Keene Corp. v. United States

35 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,670, 17 Cl. Ct. 146, 14 OSHC (BNA) 1058, 1989 U.S. Claims LEXIS 103, 1989 WL 57243
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedJune 1, 1989
DocketNos. 579-79C, 585-81C, 170-83C, 287-83C, 16-84C, 514-84C, 515-85C and 12-88C
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 35 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,670 (Keene Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keene Corp. v. United States, 35 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,670, 17 Cl. Ct. 146, 14 OSHC (BNA) 1058, 1989 U.S. Claims LEXIS 103, 1989 WL 57243 (cc 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

NETTESHEIM, Judge.

These cases are before the court on defendant’s motion for summary judgment based on a lack of jurisdiction under the restriction imposed by 28 U.S.C. § 1500 (1982).

BACKGROUND

On April 6, 1987, the Claims Court entered an order provisionally dismissing three cases brought by Johns-Manville Corporation and Johns-Manville Sales Corporation (Nos. 465-83C, 688-83C, & 1-84C). Keene v. United States, 12 Cl.Ct. 197 (1987). These three cases sought indemnification for plaintiffs’ liabilities to shipyard workers for injuries caused by exposure to asbestos. Because the same claims were pending in other courts at the same time plaintiffs commenced their actions in the Claims Court, jurisdiction was foreclosed by 28 U.S.C. § 1500. The statute provides:

The United States Claims Court shall not have jurisdiction of any claim for or in respect to which the plaintiff or his assignee has pending in any other court any suit or process against the United States or any person who, at the time when the cause of action arose, was, in respect thereto, acting or professing to [148]*148act, directly or indirectly under the authority of the United States.

The order was certified for interlocutory review.1 On appeal plaintiffs-appellants argued before the Federal Circuit that since their third-party suits against the Government in district courts are based on tort theories and the direct action suits in Claims Court are founded on express and implied contract, they are different claims and thus not subject to the bar of section 1500. Further, they contended that where, as here, subject matter jurisdiction is not concurrent, forcing a plaintiff to elect between proceeding in district courts or the Claims Court, a strict application of section 1500 may preclude any judicial hearing of some theories of recovery. Since district courts have exclusive jurisdiction of tort actions against the United States and the Claims Court has exclusive jurisdiction of contract claims above $10,000, appellants also argued that proceeding in only one forum at a time to avoid offending section 1500 may mean that the statute of limitations eliminates the possibility of pursuing an alternative remedy.

Basing its analysis on both the legislative history of section 1500 and on case law disclosed by the predecessor United States Court of Claims interpreting the term “claim” as used in the statute, the Federal Circuit reasoned that a claim is defined by the facts supporting a suit. Thus, claims grounded on different legal theories of recovery, but founded on the same underlying facts, regardless of what legal theory of recovery those facts are used to support, were held to be the same claim. Since appellants’ claims in district court and in the Claims Court were based on the same operative facts, they constitute the same claim, and, thus, the Claims Court correctly held that section 1500 denied it jurisdiction of these cases. Johns-Manville Corp. v. United States, 855 F.2d 1556, 1563-64 (Fed.Cir.1988) (per curiam), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 109 S.Ct. 1342, 103 L.Ed.2d 811 (1989), aff'g, Keene Corp. v. United States, 12 Cl.Ct. 197.

The appellate court concluded that section 1500 “was enacted for the benefit of the government and was intended to force an election where both forums could grant the same relief, arising from the same operative facts.” 855 F.2d at 1564. Since a plaintiff has no right to pursue a claim in multiple courts simultaneously, Congress’ action in forcing an election was aimed at preventing precisely that which would result if appellants’ position was adopted— the necessity for the Government to defend the same claim both in the Claims Court and in district courts.

The dismissed cases were but three of eleven cases filed in the Claims Court by asbestos product manufacturers seeking indemnification and/or contribution from the United States for damages incurred in litigating or settling claims from injured shipyard workers. Following affirmance of the trial court’s order, defendant, on November 16, 1988, moved for summary judgment in the remaining eight cases.2 This motion asserted that, following the rationale of the Federal Circuit, at the time of filing in the Claims Court (or its predecessor), plaintiffs in all eight cases had “pending in ... [another] court” a suit(s) against the United States. Proceedings on defendant’s motion were stayed while appellants in Johns-Manville Corp. asked the Supreme Court to consider the order, and briefing resumed and argument on defendant’s motion was held after the Supreme Court declined further review.

In order to rule on defendant’s motion, this court must first examine the suits identified by defendant to determine (1) if they make the same claims as those made by plaintiffs in the Claims Court, i.e., are predicated on the same operative facts, irrespective of the legal theory pleaded; and (2) as to each plaintiff in the Claims Court, [149]*149whether its prior-filed suit was pending at the time its Claims Court suit was filed.

FACTS

Plaintiffs are Keene Corporation (“Keene”); Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc. (“Eagle-Picher”); GAF Corporation (“GAFO; UNR Industries, Inc., and UNARCO Industries, Inc. (collectively referred to as “UNR”); Fibreboard Corporation (“Fibreboard”); H.K. Porter Company, Inc. (“H.K. Porter”); and Raymark Industries, Inc. (“Raymark”). Keene has pending two actions in the Claims Court; the remaining plaintiffs, one each. The factual section of this opinion examines the allegations of the actions filed in district court, some of which involve multiple Claims Court plaintiffs; discusses the present status of these actions; and examines the allegations of each plaintiff’s Claims Court action.

I. In re All Maine Asbestos Litigation, Master Asbestos Docket (D.Me., filed July 21, 1982)

In the omnibus In re All Maine Asbestos Litigation, a consolidation of 225 suits brought by present or former shipyard workers or their representatives claiming injury from exposure to asbestos at two Maine shipyards, defendant manufacturers and suppliers commenced third-party actions for contribution or indemnification against the United States. These third-party suits were initiated by Model Third-Party Complaint Against the United States of America “A” (“Model Third-Party Complaint A”), in which the underlying plaintiffs claimed exposure at Bath Iron Works, a private shipyard, and by Model Third-Party Complaint Against the United States of America “B” (“Model Third-Party Complaint B”), in which the underlying plaintiffs claimed exposure at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.3 In both of these complaints, filed on July 21, 1982, Eagle-Picher, UNR, Fibreboard, H.K. Porter, and Raymark were third-party plaintiffs.

1. Model Third-Party Complaint A

Five of the complaint’s nine claims are based on negligence and are differentiated by the source and substance of the duty owed and allegedly breached.

Claim 1: Duty to warn of risk of exposure based on the Government’s role as seller of asbestos.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Holloway v. United States
60 Fed. Cl. 254 (Federal Claims, 2004)
Marks v. United States
34 Fed. Cl. 387 (Federal Claims, 1995)
Keene Corp. v. United States
508 U.S. 200 (Supreme Court, 1993)
Keene Corp. v. United States
28 Fed. Cl. 2035 (Federal Circuit, 1993)
Donnelly v. United States
28 Fed. Cl. 62 (Federal Claims, 1993)
Scott Aviation v. United States
37 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,139 (Court of Claims, 1991)
GAF Corp. v. United States
36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,803 (Court of Claims, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
35 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,670, 17 Cl. Ct. 146, 14 OSHC (BNA) 1058, 1989 U.S. Claims LEXIS 103, 1989 WL 57243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keene-corp-v-united-states-cc-1989.