Price v. Stryker Corporation

270 F. Supp. 3d 226
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedSeptember 15, 2017
DocketCivil Action No. 2016-2382
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 270 F. Supp. 3d 226 (Price v. Stryker Corporation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Price v. Stryker Corporation, 270 F. Supp. 3d 226 (D.D.C. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

REGGIE WALTON, United States District Judge

The plaintiffs, Imelda Price and her husband, Kenneth Price, initiated this prod-uets liability action against the defendants, Stryker Corporation, Stryker Sales Corporation, and Stryker Sustainability Solutions, Inc. See generally Amended Complaint (“Am. Compl.”). Currently before the Court is the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint (“Defs.’ Mot.”), which seeks dismissal for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. See Defs.’ Mot. at 1. Upon careful consideration of the parties’ submissions, 1 the Court concludes that it must grant in part and deny in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss.

I. BACKGROUND

The following allegations are asserted in the Amended Complaint. On July 17, 2014, Imelda Price, “an operating room nurse at the Washington Hospital Center, was directed by the surgeon during the course of a.laparoscopic surgery to adjust the.monitor [that] is part of ... a ‘Stryker Standard Video Cart.’” Am. Compl. ¶ 5. The Stryker Standard Video Cart (“Stryker Cart”) is “manufactured and/or distributed by Stryker” 2 and “consists of the electronic equipment contained in a cabinet-type structure.” Id. The top of the Stryker Cart contains “an armature and monitor, the latter of which allow the surgeon to see inside the patient while performing a surgical procedure.” Id. The plaintiff “attempted to move the monitor pursuant to the instructions of the surgéon ... and while doing so[,] the monitor and possibly the armature became detached and fell and struck the [p]laintiff[,] causing injury to her.” Id. ¶ 6.

On November 18, 2016, the plaintiffs filed suit against the defendants in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, alleging negligence, strict liability, breach of implied warranty, and loss of consortium. See generally Complaint. On December 6, 2016, the defendants removed the case to this Court, see Notice of Removal From State Court Under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332, 1441, and 1446 at 1, and filed a motion to dismiss, see Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Complaint at 1. On December 20, 2016, the plaintiffs amended their complaint, alleging the same four tort claims. 3 See generally Am. Compl. Specifically, the plaintiffs allege that (1)'the Stryker Cart “was defective in that it lacked a locking mechanism that would prevent the monitor and armature from detaching,” id. ¶ 12; see also id. ¶ 23(C); (2) the defendants “failed to properly service and maintain the product” onsite, id. ¶ 18(A); and (3) the defendants “failed to warn the [p]laintiff of the defect in the product,” id. ¶¶ 18(B), 23(A). The defendants now move to dismiss all of the claims "asserted in the Amended Complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). See Defs.’ Mot. at 1.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) tests whether the ' complaint properly “state[s] a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). Rule 8(a) requires only that a complaint provide “a'short' and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a)(2). Although “detailed factual allegations” are not required, Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)), a plaintiff must provide “more than an unadorned,' the defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation,” id. Rather, the “complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face'.’” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955). A claim is facially plausible “when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw [a] reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. A complaint alleging “facts [which]- are ‘merely consistent with’ a defendant’s liability ... ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.’” Id. (quoting Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955).

“In evaluating a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the Court must construe the complaint ‘in favor, of the plaintiff, who must be granted the benefit of all inferences that can be derived from the facts alleged.’” Hettinga v. United States. 677 F.3d 471, 476 (D.C. Cir. 2012) (quoting Schuler v. United States, 617 F.2d 605, 608 (D.C. Cir. 1979)). However, conclusory allegations are not entitled to an assumption of truth, and even those allegations pleaded with factual support need only be accepted insofar as “they plausibly give rise to an entitlement to relief.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

III. ANALYSIS

A. The Loss of Consortium Claim

The parties disagree as to whether District of Columbia or Virginia law applies to the loss of consortium claim. 4 See Defs.’ Mem. at 4-5; Pls.’ Opp’n at 2-6. “A choice of law issue arises when the facts underlying a legal issue implicate multiple jurisdictions.” Barimany v. Urban Pace LLC, 73 A.3d 964, 967 (D.C. 2013). “As a general matter, [the Court] must apply the choice-of-law rules of the jurisdiction in which [it] sit[s] — namely, the District of Columbia.” Wu v. Stomber, 750 F.3d 944, 949 (D.C. Cir. 2014).

The District of Columbia choice-of-law analysis requires two steps. Parnigoni v. St. Columba’s Nursery Sch., 681 F.Supp.2d 1, 11-12 (D.D.C. 2010) (Walton, J.). First “the [C]ourt must .,. determine if there is a conflict between the laws of the relevant jurisdictions.” Id. at 12 (quoting Young Women’s Christian Ass’n of Nat’l Capital Area, Inc. v. Allstate Ins. Co. of Canada, 275 F.3d 1145, 1150 (D.C. Cir. 2002)). “If no conflict exists, District of Columbia law applies by default.” Magee v. Am. Inst. of Certified Pub. Accountants, 245 F.Supp.3d 106, 112, 2017 WL 1183950, at *2 (D.D.C. Mar. 29, 2017) (Walton, J.). A conflict.exists regarding the loss of consortium claim because the District of Columbia recognizes this claim, see Stutsman v. Kaiser Found. Health Plan of Mid-Atl. States, Inc., 546 A.2d 367

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

Related

The Truth Tellers, LLC v. Levine
N.D. West Virginia, 2023

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
270 F. Supp. 3d 226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/price-v-stryker-corporation-dcd-2017.