A panel of seven federal judges is set to decide whether to consolidate a dozen paraquat herbicide lawsuits.
During a May 27 hearing, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) entertained arguments about centralizing the pesticide lawsuits.
“Given the number of cases filed and the number of cases expected to be filed involving Paraquat, I don't really have a lot of doubt that they're going to consolidate these,” said Richard Paul, an attorney who represents Missouri paraquat plaintiff J. Patrick Hays.
U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri Matthew T. Schelp issued an order staying proceedings in J. Patrick Hays v. Syngenta Crop Protection et al on May 10 until a panel order is issued on whether to consolidate or not. The Eastern District of Missouri is located in St. Louis.
“There are some efficiencies for both the courts and the parties involved to litigating in a single forum,” Paul told the St. Louis Record. “All the cases would be put together and then we'll be able to conduct discovery and depositions for all cases rather than just a single case. From that perspective, there's just a lot of efficiencies to be gained from consolidation.”
Class action litigation differs from Multi-district Litigation (MDL) in that it involves one or a small handful of litigants on behalf of themselves and others who are similarly situated wherein a mass action, each plaintiff files their own case.
“Multi-district litigation can be either one,” Paul said in an interview. “It can be a consolidation of class actions or a consolidation of mass actions. The paraquat litigation, if it’s consolidated, will be a consolidation of mass actions.”
Paul sued defendants Syngenta Crop Protection, Syngenta AG, and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company on behalf of his client, J. Patrick Hays, alleging that prolonged exposure to paraquat lead him to develop Parkinson’s disease.
“Instead of disclosing critical safety information about paraquat, Defendants consistently and falsely represented the safety of Paraquat,” wrote Paul in the complaint on behalf of Hays. “Plaintiff has endured and continues to suffer, emotional and mental anguish, medical expenses, and other economic and non-economic damages, as a result of Defendants’ actions and inactions.”
While St. Louis is known to be a plaintiff-friendly court, if the panel of MDL judges decides to consolidate the lawsuits, Hays’ complaint could be transferred to another state.
The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) identified St. Louis in its annual report as among the nine U.S. jurisdictions that are 'judicial hellholes' due to its typically large punitive damages awards.
“Being from Missouri, I like litigating in Missouri,” Paul said. “I like Missouri jurors but I think this is a case that's going to resonate with jurors wherever it ends up.”
In July 2018, a jury verdict in St. Louis City Circuit Court awarded 22 women $4.69 billion on allegations that Johnson & Johnson’s talc powder caused ovarian cancer. The Missouri Court of Appeals subsequently cut punitive damages down to an award of $2.1 billion. The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review.
“There are seven federal district court judges from around the country and one of them is from the Eastern District of Missouri, Judge Perry,” Paul said. “There is also a judge from Massachusett, Kentucky, South Carolina, Illinois, Utah, and California. That makeup changes over time but those were the judges that normally sit in their own states and once a month or once every other month they will sit on the Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation.”