Mitchell v. Eli Lilly & Co.

159 F. Supp. 3d 967, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10675, 2016 WL 362441
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedJanuary 29, 2016
DocketCase No. 4:15-CV-1846-CEJ
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 159 F. Supp. 3d 967 (Mitchell v. Eli Lilly & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mitchell v. Eli Lilly & Co., 159 F. Supp. 3d 967, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10675, 2016 WL 362441 (E.D. Mo. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

CAROL E. JACKSON, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter is before the Court on defendant GlaxoSmithKline LLC’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(2), or, alternatively, to transfer venue, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a). Plaintiffs responded, agreeing with the request to transfer venue and suggesting transfer to the Northern District of Florida. GlaxoS-mithKline did not reply. The other defendants, Abbott Laboratories, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co., did not respond to the motion.

Background

Plaintiffs initiated this products liability action in the Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis, Missouri on February 23, 2015. Defendant GlaxoSmithKline LLC1 effect[971]*971ed pre-service removal on December 11, 2015, invoking jurisdiction based on diversity, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a).

According to the complaint, GlaxoS-mithKline researched, developed, tested, and manufactured the drug bupropion, and then marketed and distributed it in Missouri, Florida, and throughout the United States. Similarly, defendant Abbott Laboratories, Inc. similarly created, marketed, and distributed valproic acid sodiuip; defendant Eli Lilly and Co. created, marketed, and distributed fluoxetine.

Plaintiff Sophia Mitchell was prescribed bupropion, fluoxetine, and valproic acid sodium which she took during the first trimester of pregnancy. Her child, plaintiff C.D., was born with congenital birth defects on February 23, 2011. Mitchell was prescribed the medications and ingested them in Tallahassee, Florida, where she and C.D. “currently reside.” C.D. was born in Gainesville, Florida.

Tallahassee and Gainesville are both located in the Northern District of Florida. It is undisputed that the claims asserted in the complaint have no connection to Missouri. GlaxoSmithKline raised two arguments in support of its motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction: First, GlaxoSmithKline’s sole member2 is incorporated in Delaware and also maintains its principal place of business there, such that there is no general jurisdiction over the company in Missouri. Second, GlaxoS-mithKline’s suit-related contacts are insufficient for Missouri to exercise specific jurisdiction over the company on the claims pled. Plaintiffs concede the facts supporting GlaxoSmithKline’s conclusions. However, plaintiffs argue, by registering to do business in Missouri and designating an instate agent for service of process, GlaxoS-mithKline has consented to personal jurisdiction in Missouri for any claim brought by any plaintiff, whether or not related to acts performed by the company in Missouri.

The plaintiffs and GlaxoSmithKline agree that in the interests of justice this ease should be transferred to the Northern District of Florida, where specific jurisdiction would exist over all the defendants and where a substantial part of the events giving rise to plaintiffs’ claims occurred.

Discussion

A. Basis for Transfer

Although the parties agree that transferring this case to the Northern District of Florida is appropriate, the Court must independently determine whether and on what basis to transfer the case. See Steen v. Murray, 770 F.3d 698, 701 (8th Cir.2014). The parties suggest transfer pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a), which provides: “For the convenience of parties and witnesses, in the interest of justice, a district court may transfer any civil action to any other district or division where it might have been brought....” “A case may be transferred under § 1404(a) only when venue is proper in the transferor and transferee forums.” Steen, 770 F.3d at 701. Among other considerations, venue is only proper where personal jurisdiction exists over all the defendants. Eggleton v. Plasser & Theurer Exp. Von Bahnbaumaschi-[972]*972nen Gesellschaft, MBH, 495 F.3d 582, 588 (8th Cir.2007). “[CJourts use § 1404(a) as a mere ‘housekeeping measure’ and transfer cases under that statute solely to promote litigation convenience and efficiency.” Id. at 589 n. 4.

In contrast, 28 U.S.C. § 1406(a) provides: “The district court of a district in which is filed a case laying venue in the wrong division or district shall dismiss, or if it be in the interest of justice, transfer such case to any district or division in which it could have been brought.” Section 1406(a) permits a court to transfer a case to another district if “venue is not proper” in the transferor court, Wisland v. Admiral Beverage Corp., 119 F.3d 733, 736 (8th Cir.1997), including “for lack of personal jurisdiction” over a defendant there: Eggleton, 495 F.3d at 584 (citing Goldlawr, Inc. v. Heiman, 369 U.S. 463, 466, 82 S.Ct. 913, 8 L.Ed.2d 39 (1962)). Though the decision to transfer rather than dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction is discretionary, § 1406(a) “should be construed wherever possible to remove procedural obstacles which would prevent the expeditious and orderly adjudication of a case on its merits.” Enter. Rent-A-Car Co. v. Stowell, 137 F.Supp.2d 1151, 1159 (E.D.Mo.2001) (citing Goldlawr, 369 U.S. at 467, 82 S.Ct. 913); see also Thompson v. Ecological Sci. Corp., 421 F.2d 467, 470 (8th Cir.1970) (“Even if personal jurisdiction had not been obtainable in Arkansas, a transfer under 28 U.S.C. § 1406 might have been a preferable alternative to dismissal.” (citation omitted)).

The framework to determine whether to permit transfer is the same under both statutes, but the type of transfer affects which law applies in the transferee court, and may be outcome determinative. See Steen, 770 F.3d at 702. “When a case is transferred under § 1404(a), the transferee district court applies the choice-of-law rules of the transferor court’s State. But when a diversity case is transferred under § 1406(a) ... [the transferee court] applies] ... the law of the transferee court, beginning with its choice-of-law rules.” Id. In Steen, for example, the Eighth Circuit affirmed where an Iowa court transferred a case to Nebraska, pursuant to § 1406(a), and the Nebraska court then correctly applied Nebraska’s choice-of-law rules to find plaintiffs claims were governed by Nebraska’s statute of limitations, and were thus time-barred. Id. at 704-06.

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159 F. Supp. 3d 967, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10675, 2016 WL 362441, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mitchell-v-eli-lilly-co-moed-2016.