Posted 3:17 p.m.
PROVIDENCE -- Senior U.S. District Court Judge Ronald R. Lagueux told
lawyers in a chambers conference today that he will hold a hearing in
mid-October on the issue of which court has jurisdiction to hear The
Station fire victims' cases.
But according to lawyers who attended the private conference, Lagueux
indicated that whatever he decides, he plans to ask the First Circuit
appellate court in Boston to review his decision -- which could lead to
a year's delay in getting the issue resolved.
Until he issues his decision, Lagueux has also stayed all discovery in
the nightclub fire cases -- which means that destructive testing of
materials, such as the foam that covered the walls of the West Warwick
nightclub, will be delayed indefinitely.
The stay also means that for now, various parties that have been sued in
connection with the deadly fire, as well as potential defendants, do not
have to respond to recent subpoenas issued by an eight-member steering
committee of plaintiffs' lawyers who are gearing up to file suit on
behalf of dozens of people injured or killed in the fire and their
survivors.
The Feb. 20 fire caused the deaths of 100 people and injuries to more
than 200 others. The fire broke out after the rock band Great White set
off pyrotechnics, which ignited highly flammable packing foam that the
nightclub owners had installed as soundproofing.
The decision Lagueux is facing is whether the federal court in Rhode
Island or the state Superior Court has jurisdiction to hear the fire
victims' cases.
Historically, such cases would have been heard by the Superior Court in
Rhode Island.
But a new federal law, which took effect just 18 days before The Station
fire, makes it easier for plaintiffs or defendants to have the U.S.
District Court hear lawsuits that stem from "accidents'' that cause at
least 75 deaths. The Station fire may be the first test of the newly
enacted statute.
Under the new law, as long as one victim is from a state different from
where the accident occurred, ``any two defendants reside in different
states'' and any two adverse parties are from different states, the
federal court may hear the matter.
Currently, only seven lawsuits have been filed in connection with the
deadly nightclub fire. They are pending in three different federal
courts -- in Providence, Hartford, Conn., and Boston, Mass. Some of the
Rhode Island federal cases were originally filed in Superior Court,
Providence, but were removed to federal court by various defendants.
Lagueux has no power to order the Connecticut and Massachusetts cases
transferred to him. But some of the parties that have been sued in those
states have indicated that they are going to ask judges presiding over
the Boston and Hartford cases to transfer them to Lagueux. Luna Tech,
which plaintiffs' lawyers claim manufactured the pyrotechnics that
started the nightclub fire, has already filed a motion in Connecticut to
transfer that case to Rhode Island.
And lawyers for Anheuser-Busch, the beer manufacturer, plan to file
similar motions in Hartford and Boston, according to some of the lawyers
who attended the chambers conference with Lagueux. Anheuser-Busch has
been named as a defendant in several of the lawsuits for allegedly
acting as a "sponsor'' of the Great White show.
