November 30, 2010 – The Honorable Roslyn O. Silver, United States District Court Judge for the District of Arizona, grants Levy Konigsberg LLP’s motion for remand on behalf of two Arizona families whose children were born with severe birth defects after their parents had been exposed to reproductively toxic chemicals and substances while employed at Intel Corporation. In so doing, the Court held that Plaintiffs had properly named all defendants in their birth defect lawsuit against Intel and ASM America, Inc., a manufacturer of thermal-chemical wafer processing tools and equipment who was a supplier to Intel.
PHOENIX, Arizona, November 30, 2010 – The Honorable Roslyn O. Silver, United States District Court Judge for the District of Arizona, grants Levy Konigsberg LLP’s (“LK”) motion for remand on behalf of two Arizona families whose children were born with severe birth defects after their parents had been exposed to reproductively toxic chemicals and substances while employed at Intel Corporation (“Intel”).
In so doing, the Court held that Plaintiffs had properly named all defendants in their birth defect lawsuit against Intel and ASM America, Inc. (“ASM”), a manufacturer of thermal-chemical wafer processing tools and equipment who was a supplier to Intel (collectively “Defendants”).
In the birth defect lawsuit, Plaintiffs allege that ReAnne Shaman and Noah Manspeaker were children born with severe birth defects, including neurological disorders and microcephaly as a result of their parents’ occupational exposures at Intel.
Defendants had removed Plaintiffs’ state court civil action to federal court, asserting that Plaintiffs had “fraudulently joined” defendant ASM, the only non-diverse party to the action, in an effort to thwart federal diversity jurisdiction and maintain the action in state court. Plaintiffs moved for remand to state court, disputing Defendants’ characterization of their complaint. In opposing Plaintiffs’ motion for remand, Defendants argued fraudulent joinder, moved for the deposition of LK’s client, plaintiff Mark Shaman, and argued in the alternative, that Plaintiffs’ claims should be severed because they had been “fraudulently misjoined” in contravention of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 20(a)’s permissive joinder requirements. The Court disagreed with Defendants, denied their motion for deposition of Mr. Shaman, and found that Plaintiffs had a factual basis for suing ASM in addition to Intel. The Court went on to hold that it would not adopt a doctrine of “fraudulent misjoinder,” as urged by Defendants, but even if it did, such a theory would not apply to the facts of the case because both Plaintiffs’ claims had substantial overlap regarding causation questions and since their claims arose from the same series of transactions or occurrences.
The Shaman and Manspeaker families are represented by a team of birth defect lawyers at LK in conjunction with co-counsel at Thornton & Naumes, LLP, Bifferato LLC, and Plattner Verderame P.C. LK birth defect attorneys principally drafted the briefs in the case which successfully persuaded the Hon. Roslyn O. Silver, without oral argument, rejected Defendants’ arguments and remand the case to state court.
As part of its continuing commitment to advocacy on behalf of semiconductor workers, LK has initiated birth defect litigation against Intel and its equipment suppliers. Employees of the semiconductor industry, particularly those who worked in or near clean rooms, can be heavily exposed to reproductively toxic chemicals and substances when owners, operators, or controllers of semiconductor manufacturing premises do not observe appropriate standards, principles, and guidelines respecting reproductive health and safety practices. Children born of exposed employees are at risk for devastating birth defects, such as those sustained by ReAnne Shaman and Noah Manspeaker.