Dawn-Marie Hawkins James E. Hawkins v. Leslie's Pool Mart, Inc

184 F.3d 244, 29 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 21364, 48 ERC (BNA) 2077, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 16650, 1999 WL 498060
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedJuly 15, 1999
Docket98-5229
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 184 F.3d 244 (Dawn-Marie Hawkins James E. Hawkins v. Leslie's Pool Mart, Inc) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dawn-Marie Hawkins James E. Hawkins v. Leslie's Pool Mart, Inc, 184 F.3d 244, 29 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 21364, 48 ERC (BNA) 2077, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 16650, 1999 WL 498060 (3d Cir. 1999).

Opinions

OPINION OF THE COURT

NYGAARD, Circuit Judge.

Appellants Dawn-Marie and James Hawkins (referred to collectively as Hawkins) appeal the District Court’s summary judgment. It had concluded that Hawkins’s claims that Leslie’s Pool Mart (1) negligently failed “to provide adequate directions or precautions regarding the opening, closing and/or storage of the package containing the product” and (2) negligently failed “to package the product in a manner adequate to prevent excessive chemical decomposition, contamination, combustion, or generation of fumes and gases” were preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), 7 U.S.C. § 136 et seq. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and will exercise plenary review to determine whether “the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact” such that Leslie’s Pool Mart is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56; see Olson v. General Elec. Astrospace, 101 F.3d 947, 951 (3d Cir.1996). We will affirm in part and reverse in part.

[247]*247I.

Dawn-Marie Hawkins suffered a burning sensation in her throat and lungs, and breathing difficulty when she opened a container of Leslie’s Chlorinator Tablets 1” purchased from Leslie’s Pool Mart. Hawkins filed a diversity action in federal court against Leslie’s Pool Mart alleging negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty and loss of consortium. Germane to this appeal, Hawkins asserts that Leslie’s Pool Mart:

* failed to warn of sudden decomposition and chemical reactions which could generate harmful fumes;
* failed to provide adequate directions regarding the opening, closing and/or storage of the container; and
* failed to package the product in a manner adequate to prevent excessive decomposition contamination, combustion, or generation of fumes.

Compl. ¶¶ 9, 18, 21, 22 and 25; App. 2a-6a.

The District Court employed the preemption analysis established by the Supreme Court in Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., 505 U.S. 504, 112 S.Ct. 2608, 120 L.Ed.2d 407 (1992), and held that Hawkins’s failure to warn claims, failure to provide adequate directions claims and failure to adequately package the product claims were preempted by FIFRA. The District Court reasoned that imposing liability would require Leslie’s Pool Mart to alter the label and packaging approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Hawkins appeals, relying on the Supreme Court’s most recent case on preemption, Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr, 518 U.S. 470, 116 S.Ct. 2240, 135 L.Ed.2d 700 (1996).

On appeal, Hawkins first argues that FIFRA neither requires directions for opening a package nor information about the chemical reactivity of a pesticide be included therein. Appellant’s Br. at 12. Second, she suggests that directions on a container’s lid are neither required or approved under FIFRA nor are they registered with the EPA. Third, she asserts that FIFRA’s regulations concerning directions for use are general, and therefore, her claims do not impose requirements that are in addition to, or different from, FIFRA’s. As to Hawkins’s defective/negligent packaging claim, she argues that because the EPA has regulated packaging only in the area of child-resistant packaging, her claim for defective packaging is not preempted. We will affirm as to the labeling based claims but reverse as to the packaging claim.

II.

Preemption is based on the Supremacy Clause. See U.S. Const, art. VI, cl. 2 (“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; ... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.”). The doctrine preempts state laws that conflict with or are contrary to federal law. See Cipollone, 505 U.S. at 516, 112 S.Ct. at 2617. There are three types of preemption: express, implied and conflict preemption. However, these “categories are not ‘rigidly distinct.’ ” Gade v. National Solid Wastes Management Ass’n, 505 U.S. 88, 104 n. 2, 112 S.Ct. 2374, 2386 n. 2, 120 L.Ed.2d 73 (1992) (quoting English v. General Elec. Co., 496 U.S. 72, 79 n. 5, 110 S.Ct. 2270, 2275 n. 5, 110 L.Ed.2d 65 (1990)). Here, the language of FIFRA expressly preempts state law.

The preemptive provision of FIFRA states:

§ 136v. Authority of States
(a) In general
A State may regulate the sale or use of any federally registered pesticide or device in the State, but only if and to the extent the regulation does not permit any sale or use prohibited by this sub-chapter.
(b) Uniformity
[248]*248Such State shall not impose or continue in effect any requirements for labeling or packaging in addition to or different from those required under this subchap-ter.

7 U.S.C. § 136v.

Even though “the pre-emptive language of [section 136v] means that we need not go beyond that language to determine whether Congress intended [FIFRA] to pre-empt at least some state law, we must nonetheless ‘identify the domain expressly pre-empted.’ ” Medtronic, 518 U.S. at 484, 116 S.Ct. at 2250 (quoting Cipollone, 505 U.S. at 517, 112 S.Ct. at 2618). To do so, we “begin with [the statute’s] text” as “informed by two presumptions about the nature of preemption.” ' Id. at 484-85, 116 S.Ct. at 2250 (citing Gade, 505 U.S. at 111, 112 S.Ct. at 2389-90 (Kennedy, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment)). The first presumption is “ ‘that the historic police powers of the States [are] not to be superseded by the Federal Act unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress.’ ” Id. at 485, 116 S.Ct. at 2250 (quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 1152, 91 L.Ed. 1447 (1947)). The second longstanding presumption is that “ ‘the purpose of Congress is the ultimate touchstone’ in every pre-emption case.” Id. at 485, 116 S.Ct. at 2250. (quoting Retail Clerks v. Schennerhom, 375 U.S. 96, 103, 84 S.Ct. 219, 222, 11 L.Ed.2d 179 (1963)).

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184 F.3d 244, 29 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 21364, 48 ERC (BNA) 2077, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 16650, 1999 WL 498060, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dawn-marie-hawkins-james-e-hawkins-v-leslies-pool-mart-inc-ca3-1999.