Halliburton v. Johnson & Johnson

983 F. Supp. 2d 1355, 2013 WL 5719016
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 18, 2013
DocketNos. CIV-13-832-L, CIV-13-833-L, CIV-13-834-L, CIV-13-836-L, CIV-13-838-L, CIV-13-839-L, CIV-13-840-L, CIV-13-841-L, CIV-13-844-L, CIV-13-845-L, CIV-13-846-L
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 983 F. Supp. 2d 1355 (Halliburton v. Johnson & Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Halliburton v. Johnson & Johnson, 983 F. Supp. 2d 1355, 2013 WL 5719016 (W.D. Okla. 2013).

Opinion

[1357]*1357 ORDER

TIM LEONARD, District Judge.

On July 8, 2013, Joy L. Halliburton and 47 other named plaintiffs filed an action seeking damages in the District Court of Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma. Plaintiffs named as defendants Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon, Inc., two New Jersey companies who are engaged in the business of designing, manufacturing, and distributing pelvic mesh products.1 Halliburton v. Johnson & Johnson, Case No. CIV-13-832-L, Petition at ¶ 9 (Doc. No. 1-1). Plaintiffs assert state law claims of negligence, design defect, manufacturing defect, failure to warn, breach of implied warranty, breach of express warranty, de-ceit by concealment, negligent misrepresentation, fraud and deceit, violation of the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act, and violation of the Oklahoma Deceptive Trade Practices Act. In addition, the five male plaintiffs assert a claim for loss of consortium. While Halliburton is a citizen of the State of Oklahoma, the remaining plaintiffs are citizens of twelve different states, including New Jersey.2 Over the next two days, eleven other actions were filed against Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon, Inc. in the District Court of Pottawatomie County.3 Each action alleges the same eleven substantive claims against defendants and contains virtually identical allegations as those made in Halliburton. Likewise, each case has at least one Oklahoma plaintiff and one or more plaintiffs who are citizens of New Jersey.

Notwithstanding the lack of diversity shown on the face of the state court petitions, defendants removed all twelve cases to this court on August 8, 2013. In the Notice of Removal, defendants assert the court has diversity jurisdiction because “[cjomplete diversity of citizenship exists between the properly joined parties”4 and the amount in controversy for each plaintiff exceeds $75,000. In the alternative, defendants claim the court has jurisdiction over these actions pursuant to the mass action provisions of the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”). See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(ll).

This matter is before the court on identical motions to remand filed by plaintiffs in eleven of the twelve lawsuits.5 Plaintiffs argue diversity jurisdiction does not exist [1358]*1358because at least one plaintiff in each case is a citizen of New Jersey, as are defendants. Plaintiffs also contend CAFA does not confer jurisdiction because the statutory requirements for such jurisdiction have not been met. Defendants counter that the New Jersey plaintiffs should be disregarded because they were “fraudulently misjoined for the sole purpose of defeating diversity jurisdiction.” Defendants’ Response in Opposition to Plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand at 1 (Doc. No. 17) [hereafter cited as “Defendants’ Response”].6 In the alternative, defendants argue the eleven cases should be viewed in the aggregate for purposes of CAFA’s mass action provisions and that once the cases are aggregated, the number of plaintiffs exceeds the statute’s 100 plaintiff minimum.

Analysis of the jurisdictional issue begins with the concept that federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction and “there is a presumption against removal jurisdiction.” Laughlin v. Kmart Corp., 50 F.3d 871, 873 (10th Cir.1995). Defendants, as the parties seeking to invoke this court’s jurisdiction, have the burden of establishing that the statutory requirements for such jurisdiction have been met. Martin v. Franklin Capital Corp., 251 F.3d 1284, 1290 (10th Cir.2001). Diversity jurisdiction requires not only that the amount in controversy exceed $75,000.00, but also that each defendant be a citizen of a different state from each plaintiff. See 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a); Owen Equip. & Erection Co. v. Kroger, 437 U.S. 365, 373, 98 S.Ct. 2396, 57 L.Ed.2d 274 (1978). An exception to the complete diversity rule exists with respect to mass actions, which are defined as “any civil action ... in which monetary relief claims of 100 or more persons are proposed to be tried jointly on the ground that the plaintiffs’ claims involve common questions of law or fact”. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(ll)(B)(i). With respect to mass actions, only minimal diversity need exist, that is “any member of a class of plaintiffs is a citizen of a State different from any defendant”. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2)(A).

Defendants’ first argument implicates the judicially created doctrine of procedural misjoinder, which was first recognized by the Eleventh Circuit in Tapscott v. MS Dealer Serv. Corp., 77 F.3d 1353 (11th Cir.1996), abrogated on other grounds by Cohen v. Office Depot, Inc., 204 F.3d 1069 (11th Cir.2000). In Tapscott, the Eleventh Circuit held that misjoinder of claims against non-diverse defendants, if “egregious”, could constitute fraudulent joinder. Id. at 1360. The Court counseled, however, that “mere misjoinder” would not constitute fraudulent joinder. Id. The defendants in the cases at bar ask the court to extend the procedural misjoinder doctrine recognized in Tapscott to the joinder of claims by different plaintiffs. They argue the New Jersey plaintiffs’ claims are improperly joined with those of the diverse plaintiffs because the claims do not arise out the same transaction or occurrence. Halliburton, Defendants’ Response at 9-17. Defendants contend the court should therefore sever and remand the New Jersey plaintiffs’ claims while keeping jurisdiction over the diverse plaintiffs’ claims.7

While the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has long recognized the doc[1359]*1359trine, of fraudulent joinder of defendants,8 it has not adopted the doctrine of fraudulent misjoinder,9 much less extended that doctrine to the joinder of claims by different plaintiffs. Moreover, the doctrine has been severely criticized by several courts.

Federal courts, however, have not given the doctrine a ringing endorsement. “The theory of procedural misjoinder articulated in Tapscott is inherently ambiguous ” for one reason, because of the confusion surrounding when misjoinder is so “egregious” as to constitute fraudulent misjoinder. In re Genetically Modified Rice Litigation, No. 4:06 MD 1811 CDP, No. 4:07 CV 825 CDP, 2007 WL 3027580 at *4 (E.D.Mo. Oct. 15, 2007) (emphasis added); see also In re Guidant Corp. Implantable Defibrillators Products Liability Litigation, Civil No. 07-1487 (DWF/AJB), MDL No.

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Bluebook (online)
983 F. Supp. 2d 1355, 2013 WL 5719016, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/halliburton-v-johnson-johnson-okwd-2013.