PROVIDENCE -- Lawyer Ronald J. Resmini is balking at attempts by
some parties being sued in connection with The Station nightclub fire to
have Superior Court, Providence, hear victims' cases that are now
pending in federal court.
Yesterday, Resmini filed motions in U.S. District Court asking that that
court retain jurisdiction over the cases that are currently pending
there and to deny motions by some defendants to move the lawsuits to
Superior Court.
Resmini said that Senior Judge Ronald R. Lagueux -- who has been
assigned to preside over the federal cases involving The Station victims
-- has scheduled a chambers conference with plaintiffs and defendants'
lawyers for tomorrow that may deal with the issue of jurisdiction.
However, it is not expected that any immediate decision will be rendered.
The matter of jurisdiction may have to be resolved by a multidistrict
panel of judges -- composed of five federal trial judges from around the
country plus two federal appeals court judges. Coincidentally, one of
the appellate judges on the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
is Bruce M. Selya, of Providence, a member of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in Boston.
A new federal law, which took effect just 18 days before The Station
fire, makes it easier for plaintiffs or defendants to have 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 case.
One hundred people died in The Station fire and more than 200 others
were injured when pyrotechnics set off by the rock band Great White
ignited highly flammable packing foam that the club's owners had
installed as soundproofing.
Earlier this month, lawyers for The Station's owners, Michael and
Jeffrey Derderian, the corporation they did business under, and American
Foam, of Johnston, which sold the foam to the Derderians, filed motions
in federal court here to try to persuade Judge Lagueux to move all of
the nightclub fire cases to Superior Court.
Two of the three lawsuits currently pending before Lagueux were
originally filed in Superior Court but were removed to U.S. District
Court by lawyers for Anheuser-Busch, a defendant in the suits.
Thus far, Resmini is the only lawyer for Rhode Island fire victims who
has chosen to bring suit in federal court. Lawyers for several fire
victims from Connecticut have filed suit in federal court in that state,
however.
The Derderians and American Foam contend that even though the nightclub
fire appears to meet the prerequisites for being tried in federal court,
the new law "was not intended by Congress to apply to an essentially
local disaster like The Station fire" but to different sorts of
catastrophic accidents such as airplane crashes. They say that all the
fire cases should be tried in Superior Court because most of the fire
victims and their families are from Rhode Island, "the primary
defendants" are from Rhode Island and the allegations contained in the
lawsuit will be decided according to Rhode Island tort law.
But Resmini argues in court papers that federal court has jurisdiction
"and must not abstain."
The Station fire, says Resmini, "was a major catastrophe involving
plaintiffs and defendants of several different states. . . . Although
Rhode Island residents were hit hardest by The Station fire," he says,
"this disaster and its consequences cannot be classified as 'an
essentially local disaster'. "
Resmini notes that 59 of the 100 who died were Rhode Islanders while 41
others were residents of other states and that until the three-year
statute of limitations runs out, no one can tell where the majority of
the plaintiffs reside.
If one looks just at the number of those killed, 59 percent does not
constitute "a substantial majority," Resmini argues. He also contends
that there has been no showing that the "primary defendants" reside in
Rhode Island. Those sued thus far in federal court are far-flung -- from
Rhode Island, California, Alabama, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, Massachusetts, Texas, Nevada and Germany, he points out.
He also says that "the negligent acts or omissions of each 'class' of
defendants [sued thus far] -- the owners and operators of the premises,
the promoters of the event, the manufacturers and distributors of the
defective foam, the igniters of the fire, etc. -- cannot be apportioned
between the wrongdoers" and that one defendant can't be held more
responsible than another.
Resmini also notes that the new federal law under which he filed suit
makes no reference to airplane disasters and was not intended to apply
just to one type of case "but rather to any mass tort litigation
involving multiparties and multidistricts."
Resmini says the law was enacted by Congress "to secure just, speedy and
inexpensive determination" of liability in multidistrict, multiparty
civil cases arising out of a single disaster" and "to eliminate the
potential for conflicting contemporaneous rulings by coordinate district
and appellate courts."
