencil Harrison, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Gale Summers, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. James Totten, Sr., Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Delbert Hawley, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Harvey Brightwell, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Tammy Chancey, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Linda Turley-Franezak, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Mary Ward, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Devae Williams, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Jack Woodall, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Gaynelle Tyree, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Keith Withrow, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Lewis Farmer, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Zina G. Bibb, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. Robert C. Carter, Plaintiff, v. Monsanto Company, et al., Defendants. |
David H. Carriger, John H. Skaggs, S. Brooks West, II, W. Stuart Calwell, The Calwell Practice, Charleston, WV, for Plaintiffs.
Charles M. Love, III, Diana Leigh Johnson, Fazal A. Shere, P. Michael Pleska, Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love, Charleston, WV, Elissa J. Glasband, James E. Tyrell, Jr., Patton Boggs, New York, NY, for Defendants.
Pending before the court are the defendants' Letter-Form Motion to Stay Proceedings [Docket 6],1 the Plaintiffs2 Motion to Stay Transfer of this Case and Other "Parallel Litigations" Pending the Court's Consideration of Plaintiffs' Motion to Remand [Docket 7], and the Plaintiffs' Motion to Remand Due to Untimely Removal and to Recover Costs and Attorneys Fees [Docket 9]. For the reasons discussed herein, the Letter-Form Motion to Stay Proceedings is DENIED, the Motion to Stay Transfer of this Case is DENIED as moot, and the Motion to Remand is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
The above-styled cases are parallel personal injury actions (collectively, the "Parallel Litigations")3 seeking damages based on Defendant Monsanto's alleged release of the agricultural herbicide 2, 4, 5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid ("2, 4, 5-T") and toxic byproducts from its chemical plant in Nitro, West Virginia (the "Nitro Plant"). Defendant Monsanto4 began producing 2, 4, 5-T at the Nitro Plant in 1948 and continued producing the herbicide until about 1971. During the Vietnam War, Defendant Monsanto sold herbicide 2, 4, 5-T to the federal government to be used as a primary active component of the military herbicide Agent Orange. (Notice Removal, Ex. A, Corrected Fourth Am. Compl. ¶ 7.) The production of 2, 4, 5-T, however, results in the formation of a toxic byproduct called 2, 3, 7, 8-tetracholorodibenzoparadioxin, or "dioxin," and also dibenzo furans (collectively "dioxins/furans"). The production of 2, 4, 5-T, and the resulting production of dioxins/furans, allegedly caused injury not only to Monsanto workers involved in the production process, but also persons living near the Nitro Plant and dioxin/furan waste disposal sites. (Notice Removal, Ex. A, Corrected Fourth Am. Compl. ¶ 8-21.)
The Plaintiffs seek damages for injuries caused by exposure to dioxins/furans produced during the 2, 4, 5-T manufacturing process at the Nitro Plant. The Parallel Litigations include two class actions: Carter et al. v. Monsanto Co. et al., No. 3:08-cv-1359 (hereinafter "Carter") and Bibb et al. v. Monsanto Co. et al., No. 3:08-cv-1358 (hereinafter "Bibb"). Carter and Bibb were filed in the Circuit Court of Putnam County, West Virginia in August 2000 and December 2004, respectively. (Notice of Removal 1; Bibb Notice of Removal 1; [Docket 1].) On January 7, 2008, the Circuit Court entered orders certifying classes in both cases. (Notice of Removal, Ex. 2; Bibb Notice of Removal, Ex. 3.) The Parallel Litigations also include fifty-three individual actions (hereinafter, "the Individual Litigations") which were filed in the Circuit Court of Putnam County on October 1, 2007. In all but two of the Individual Litigations, the individual plaintiffs filed amended complaints on January 24, 2008.5
On November 21, 2008, the defendants removed the Parallel Litigations to this court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1442(a)(1) and 1331. Section 1442 allows the removal of any state action against federal officers acting "under color of such office" to federal district court. 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1). The defendants argue that removal is appropriate under this provision because Monsanto produced 2, 4, 5-T under "federal direction and control" and can assert "federal defenses sufficient for removal." (Notice Removal 5-6.) The defendants also assert that this court has original jurisdiction under § 1331 because the "[Plaintiffs'] right to relief necessarily depends on resolution of a substantial question of federal law." (Id. (quoting Christianson v. Colt Indus., 486 U.S. 800, 808, 108 S.Ct. 2166, 100 L.Ed.2d 811 (1988) (internal quotations omitted) (alteration in original)).) Finally, the defendants argue that removal of these cases is timely because the Plaintiffs revealed a new theory of the case on October 31,...
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