Washington v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc. et al
Filing
82
ORDER denying 80 Motion for Reconsideration. Signed by Judge Greg Gerard Guidry on 06/30/2023. (js)
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA
VERNON DAVIS BAGGETT
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3030
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (5)
VICTOR MAURICE BLACKSTON
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3048
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (5)
DEBRA GOREE BUTLER
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3077
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
BENNY DARDAR, SR.
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3138
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (5)
VANTAVIOUS LATRELL
DUCKSWORTH
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3157
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (1)
1
CHARLES M. FRANKLIN, JR.
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3215
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
PATRICK LAMAR LASTER, JR.
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3319
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
FLINT JAMES MARTIN
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3358
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
LARRY STEPHEN MCCAMMON
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3375
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
JEFFARI S. MCMILLAN
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3396
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
2
DENISE L. PETTAWAY
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3404
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
WILLIE LOUIS CASEY, JR.
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3525
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (2)
CHRISTOPHER CHARLES CLAY, SR.
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3526
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (5)
BRANDON ANTHONY NEWTON
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3588
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (5)
BRIAN LARS ROBINSON
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3606
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (1)
3
SUSAN GAIL BARNES
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3630
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (1)
LARRY ALLEN DAVENPORT
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-3726
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (5)
DANA PATTERSON
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4079
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
WAYDE P. BONVILLAIN
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4134
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (2)
SANDRA PETTWAY
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4146
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (2)
4
APRIL WENSEL
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4225
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
BRIAN THOMPSON
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4265
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (2)
TERRY WEATHERSBY
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4275
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
VICTORIA WASHINGTON
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4297
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (2)
JEROME HARRY
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4347
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (5)
5
MITCHELL HENDRIX
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4354
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (1)
CALVIN PRICE, SR.
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4571
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (4)
BOBBY J. SLAUGHTER
CIVIL ACTION
VERSUS
NO: 17-4584
BP EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION,
INC., et al.
SECTION: T (5)
ORDER
Each of the captioned cases is a B-3 medical case arising out of the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill. Before the Court now are identical motions for reconsideration filed
by each of the above-captioned plaintiffs. Defendants, BP Exploration & Production
Inc., BP America Production Company, and BP p.l.c. (collectively “BP”)1 have filed
identical oppositions in each of the above-captioned cases. For the following reasons,
the Court denies the plaintiffs’ motions to reconsider.
Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., Transocean Deepwater, Inc., Transocean Holdings, LLC, and
Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc., join in each of the referenced motions.
1
6
BACKGROUND
Each of the captioned plaintiffs filed lawsuits against defendants based on
alleged injuries due to exposure to toxic chemicals following the 2010 Deepwater
Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In each case, plaintiffs submitted an expert
report from Dr. Jerald Cook, a retired Navy physician with a master’s degree in
environmental toxicology and a fellow of the American College of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine, to demonstrate that exposure to crude oil, weathered oil,
and dispersants could cause symptoms they allege in their complaints. Dr. Cook
produced a general causation report used by many B3 plaintiffs including those
plaintiffs whose motions are addressed herein. In his report, Dr. Cook did not mention
any plaintiff by name, address any particular plaintiff’s work on the spill, nor did he
detail the nature of any plaintiff’s exposure to any particular toxins. Moreover, Dr.
Cook failed to present any opinion in his report of any link between particular
chemical compounds and any specific disease.
Defendants moved to exclude Dr. Cook’s testimony under Daubert. 2 This Court
granted those motions and simultaneously granted motions for summary judgment
as to causation reasoning that without Dr. Cook’s report, plaintiffs presented no
evidence of general causation as is necessary in toxic tort matters.
Plaintiffs now argue that the Court’s orders on the motions in limine and
motions for summary judgment should be reconsidered. Each of the plaintiffs’
2
Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993).
7
motions are substantively identical. In support of their positions, plaintiffs state they
were unable to present appropriate expert testimony due to BP’s “mismanagement of
biological monitoring” and point to sanctions against BP in another section of this
Court for failure to produce a proper 30(b)(6) corporate witness to testify as to such
monitoring. Defendants respond that reconsideration is not warranted as plaintiffs
present no new evidence or argument, and that the issue of discovery sanctions is
irrelevant to general causation.
LAW & ANALYSIS
Rule 59(e) motions to alter or amend judgments serve solely to allow parties to
correct “manifest errors of law or fact or to present newly discovered evidence.” 3
Reconsideration of judgments is “an extraordinary remedy that should be used
sparingly.” 4 A party seeking reconsideration must show that it is necessary based on
at least one of the following criteria: “(1) the movant demonstrates the motion is
necessary to correct manifest errors of law or fact upon which the judgment is based;
(2) the movant presents new evidence; (3) the motion is necessary in order to prevent
manifest injustice; [or] (4) the motion is justified by an intervening change in the
controlling law.” 5 District courts have “considerable discretion” under Rule 59(e). 6
Waltman v. Int’l Paper Co., 875 F.2d 468, 473 (5th Cir. 1989) (internal quotations omitted); See Matter
of Life Partner Holdings, Inc., 926 F.3d 103, 128 (5th Cir. 2019) (quoting Schiller v. Physicians Res.
Grp., Inc., 342 F.3d 563, 567 (5th Cir. 2003)).
4 Templet v. HydroChem Inc., 367 F.3d 473, 479 (5th Cir. 2004).
5 Theriot v. Brit Sys., Inc., No. 11-1995, 2013 WL 12238852, at *1 (E.D. La. Apr. 23, 2013); Fields v.
Pool Offshore, Inc., No. 97-3170, 1998 WL 43217, at *2 (E.D. La. Feb. 3, 1998).
6 Edward H. Bohlin Co. v. Banning Co., 6 F.3d 350, 355 (5th Cir. 1993).
3
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Plaintiffs seek reconsideration of this Court’s orders excluding Dr. Cook’s
testimony and granting summary judgment in favor of defendants based on a theory
that defendants improperly blocked discovery efforts on the issue of biomonitoring.
Plaintiffs largely rely on the same argument regarding sanctions in the Torres-Lugo
case they have previously relied on in response to the defendants’ motions in limine.
The fact that sanctions were issued in the interim does not change the Court’s
conclusions in its previous rulings. The arguments posed by plaintiffs are duplicative
of their previous arguments, which have been exhaustively considered. As such,
another recitation of those arguments “does not entitle [them] to a second bite at the
apple” through reconsideration. 7
This Court is not alone in its decision to deny plaintiffs’ motions to reconsider.
Indeed, other sections of this Court have consistently found that the issues of
sanctions motions are not outcome determinative to the admissibility of Dr. Cook’s
report, nor the merits of the summary judgment motions filed by defendants. 8 In
addition, the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed the reasoning adopted by this Court. 9 In
none of their identical motions do plaintiffs contend the discovery sought would
alleviate or cure the need for particularized causation evidence for each plaintiff. In
that regard, BP’s purported failure of biomonitoring is irrelevant as to either the
Vesoulis v. Reshape Lifesciences, Inc., No. 19-1795, 2021 WL 2267676, at *1 (E.D. La. June 3, 2021).
See, e.g., Dawkins v. BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., No. 17-3533, R. Doc. 81 (E.D. La. Sept. 20, 2022) (Vance,
J.); Keller v. BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., No. 13-1018, R. Doc. 64 (E.D. La. Aug. 25, 2022) (Africk, J.); Barkley
v. BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., No. 13-0995, R. Doc. 58 (E.D. La. Aug. 5, 2022) (Barbier, J.); Beverly v. BP
Expl. & Prod. Inc., No. 17-3045, R. Doc. 66 (E.D. La. Sept. 13, 2022 (Barbier, J.); Barksdale v. BP Expl.
& Prod. Inc., No. 17-3034, R. Doc. 60 (E.D. La. Oct. 21, 2022) (Zainey, J.).
9
See Byrd v. BP Exploration & Production, Incorporated, 2023 WL 4046280 (5th Cir. June 16, 2023).
7
8
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admissibility of Dr. Cook’s report nor the summary judgment motions. 10 Plaintiffs
likewise fail to claim to have discovered new evidence, or that there have been any
intervening changes in controlling law. Moreover, plaintiffs have not established that
this Court’s orders create a manifest injustice.
Absent sufficient support for their motion for reconsideration to justify such an
extraordinary remedy, plaintiffs’ motions for reconsideration are DENIED.
New Orleans, Louisiana this 30th day of June, 2023.
GREG GERARD GUIDRY
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
See Burns v. BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., No. 17-3117, R. Doc. 66, at 2 n. 5 (E.D. La. July 25, 2022) (Ashe,
J.); Ross v. BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., No. 17-4287, R. Doc. 60 at 12 (E.D. La. July 28, 2022) (Barbier, J.);
Reed v. BP Expl. & Prod. Inc., No. 17-3603, R. Doc. 66 at 2 (E.D. La. July 28, 2022) (Milazzo, J.).
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