Passa v. Derderian

Page 43

308 F.Supp.2d 43

Tammy PASSA; Walter Castle, Jr.; Cheryl Rossi, as next of kin of decedent, Joseph E. Rossi, Plaintiffs, v. Jeffrey DERDERIAN; Michael Derderian; Derco, d/b/a "The Station"; Manic Music Management, Inc.; Jack Russell; Mark Kendall; David Filice; Eric Powers; Daniel Bichele; Paul Woolnough; Knight Records, Inc.; Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc.; McLaughin & Moran, Inc.; American Foam Corporation; WHJY-FM; Clear Channel Communications, Inc.; Town of West Warwick; Dennis Larocque, individually, and as Fire Inspector for the Town of West Warwick; State of Rhode Island; Irving Owens, individually, and in his capacity as Fire Marshal for the State of Rhode Island; Triton Realty Limited Partnership; Triton Realty, Inc.; Foamex International, Inc.; General Foam Corporation; Anheuser-Busch, Inc.; Shell Oil Company; Motiva Enterprizes LLC; Luna Tech; Luna Tech, Inc., Defendants.

Ronald Kingsley, as Parent and Next Friend of Zoe Jean Kingsley, a minor, and on behalf of all beneficiaries of Lisa Kelly, Plaintiffs, v. Jeffrey Derderian; Michael Derderian; Derco, d/b/a "The Station"; Manic Music Management, Inc.; Jack Russell; Mark Kendall; David Filice; Eric Powers; Daniel Biechele; Paul Woolnough; Knight Records, Inc.; Anheuser-Busch, Inc.; McLaughlin & Moran, Inc.; Luna Tech, Inc.; Luna Tech Pyrotechnik GmbH; American Foam Corporation; WHJY-FM; Clear Channel Communications, Inc., Defendants.

Barbara Guindon, individually and as Mother and Next Friend to Erica Guindon, a minor; Christopher Scot; Julianna Giaven; Eric Malardo; Michelle Malardo; Richard Sanetti; Patricia Sanetti; Catherine Carignan; Daniel Davidson; Stephen Bruno; Tammy Ayer, as Guardian and Next Friend to Kayla Marie Dorothy Abbenante Ayer, a minor; Louis Rossi, as Administrator of the Estate of Joseph Rossi; Edward Corbett, Jr., as Administrator of the Estate of Edward Corbett, III; Paul Roe, individually, and as Co-Administrator of the Estate of Lori K. Durante; George Guindon; Michelle Spence, individually, and as Mother and Next Friend of Hailey Spence, a minor, Plaintiffs, v. American Foam Corporation; Foamex International, Inc.; Barry H. Warner; Triton Realty Limited Partnership; Jeffrey Derderian; Michael Derderian; Derco; Manic Music Management, Inc.; Jack Russell; Mark Kendall; David Filice; Eric Powers; Daniel Bichele; Paul Woolnough; Knight Records, Inc.; Anheuser-Busch, Inc.; Mclaughin & Moran, Inc.; Luna Tech, Inc.; Luna Tech Pyrotechnik GmbH; Clear Channel Communications, Inc., d/b/a WHJY-FM; Motiva Enterprises, LLC; Shell Oil Company; Town of West Warwick; Dennis Larocque; State of Rhode Island; Irving J. Owens, Defendants.

Louis F. Alves and Mary A. Alves, as parents of Louis S. Alves, deceased; Robert W. Rager, Petitioners, v. McLaughin & Moran, Inc.; Anheuser-Busch, Inc.; Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc.; Respondents, v. Jeffrey Derderian; Michael Derderian; and Derco, Interested Parties.

Judith O'Brien, Mother of Robert Resiner, decedent; Lawrence Fick, Father and Guardian of Samantha and William Fick, minor children of Charlene Fick, decedent; Deborah Lemay; Claire Bruyere, Mother of Bonnie Hamlin, decedent; Michael Perreault, Petitioners, v. McLaughin & Moran, Inc.; Anheuser-Busch, Inc.; Clear Channel Broadcasting, Inc., Respondents, v. Jeffrey Derderian; Michael Derderian; and Derco, d/b/a "The Station," Interested Parties.

No. C.A. No. 03-148L.

No. C.A. No. 03-208L.

No. C.A. No. 03-335L.

No. M.P. No. 03-70L.

No. M.P. No. 03-71L.

United States District Court, D. Rhode Island.

March 29, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Ronald J. Resmini, Ronald J. Creamer, Providence, RI, Robert I. Reardon, Jr., Esq., Robert I. Rimmer, Esq., The Reardon Law Firm, P.C., New London, CT, for plaintiffs.

Anthony F. DeMarco, Boyer, Reynolds & DeMarco, Ltd., James H. Reilly, III, Kelly, Kelleher, Reilly & Simpson, Randall L. Souza, Fred A. Kelly, Jr., Nixon Peabody LLP, Howard A. Merten, Benjamin V. White, Ill., Vetter & White, Incorporated, Thomas C. Angelone, Hodosh, Spinella & Angelone, William P. Robinson, III, Edwards & Angell, Marc DeSisto, DeSisto Law, James R. Lee, Attorney General's Office, James T. Murphy, Esq., Kelly N. Michels, Esq., Hanson Curran LLP, Gerald C. DeMaria, Higgins, Cavanagh & Cooney, Joseph V. Cavanagh, Jr., Kristin E. Rodgers, Blish & Cavanagh, Faith A. LaSalle, Zizik, LaSalle & Powers, P.C. Donald J. Maroney, Providence, RI, Christopher C. Fallon, Jr., Esq., Cozen O'Connor, Philadelphia, PA, Edwin F. McPherson, Esq., McPherson & Kalmansohn, Los Angeles, CA, Edward M. Crane, Esq., Deborah G. Solmor, Esq., Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (Illinois), Chicago, IL, Edward T. Hinchey, Esq., Curtis R. Diedrich, Esq., Sloane & Walsh, LLP, Scott J. Tucker, Esq., Tucker, Heifetz & Saltzman, Boston, MA, W. Thomas McGough, Jr., Esq., ReedSmith LLP, Pittsburg, PA, Andrew J. Trevelise, Esq., James J. Restivo, Esq., Reed Smith LLP, Pittsburg, PA, John R. Crockett, Esq., Susan S. Wettle, Esq., Carl A. Henlein, Esq., Frost Brown Todd LLC, Louisville, KY, for defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

LAGUEUX, Senior District Judge.

On February 20, 2003, a deadly fire destroyed a nightclub located in West Warwick, Rhode Island, known to its patrons as "The Station." The fire started during the first minutes of a performance by the rock band Great White, while the club itself was crowded with spectators, staff, and performers. When defendants, Jack Russell, Mark Kendall, David Filice, and Eric Powers, members of the band "Great White" (hereafter referred to as "Band Members") took the stage that night, they and their tour manager, Daniel Bichele, ignited pyrotechnic devices as a part of their performance.¹ These "pyrotechnics," also described as stage fireworks, or sparklers, caused flaming sparks to explode behind the stage area. According to witnesses, the sparks from these fireworks ignited foam insulation material previously installed in the club's ceiling and walls for soundproofing purposes.² Once started, the fire quickly spread throughout The Station, creating a fiery inferno in its wake. In less than three minutes, the entire establishment was ablaze, and a reported 412 people inside the building that night were scrambling to escape the conflagration.³ According to this Court's best estimates, this tragic fire left 100 individuals dead and more than 200 injured. Only seventy-seven people are reported to have escaped the building without physical harm, yet, even for these lucky few who escaped bodily injury, the disaster continues to haunt their memories and affect their lives. The impact of this tragedy on the victims, the survivors, their families and friends, and the entire community cannot be overstated. The Station nightclub fire, dubbed the fourth worst nightclub fire in American history, see Peter Adomeit, The Station Nightclub Fire and Federal Jurisdictional Reach: The Multidistrict, Multiparty, Multiforum Jurisdiction Act of 2002, 25 W. New Eng. L.Rev. 243, 243 (2003), continues to pervade the consciousness of those affected by the tragedy, even as we sort through the ashes in search of understanding.

In the wake of this tragedy, numerous lawsuits have been filed throughout southern New England in both state and federal courts. At present, this Court is concerned with five of these cases, two originally filed here in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Passa v. Derderian, C.A. No. 03-148L, and Guindon v. American Foam Corp., C.A. No. 03-335L, and three cases removed here from the Rhode Island Superior Court, Kingsley v. Derderian, C.A. No. 03-208L, Alves v. McLaughlin & Moran, Inc., M.P. No. 03-70L, and O'Brien v. McLaughlin & Moran, Inc., M.P. No. 03-71L.⁴

Three of these cases, Passa, Guindon, and Kingsley, are civil actions filed by fire victims, their estates, and surviving family members alleging a variety of different state law tort claims against a host of different named Defendants. These named Defendants include the surviving Band Members (including their tour manager), their management company, and their record label; nightclub owners Jeffrey and Michael Derderian (the "Derderians"), a corporation owned by the Derderians, DERCO, Inc.; a real estate company, Triton Realty, Inc. ("Triton Realty"); insulation manufacturers American Foam Corporation ("American Foam") and Foamex International, Inc. (Foamex); pyrotechnic manufacturer Luna Tech, Inc. ("Luna Tech"); event sponsors such as Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. ("Anheuser-Busch"), McLaughlin & Moran, Inc. ("McLaughlin & Moran"), Shell Oil Company ("Shell"), Motiva Enterprises, LLC ("Motiva"), WHJY-FM radio, Clear Channel Communications, Inc. ("Clear Channel"); and representatives of government agencies establishing fire code regulations and enforcing compliance, including the West Warwick Town Fire Inspector, the Town of West Warwick, the Rhode Island State Fire Marshall, and the State itself. Passa and Guindon were originally filed in this Court, while Kingsley was initially filed in Rhode Island Superior Court and then removed to this Court by Defendant Anheuser-Busch.

The other two cases, Alves and O'Brien, are miscellaneous petitions, also originally filed in Rhode Island Superior Court and removed to this Court by Anheuser-Busch.⁵ These two petitions were filed soon after the tragedy by victims and other supporting entities and potential defendants in an effort to preserve physical evidence by placing it within the supervisory custody and control of the Superior Court. Unlike the civil actions at issue, these miscellaneous petitions name only a handful of Defendants, termed therein as "Respondents" or "Interested Parties."⁶

At issue before the Court is the question of jurisdiction. In each of the five cases described above, jurisdiction in federal court is alleged under a new statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1369, popularly known as the Multiparty, Multiforum, Trial Jurisdiction Act of 2002 ("MMTJA"). This is a new...