Ex parte International Refining & Manufacturing Co. d/b/a IRMCO et al. PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS: CIVIL (In re: Bell Carr, Jr., et al v. International Refining & Manufacturing Co. d/b/a IRMCO et a
State: Alabama
Docket No: 1051084
Case Date: 05/11/2007
Plaintiff: Ex parte International Refining & Manufacturing Co. d/b/a IRMCO et al. PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS
Defendant: International Refining & Manufacturing Co. d/b/a IRMCO et al.)
Preview: REL: 03/23/2007 Ex parte IRMCO REL: 05/11/2007 as modified on denial of rehearing
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 242-4621), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA
OCTOBER TERM, 2006-2007 _________________________ 1051084 _________________________ Ex parte International Refining & Manufacturing Co. d/b/a IRMCO et al. PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDAMUS (In re: Bell Carr, Jr., et al. v. International Refining & Manufacturing Co. d/b/a IRMCO et al.) (Fayette Circuit Court, CV-03-152) LYONS, Justice.
1051084 International Refining & Manufacturing Co. d/b/a IRMCO and 47 other corporate defendants in the proceeding below ("the petitioners") petition this Court for a writ of mandamus directing the Fayette Circuit Court to vacate its order
denying the petitioners' motions to dismiss the claims against them, or, in the alternative, for a summary judgment. We grant the petition and issue the writ. Facts and Procedural Background On November 13, 2003, Bell Carr, Jr., and approximately 320 other former employees at a manufacturing plant operated by Arvin Industries d/b/a Arvin-Meritor, Inc. "the plaintiffs"), also sued former Arvin-Meritor employees at and the (hereinafter individual where
six
defendants,
plant,
automotive mufflers were manufactured. The complaint alleged that up until the closing of the plant in May 2002, the
plaintiffs suffered harm from "exposure to toxic and dangerous chemicals" that were flushed from the manufacturing machines and eventually circulated into a large pit, which the
plaintiffs were responsible for draining and cleaning. In addition to these seven defendants, the original complaint
2
1051084 fictitiously named 40 other defendants in the caption and in the body of the complaint. On May 6, 2005, approximately three years after their last exposure to the chemicals, the plaintiffs filed their first amended complaint, the seeking to add in 64 new named of the new
defendants, fictitiously
including named 113 new
petitioners,
place
defendants plaintiffs,
(hereinafter as The well as
"the
defendants"), fictitiously
additional complaint
named
defendants.
amended
reasserted the five claims asserted in the original complaint, but only against the seven original defendants. The first amended complaint also alleged under claims the of negligence, Extended
wantonness,
liability
Alabama
Manufacturer's Liability Doctrine, civil conspiracy, and the tort of outrage, but only against the new defendants. On June 14, 2005, the new defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act ("CAFA"), 28 U.S.C.
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