Legeaux et al v. Borg-Warner Corporation et al

Filing 119

ORDER AND REASONS granting #92 MOTION for Partial Dismissal; all of plaintiffs' claims against BorgWarner for pre-death loss of consortium, market share liability, enterprise liability, concert of action, punitive damages, and attorneys' fees are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE. Signed by Judge Lance M Africk on 2/8/2017.(blg)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
NOLAN LEGEAUX ET AL.
VERSUS

CIVIL ACTION
No. 16-13773

BORG-WARNER CORPORATION ET AL.

SECTION I

ORDER AND REASONS
Defendant BorgWarner Morse TEC LLC has filed a motion 1 for partial
dismissal pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
BorgWarner asks the Court to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claims for pre-death loss of
consortium, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees, and to dismiss any claims
asserted under the theories of market share liability, enterprise liability, and/or
concert of actions.
The motion is substantively identical to a previous motion to dismiss filed by
defendant Huntington Ingalls, Inc. which was granted by the Court.

Although

BorgWarner’s motion was filed as an opposed motion, as with Huntington Ingalls’s
motion the plaintiffs have not filed an opposition. Further, plaintiffs failed to file
anything into the record with respect to this motion notwithstanding that the Court’s
law clerk left a voicemail on plaintiffs’ counsel’s machine directing him to either file
an opposition to the motion or a statement of no opposition.

1

R. Doc. No. 92.

Plaintiff’s counsel’s conduct has delayed the disposition of this matter and
increased costs for all parties.

It has also resulted in this case consuming a

disproportionate amount of the Court’s time. Accordingly, in order to deter further
non-compliance with deadlines, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and the local
rules, as well as to “secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination” of this
action, Fed. R. Civ. P. 1, plaintiffs’ counsel are CAUTIONED that a further disregard
for deadlines and Court directives may result in sanctions or other reprimands. See,
e.g., Fed. R. Civ. P. 16; Fed. R. Civ. P. 37.
For the reasons set forth in this Court’s previous order and reasons, 2
IT IS ORDERED that the motion for partial dismissal is GRANTED and that
all of plaintiffs’ claims against BorgWarner for pre-death loss of consortium, market
share liability, enterprise liability, concert of action, punitive damages, and attorneys’
fees are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE.

New Orleans, Louisiana, February 8, 2017.

_______________________________________
LANCE M. AFRICK
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

2

R. Doc. No. 79.
2