Products Liability Law Daily Wrap Up, JURISDICTION—CHEMICAL PRODUCTS—M.D.Fla.: Remand granted to farmer injured by exposure to Paraquat, (Nov 9, 2021)

By Kenneth H. Ryesky, M.B.A., J.D.

There was no basis for federal jurisdiction over the former agricultural worker's suit against the distributors of the herbicide.

A former agricultural worker claiming that he contracted Parkinson's disease due to his exposure to the Paraquat herbicide was granted a remand of his case against the Paraquat distributors. A federal district court in Florida found that it lacked jurisdiction over the case because there was no complete diversity of the parties and no federal law under which any of the worker's claims arose. The court also determined that staying consideration of the remand issue pending certain rulings in a multi-district litigation (MDL) in another federal district court was unwarranted (Williford v. Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, November 5, 2021, Honeywell, C.).

A Florida citizen sued the distributors of Paraquat, an herbicide, in a Florida state court, alleging that the Paraquat he had been exposed to while working in agriculture caused his Parkinson's disease. One of the distributors, North Carolina-based Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC, removed the case to federal court, and the former agricultural worker moved to remand for lack of complete diversity because one of the distributors, Council-Oxford, Inc., was a Florida citizen.

Fraudulent joinder. The court determined that it did not have federal diversity jurisdiction and that Syngenta failed to carry its burden to invoke the fraudulent joinder exception to diversity. Here, there was a possibility that the man could prove his claims against non-diverse defendant Council-Oxford, and there was no showing of outright fraud in the jurisdictional fact pleadings. Moreover, the man's claims against all the defendants were interconnected with one another.

Jurisdiction arising under federal law. The court ruled that the man's claims against the distributors did not arise under federal law. The allegations brought by the man in state court were all based upon state law, and although Paraquat is an herbicide regulated under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), FIFRA does not provide a federal cause of action to individuals injured by the chemicals subject to FIFRA regulation.

Stay of remand. The court denied Syngenta's request to stay consideration of the remand pending certain rulings in an MDL in another federal district court regarding at least 250 cases in which Paraquat is alleged to have caused Parkinson's disease. Here, there was no basis upon which the court could exercise federal jurisdiction and, thus, the man was entitled to a remand.

The case is No. 8:21-cv-2240-CEH-AEP.

Attorneys: Dennis Anthony Lopez (Law Office Dennis Lopez) for Allen Williford. Dennis Parker Waggoner (Hill Ward Henderson, PA) for Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC.

Companies: Syngenta Crop Protection, LLC; Chevron U.S.A. Inc.; Council-Oxford, Inc.

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