Ashley v. Dow Corning Corp.

887 F. Supp. 1469
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Alabama
DecidedApril 25, 1995
DocketMDL No. 926; No. CV 92-P-10000-S; Civ. A. Nos. CV 92-P-10368-S, CV 93-P-13306-S, CV 93-P-14410-S, CV 94-11542-S, CV 94-P-11699-S, CV 94-P-13578-S and CV 94-P-14464-S
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 887 F. Supp. 1469 (Ashley v. Dow Corning Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ashley v. Dow Corning Corp., 887 F. Supp. 1469 (N.D. Ala. 1995).

Opinion

[1471]*1471OPINION

(Forum Non Conveniens)

POINTER, Chief Judge.

The defendants seek to dismiss, on the ground of forum non conveniens, seven of the more than 10,000 breast-implant products liability cases pending in this court, based on diversity jurisdiction, as a result of initial filing here or of § 1407 multi-district transfers. These seven cases1 involve personal injury or wrongful death claims against breast-implant manufacturers and component part suppliers, asserted by persons who are neither citizens nor residents of the United States and who received all their implants outside the United States.

As frequently occurs in cases involving this issue, the positions of the parties are the reverse of what one might expect, for the foreign plaintiffs are asserting that litigation in this country is more convenient, while the American defendants are asserting that litigation in other countries is more convenient. After considering and weighing all relevant private and public interest factors, the court concludes that it should deny the defendants’ motions with respect to claims by New Zealand plaintiffs in one ease and should grant the motions with respect to claims by all other plaintiffs in these cases, directing that their claims be resolved in the tribunals of other countries.

I. DESCRIPTION OF CASES

Ashley (CV 92-P-10368-S) was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The plaintiffs — 311 women, most of whom are citizens and residents of Australia, as well as some spouses — assert causes of action based on negligence, breach of warranties, misrepresentations, and infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiffs contend that, of the eight defendants, one (Dow Corning) is incorporated and has its principal place of business in Michigan and that the others— MeGhan Medical, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, Surgitek, Medical Engineering, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CoxUphoff, and Mentor — distributed implants in Michigan (although not to plaintiffs). The first motion to dismiss on the ground of forum non conveniens was filed by MeGhan Medical, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, and Cox-Uphoff; but the primary briefing on this issue in this and the other cases has focussed on a later motion by Dow Corning.
Bennett (CV 93-P-13306-S) was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The plaintiffs — 863 women, who are citizens and residents of either Australia or Great Britain, as well as some spouses — assert most of the causes of action enumerated in the master complaint prepared for use in the breast implant litigation. Named as defendants are 41 companies — all of those listed in the master complaint except Mentor and Bioplasty.2 The only connection of this litigation to Michigan is that two of the defendants (Dow Corning and Dow Chemical) are incorporated or have their principal place of business in Michigan. One of the defendants (Koken) is a Japanese company.
Rhodes (CV 93-P-14410-S) was filed in state court in Harris County, Texas, and then removed to the United States District [1472]*1472Court for the Southern District of Texas. The plaintiffs — 40 female citizens of New Zealand — assert causes of action based on strict liability, breach of warranties, misrepresentation, negligence, infliction of emotional distress, and violation of consumer protection laws. They named 42 companies as defendants. The only connection of these cases to Texas is that Texas was the residence of Dr. Thomas Cronin and Dr. Frank J. Gerow, originally named as defendants but later determined to have been improperly joined in an attempt to avoid federal diversity jurisdiction.3 The plaintiffs in Rhodes have filed a notice of appeal from the final judgment (approving a global opt-out settlement) in Lindsey v. Dow Corning (CV 94-P-11558-S) and filed such a notice in the Rhodes case itself.4 Since no final or otherwise appealable order had been filed in Rhodes, the purported appeal in Rhodes is a nullity and does not deprive this court of its jurisdiction to consider the motions to dismiss Rhodes on the ground of forum non conveniens.
Sanden (CV 94-P-11542-S) and Reynolds-Kuiper (CV 94^-P-11699-S) were filed in state court in Harris County, Texas, and then removed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The two individual plaintiffs, who are residents and apparently citizens of the Province of Alberta, Canada, assert a broad range of claims (adopted from another complaint) against Baxter Healthcare, General Electric, Dow Corning, Dow Corning-Wright, Dow Chemical, and Coming. The only connection of these cases to Texas is that Texas was the residence of Dr. Cronin, originally named as a defendant but later determined to have been improperly joined in an attempt to avoid federal diversity jurisdiction.
Gale (CV 94-P-13578-S) was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia on behalf of Gale as a representative of a putative class consisting of approximately 150,000 breast-implant recipients who are citizens or residents of Canada (and their spouses and children) and on behalf of the Province of Alberta, Canada, as a representative of a putative class of Canada’s nine other provinces with respect to implant-related health-care expenses incurred by the provinces. The sole defendant is Dow Corning, which was named as a representative of a putative defendant class consisting of all companies that manufactured or distributed breast-implant products or component parts (or controlled or conspired with such companies), including the Japanese company Koken. A broad range of claims— including negligence, breach of warranties, misrepresentations, and strict liability — is asserted on behalf of the plaintiff classes against members of the defendant class; these claims are not limited to those arising from implantations performed in the United States. The only connection of this litigation to the District of Columbia appears to be that members of the defendant class are alleged to have made misrepresentations to the Food and Drug Administration in Washington. After the forum non conveniens motion was taken under submission, plaintiffs amended the complaint to eliminate the request for certification of a defendant class or of a provincial government class. The case remains pending against Dow Corning by the Province of Alberta and on behalf of a putative class of Canadian implant recipients, their spouses, and children.
Baldoni (CV 94-P-14464-S) was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of 18 Australian women. Their causes of action include negligence, breach of warranties, misrepresentations, strict liability, infliction of emotional distress, and violation of consumer protection laws. Plaintiffs contend that, of the four defendants, one [1473]*1473(Bristol-Myers Squibb) has its principal place of business in New York, one (General Electric) has its place of incorporation and principal place of business in New York, and that the other two (Medical Engineering and Dow Coming) have distributed implants (or implant component parts) in New York (although not to plaintiffs).

II. PRINCIPLES

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Related

In Re Silicone Breast Implants Liab. Litigation
887 F. Supp. 1469 (N.D. Alabama, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
887 F. Supp. 1469, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ashley-v-dow-corning-corp-alnd-1995.