Peanut Butter Defendant Seeks Dismissal of Punitive Damage Claim and Transfer of Some Plaintiffs’ Claims
ConAgra Foods, Inc. has asked a multidistrict litigation (MDL) court to sever and transfer the claims of some of the plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit in October 2009 against the company arising out of the purported Salmonella contamination of its peanut butter. In re: ConAgra Peanut Butter Prods. Liab. Litig., MDL No. 1845 (N.D. Ga., motion filed November 10, 2009). The company has also asked the court to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claims for punitive damages, arguing that they have not been sufficiently plead under the new plausibility standard of Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 U.S. 1937 (2009).
According to ConAgra’s motion, this lawsuit involves five plaintiffs from four different states, raising serious questions of judicial economy and juror confusion, given that evidence is located in four different states and the legal standards of four different states would have to be applied to the claims. The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in the same federal district in which the MDL is pending, and the company contends that nothing links the plaintiffs to that district. ConAgra speculates that the attorneys representing the plaintiffs may have wanted to “save multiple filing fees” or avoid dealing “with the logistics of drafting and filing multiple complaints.” Perhaps, argues ConAgra, the attorneys “viewed the MDL forum as the most easily accessible alternative.”
Meanwhile, a Georgia lawmaker is reportedly preparing legislation that would make it a felony for food processors to knowingly release contaminated food that results in injury or death. The crime would apparently be punishable by imprisonment for one to 20 years. Representative Kevin Levitas (D-Atlanta) has pre-filed the measure for the 2010 session of the Georgia Assembly. It would also require food processors to maintain written food safety plans at their facilities. Levitas appears to have been motivated by the Salmonella outbreak involving the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), which, like ConAgra, had processing facilities in Georgia. See FoodSafetyNews.
com, November 12, 2009.
In a related development, those purportedly injured during the PCA outbreak are apparently wondering why no criminal prosecutions have followed investigations into the incident. Emails from PCA’s top executive allegedly suggested that the company was more concerned about profits than public safety. Some legal commentators have speculated that prosecutors may either be waiting to see how the civil cases against the company will be resolved or do not see any urgency to prosecution because the company’s plants have been closed. Still, a Vermont mother whose 7-year-old son was hospitalized after eating a product with PCA peanuts was quoted as saying, “The time is now. If the company’s executives are spared prosecution, what does that say to the American public?” See Associated Press, November 6, 2009.
