Levin v. Johnson & Johnson (D. Or., May 15, 2019)

Our plain-English summary of Levin v. Johnson & Johnson (U.S. District Court, District of Oregon, May 15, 2019).

Mary Sharon Levin sued in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Oregon. She named makers and distributors of talc and talcum powder products that she said contained asbestos. She alleged that her exposure to these products caused her mesothelioma and sought damages under state law. Johnson & Johnson and its consumer company removed the claims against them to federal court, citing the bankruptcy removal rule and statutes. Because of a clerk's office error, the claims against every defendant were removed, not just those against J&J. After talking with all the parties, the magistrate judge corrected the error without making any jurisdictional findings. The judge sent the claims against Avon, Brenntag North America, Brenntag Specialties, Colgate-Palmolive, Cyprus Amax, Whittaker, Clark & Daniels, Bi-Mart and Fred Meyer back to the state court. No party objected. The judge also denied as moot the motions to dismiss filed by Whittaker, Clark & Daniels and the two Brenntag companies. The opinion does not describe Levin's work or how she was exposed.

We wrote this summary from the court's opinion with the help of AI. It is not the court's wording, and it is not legal advice. The full opinion is below.

The decision

• Court: U.S. District Court, District of Oregon
• Decided: May 15, 2019
• Docket: Case No. 3:19-cv-00590-YY
• Stage: Jurisdiction, venue or removal
• State: Oregon

Outcome. The court corrected a clerk's error by remanding the claims against all non-J&J defendants to Multnomah County Circuit Court and denied those defendants' motions to dismiss as moot; the claims against J&J stayed in federal court.

Issues decided: Asbestos Bankruptcies, Venue, Removal and Transfer.

The people and their exposure

• Mary Sharon Levin: mesothelioma

The defendants

• Johnson & Johnson (manufacturer)
• Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies LLC (manufacturer)
• Avon Products, Inc. (manufacturer)
• Brenntag North America, Inc. (supplier)
• Brenntag Specialties, Inc. (supplier)
• Colgate-Palmolive Company (manufacturer)
• Cyprus Amax Minerals Company (supplier)
• Whittaker, Clark & Daniels, Inc. (supplier)
• Bi-Mart Corporation
• Fred Meyer Stores, Inc.

Other decisions in this case

Other rulings from the same court in the same case, in our library:

• Levin v. Johnson & Johnson (May 23, 2019). The magistrate judge recommended granting plaintiff Mary Sharon Levin's motion to remand her claims against Johnson & Johnson to Multnomah County Circuit Court on equitable grounds, rejecting J&J's bankruptcy-based removal.

The court's opinion

The text below is Google Scholar's copy of the court's opinion, a public record. Numbers in brackets, such as [*921], mark where each page of the printed reporter begins.

MARY SHARON LEVIN, Plaintiff,

v.

JOHNSON & JOHNSON; JOHNSON & JOHNSON CONSUMER COMPANIES LLC, a subsidiary of

JOHNSON & JOHNSON; AVON PRODUCTS, INC.; BRENNTAG NORTH AMERICA, INC., sued

individually and as successor-in-interest to MINERAL PIGMENT SOLUTIONS, INC. and as

successor-in-interest to WHITTAKER CLARK & DANIELS, INC.; BRENNTAG SPECIALTIES, INC.

f/k/a MINERAL PIGMENT SOLUTIONS, INC. sued individually and as successor-in-interest to

WHITTAKER CLARK & DANIELS, INC.; COLGATE-PALMOLIVE COMPANY; CYPRUS AMAX

MINERALS COMPANY, individually, and as successor-in-interest to SIERRA TALC COMPANY and

UNITED TALC COMPANY; WHITTAKER, CLARK & DANIELS, INC.; BI-MART CORPORATION and

FRED MEYER STORES, INC., Defendants.

Case No. 3:19-cv-00590-YY.

May 15, 2019.

United States District Court, D. Oregon, Portland Division.

Mary Sharon Levin, Plaintiff, represented by Benjamin H. Adams, Dean Oman Branham & Shirley, pro hac vice, Brad Smith, Dean Omar Branham Shirley LLP, Jessica M. Dean, Dean Oman Branham & Shirley, pro hac vice, Tyler Francis, Angeli Law Group LLC, Vanessa J. Firnhaber Oslund, Bergman Draper Oslund, PLLC & David H. Angeli, Angeli Law Group LLC. Johnson & Johnson & Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies LLC, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, Defendants, represented by Allison M. Brown, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, pro hac vice, Aukjen Tadema Ingraham, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, Diane P. Sullivan, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, pro hac vice, Jeffrey S. Eden, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt & Andrew J. Lee, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt.

ORDER

YOULEE YIM YOU, Magistrate Judge.

On January 14, 2019, plaintiff Mary Sharon Levin ("Levin") filed suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court against manufacturers and distributors of asbestos-containing talc and talcum powder products to which she was exposed. Compl. (ECF #1-1). Levin alleges that as a result of that exposure, she developed mesothelioma, and seeks damages pursuant to state law. Id. Defendants Johnson & Johnson and Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (collectively, "J&J") removed the claims against them to this court, citing Rule 9027 of the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and 28 U.S.C. §§ 1334 and 1452. Notice (ECF #1). Due to an error by the clerk's office for this district, the claims against all the parties, not just J&J, were removed.

After consultation with the parties, and without making any jurisdictional findings, this court acts to correct this clerical error and orders the claims against defendants Avon Products, Inc., Brenntag North America, Inc., Brenntag Specialties, Inc., Colgate-Palmolive Company, Cyprus Amax Minerals Company, Whittaker, Clark & Daniels, Inc., Bi-Mart Corporation, and Fred Meyer Stores, Inc., remanded to Multnomah County Circuit Court. All parties to this action were consulted by this court, and no party, including Levin or J&J, has an objection to remanding the non-J&J parties to state court. Motions to dismiss filed in this action by Whittaker, Clark & Daniels, Inc. (ECF #9), Brenntag Specialties, Inc. (ECF #12), and Brenntag North America, Inc. (ECF #15), are denied as moot.

It is SO ORDERED.

Sources

• The opinion on Google Scholar
• Oregon asbestos laws
• Oregon asbestos exposure sites