In Re Multidistrict Litigation Arising From the SILVER BRIDGE DISASTER

311 F.Supp. 1345 (1970)

In re Multidistrict Litigation Arising From the SILVER BRIDGE DISASTER.

No. 39.

Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

April 20, 1970.

Before ALFRED P. MURRAH, Chairman, and JOHN MINOR WISDOM, EDWARD WEINFELD, EDWIN A. ROBSON,^[*] WILLIAM H. BECKER, JOSEPH S. LORD, III, and STANLEY A. WEIGEL, Judges of the Panel.

OPINION AND ORDER

PER CURIAM.

On December 15, 1967, at the height of the evening rush hour, the Silver Bridge spanning the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, West Virginia collapsed. As a result, thirty-one cars fell into the river and forty-six persons were killed. The forty-eight actions listed on Schedule A result from this tragedy. The bridge was allegedly fabricated by the American Bridge Division of the United States Steel Corporation. The J. E. Greiner Company allegedly participated in the design of the bridge as consulting engineers. They are both defendants^[1] in nearly all of the actions. The United States and the State of Ohio^[2] are defendants in certain of the actions pending in the Southern District of Ohio.

It is manifest that this multidistrict litigation involves substantial common questions of fact relating to liability and in this regard it is not unlike the typical air disaster litigation which frequently comes before the Panel. See In re Mid-Air Collision Fairland, Indiana, 309 F. Supp. 621 (JPML February 10, 1970) and cases cited therein. The dispute is therefore not whether these actions should be transferred to a single district for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings pursuant to § 1407 but rather to which district they should be transferred.

The choice is not altogether an easy one for the parties and witnesses reside on both sides of the Ohio River. Since a clear majority of the actions are now pending in the Southern District of West Virginia and most parties prefer transfer of the related actions to that district we have concluded that the Southern District of West Virginia would be the most convenient district.

At the hearing on the order to show cause, several attorneys expressed concern about the heavy dockets in both districts and we would be most reluctant to add to the burden of either Judge Christie or Judge Kinneary by giving either the added responsibility for conducting coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings in this rather large multidistrict litigation. With the typically fine cooperation of all involved we have arranged for the assignment of Judge Frank A. Kaufman of the District of Maryland to the Southern District of West Virginia for the purpose of conducting coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings.

At the hearing there was also some mention of the possible transfer of some of these actions under 28 U.S.C. § 1404 (a). As in multidistrict air disaster litigation, transfer under § 1404(a) is often desirable but the transfer of these actions for pretrial proceedings under § 1407 does not preclude later consideration by the appropriate court of transfer under § 1404(a). In re Hendersonville, North Carolina Air Disaster Litigation, 297 F.Supp. 1039 (JPML 1969) and In re Falls City, Nebraska Air Disaster Litigation, 298 F.Supp. 1323 (JPML 1969). See also In re Grain Shipment Litigation, 300 F.Supp. 1402 (JPML 1969).

It is therefore ordered that the actions listed on Schedule A pending in the Southern District of Ohio and the District of Maryland be and the same are hereby transferred to the Southern District of West Virginia for coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings with the related actions already pending in that district and with the written consent of that court filed herein, all such actions are hereby assigned to the Honorable Frank A. Kaufman.

SCHEDULE
A
Southern District of Ohio
Margaret Mae Cantrell, etc. v. United States of          Civil Action
America, et al.                                          No. 68-337
John E. Halliday, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-328
Noralyn A. Head, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,      Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-329
Patricia K. Sims, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-330
B. K. Higley, etc. v. United States Steel Corp., et al.  Civil Action
No. 69-331
Hazel Cremeens, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,       Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-332
Robert E. Lee, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-333
Noel F. Moore, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-334
Margaret Mae Cantrell, etc. v. United States of          Civil Action
America                                                  No. 69-340
Dexter Marie Counts, etc. v. United States of America    Civil Action
No. 69-341
Robert E. Pullen, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-352

Dexter Marie Counts, etc. v. United States of America,   Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-2
Esther E. Reynolds, etc. v. United States of America,    Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-255
Harold L. Casey, etc. v. United States of America,       Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 69-350
Louis Leslie Sturgeon, etc. v. United States of          Civil Action
America, et al.                                          No. 69-384
District of Maryland
Transport Indemnity Co., et al. v. United States         Civil Action
Steel Corp., et al.                                      No. 21512
Charles R. Fielder v. United States Steel Corp.,         Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 21519
Herbert P. Smith, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 21520
Southern District of West Virginia
Mary Ethel Rouse, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2448
Nancy Bennett, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2449
Clara Towe, etc. v. United States Steel Corp., et al.    Civil Action
No. 2450
Judy Mabe, etc. v. United States Steel Corp., et al.     Civil Action
No. 2451
Marie L. Cundiff, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2452
Denny Armstrong, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,      Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2459
Paul A. Scott v. United States Steel Corp., et al.       Civil Action
No. 2490
George W. Byus, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,       Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2597
George Turner v. United States Steel Corp., et al.       Civil Action
No. 2598
Bonnie German, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2599
William Frederick White, etc. v. United States Steel     Civil Action
Corp., et al.                                            No. 2600
Paul M. Hayman v. United States Steel Corp., et al.      Civil Action
No. 2601
Francis Owen Nunn, Jr. v. United States Steel            Civil Action
Corp., et al.                                            No. 2602
Frank Wamsley v. United States Steel Corp., et al.       Civil Action
No. 2603
Samuel Franklin Ellis, Sr. v. United States Steel        Civil Action
Corp., et al.                                            No. 2604

William M. Edmondson v. United States Steel Corp.,       Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2605
Rosalie McDade, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,       Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2660
Lydia L. Sanders, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2661
William N. Needham v. United States Steel Corp.,         Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2671
McLean Trucking Co. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2672
Hennis Freight Lines, Inc. v. United States Steel        Civil Action
Corp., et al.                                            No. 2673
Lois Ann Harper, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,      Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2674
Lois Ann Harper, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,      Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2675
Lois Ann Harper, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,      Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2676
Lois Ann Harper, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,      Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2677
Herbert P. Smith, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2678
Herbert P. Smith, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,     Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2679
Nancy Bennett, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,        Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2680
Charles R. Fielder, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,   Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2681
E. M. Pete Johnson, etc. v. United States Steel Corp.,   Civil Action
et al.                                                   No. 2689

NOTES

[*] Although Judge Robson did not attend the hearing he has with the consent of all parties participated in this decision.

[1] The J. E. Greiner Company is apparently a dissolved Maryland corporation and its successors have also been named as defendants in many of these actions.

[2] The State of Ohio has been dismissed from all but one of the actions in which it was named as a defendant and it was never served in that action.