E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. (In re)

379 F. Supp. 3d 669
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedMay 15, 2019
DocketCivil Action 2:13-md-2433
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 379 F. Supp. 3d 669 (E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. (In re)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. v. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co. (In re), 379 F. Supp. 3d 669 (S.D. Ohio 2019).

Opinion

EDMUND A. SARGUS, JR. CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Defendant's Motion to Permit Rule 35 Medical Examination

This matter is before the Court on Defendant's Motion to Permit the Rule 35 Medical Examination of Plaintiff Angela Swartz ("Def's Mot. for IME") (ECF No. 19 ), Plaintiff's Memorandum in Opposition (ECF No. 20 ), and Defendant's Reply (ECF No. 21 ). For the reasons that follow, the Court DENIES Defendant's Motion.

I.

Plaintiff Angela Swartz brings this "civil action for equitable relief, compensatory and punitive damages, costs incurred and to be incurred by Plaintiffs, and any other damages which the Court or jury may deem appropriate for bodily injury and property damage arising from the intentional, knowing, reckless and negligent acts and omissions of the Defendants in connection with contamination of human drinking water supplies used by Plaintiff Angela Swartz." (Am. Compl. ¶ 1, ECF No. 15.) DuPont does not dispute that for decades it released into the water around its Washington Works plant a synthetic perfluorinated carboxylic acid and fluorosurfactant also known as perfluorooctoanoic acid or ammonium perfluorooctanoate ("C-8"). Mrs. Swartz alleges that the C-8 released from DuPont's Washington Works Plant caused her to develop kidney cancer. Under a contractual agreement between DuPont and a group of individuals who drank water contaminated with C-8, DuPont agreed not to contest whether C-8 is capable of causing Mrs. Swartz's kidney cancer (i.e. , general causation), and retained the right to contest whether C-8 actually caused her cancer (i.e. , specific causation).

*671Mrs. Swartz alleges that the C-8 "[r]eleases have made and/or continue to make Plaintiff and other exposed individuals physically ill and otherwise physically harmed, and/or have caused and continue to cause associated emotional and mental stress, anxiety, and fear of current and future illnesses, including but not limited to, fear of significantly increased risk of cancer and other disease, among Plaintiffs and the other class members." (Am. Compl. ¶ 52, ECF No. 15.) Mrs. Swartz brings claims for relief for negligence, malicious/reckless indifference, and loss of consortium. As damages for her negligence claim, she requests:

a. Medical and hospital bills treatment of injuries;
b. Physical injury, both temporary and permanent;
c. Economic damages;
d. Severe and significant emotional distress and mental pain and suffering;
e. Humiliation, embarrassment and fear;
f. Loss of enjoyment of life;
g. Annoyance and inconvenience; and
h. Other damages, which, under the law and circumstances, Plaintiffs are entitled to recover, including attorneys' fees and costs associated with the prosecution of this action.

Id. ¶ 62.

Mrs. Swartz's trial will be the fifth held in this MDL, and the first Post-Settlement1 trial. The plaintiffs in the other four trials made the same claims, based on the same theories of liability, and asked for the exact same damages and relief. See e.g., Freeman v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Case No. Case No. 2:13-cv-1103, ECF No. 40, Am. Compl., ¶ 57: Compensatory damages for negligence of "a. Medical and hospital bills for treatment of injuries; b. Physical injury, both temporary and permanent; c. Economic damages; d. Severe and significant emotional distress and mental pain and suffering; e. Humiliation, embarrassment and fear; f. Loss of enjoyment of life; g. Annoyance and inconvenience; and h. Other damages, which, under the law and circumstances, Plaintiffs are entitled to recover, including attorneys' fees and costs associated with the prosecution of this action"); Vigneron v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Case No. Case No. 2:13-cv-136, ECF No. 73, Am. Compl., ¶ 73: Compensatory damages for negligence of "a. Medical and hospital bills for treatment of injuries; b. Physical injury, both temporary and permanent; c. Economic damages; d. Severe and significant emotional distress and mental pain and suffering; e. Humiliation, embarrassment and fear; f. Loss of enjoyment of life; g. Annoyance and inconvenience; and h. Other damages, which, under the law and circumstances, Plaintiffs are entitled to recover, including attorneys' fees and costs associated with the prosecution of this action").

On March 25, 2019, DuPont filed its Motion for a Rule 35 Medical Exam, requesting the Court to order Mrs. Swartz to submit to "an independent mental examination." (Def's Mot. for IME at 1, ECF No. 19.) That motion is ripe for review.

II.

Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that a court "may order a party whose mental or physical condition ... is in controversy to submit to a physical or mental examination by a suitably licensed or certified examiner." Fed. R. Civ. P. 35(a)(1). Such an order "may be made only on motion for good cause and *672on notice to all parties and the person to be examined." Fed. R. Civ. P. 35(a)(2)(A).

The United States Supreme Court explained that, unlike the rules pertaining to the permissible scope of other forms of discovery such as interrogatories and production of documents-which require only that the information sought be "relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action," and that discovery devices not be used in bad faith so as to cause undue "annoyance, embarrassment, or oppression,"- Rule 35 contains a "restriction" that the matter be "in controversy," and also requires that the movant affirmatively demonstrate "good cause." Schlagenhauf v. Holder , 379 U.S. 104, 117, 85 S.Ct. 234, 13 L.Ed.2d 152 (1964) (citing Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b) and 30(b) ). The Schlagenhauf Court went on to state that the requirements of Rule 35 are "not a mere formality," and "are not met by mere conclusory allegations of the pleadings -- nor by mere relevance to the case," but rather "require an affirmative showing by the movant that each condition as to which the examination is sought is really and genuinely in controversy and that good cause exists for ordering each particular examination." Id.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
379 F. Supp. 3d 669, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ei-du-pont-de-nemours-co-v-ei-du-pont-de-nemours-co-in-re-ohsd-2019.