Case Summaries

Injury & Tort Law

[05/11] Al Shimari v. CACI International, Inc.
In suits by former prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, alleging that the defendant prison contractors and certain of their employees were liable in common law tort and under the Alien Tort Statute for torturing and abusing them during their incarceration, consolidated appeals by the defendants are dismissed, where: 1) there was no independent basis for appellate jurisdiction premised on the law-of-war defense, Saleh preemption, or Mangold immunity, so the Fourth Circuit was without pendent jurisdiction to further consider the appellants' contentions that the plaintiffs' claims presented nonjusticiable political questions; and 2) the exercise of jurisdiction was precluded regardless of whether the appellants' political question defense was inextricably intertwined with any of the three proffered bases for jurisdiction, or whether those bases were similarly interdependent with one another.

[05/07] Bettencourt v. Hennessey Industries, Inc.
In a suit claiming that the use of the defendant's machines to grind asbestos-containing brake linings resulted in exposure to airborne asbestos fibers that caused injury, the trial court's judgment in favor of the defendant on all causes of action is reversed in part, where it was error to grant judgment on the pleadings to the defendant and an abuse of discretion to deny the plaintiffs leave to amend their complaints with respect to their causes of action for strict products liability and negligence.

[05/03] Beckwith v. Dahl
In a suit alleging intentional interference with an expected inheritance (IIEI) and deceit by false promise, the trial court's order sustaining a demurrer and dismissing the case is reversed, where: 1) the tort of IIEI is recognized as a valid cause of action; and 2) the complaint alleged sufficient facts to support a claim for deceit, as all the elements of promissory fraud were adequately alleged, but there were insufficient facts stated to allege IIEI.

[05/03] Bready v. CSX Transportation, Inc.
By memorandum, it is held that the Appellate Division properly granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint in each of two consolidated cases, where the defendant made a prima facie showing that it did not breach the duty of care applicable under the Federal Employer's Liability Act.

[05/02] Bartlett v. Mutual Pharmaceutical Co., Inc.
In a design defect suit against a drug manufacturer, the jury's award in favor of the plaintiff is affirmed against arguments that: 1) the district court misunderstood New Hampshire law on design defect claims; 2) such claims as to generic drugs are preempted under federal law; that causation was not proved; 3) the plaintiff's expert evidence was inadmissible on multiple grounds; 4) instructions as to label warnings were inaccurate; 5) misconduct by the plaintiff's counsel required a new trial; and 6) damages were excessive and required a new trial.

[05/01] Casey v. Merck & Co.
In litigation involving product liability claims for injuries allegedly caused by a prescription drug manufactured by the defendant, the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant is affirmed, where the plaintiffs' actions were untimely under Virginia's two-year statute of limitations for personal injury actions, since the Supreme Court of Virginia determined that: 1) there is no authority in Virginia jurisprudence for the equitable tolling of a statute of limitations based upon the pendency of a putative class action in another jurisdiction; and 2) Va. Code Ann. section 8.01-229(E)(1) does not toll the statute of limitations for unnamed putative class members due to the pendency of a putative class action in another jurisdiction.

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