New England Legal Foundation
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission & History
    • Annual Reports
    • Board of Directors
    • State Advisory Councils >
      • Connecticut
      • Maine
      • Massachusetts
      • New Hampshire
      • Rhode Island
      • Vermont
    • Trustees
    • Members
    • Staff
    • Job & Internship Opportunities
  • News & Events
  • Docket
  • Briefs
  • Donate
  • Contact

Genereux v. Raytheon Company

10/30/2014

 
Fighting to Maintain the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s Requirements for Medical Monitoring

In this case some former employees of Raytheon and their family members sought to impose on the company the costs of their being monitored for possible future chronic beryllium disease. The plaintiffs claim that the employee plaintiffs were exposed to beryllium at a Raytheon plant and that their family members were exposed to it secondhand, on the persons of the employees.

In Donovan v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 455 Mass. 215 (2009) (“Donovan I”), the Supreme Judicial Court held that when a defendant negligently exposes a plaintiff to a substance capable of causing a disease, the plaintiff may have a cause of action in tort even though he does not suffer from the disease. Under Donovan I, the plaintiff’s relief would be that the defendant must bear the medical costs of monitoring the plaintiff for signs of the disease’s possible future advent. But before a defendant can be held liable for these costs, the plaintiff must prove that he presently exhibits at least subclinical, or subcellular changes that serve as medical “warning signs” of a substantially increased risk of developing disease in the future. A plaintiff must be able to prove the existence of these changes, in order to satisfy the tort element of actual injury.

On June 23, 2013, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf granted Raytheon summary judgment, ruling that the plaintiffs could not come forth with admissible evidence of the required subcellular changes (i.e., for each of them, two positive tests for beryllium sensitivity, a “warning sign” of possible future beryllium disease). The plaintiffs appealed to the First Circuit, arguing that the trial court misunderstood Donovan and the relevant medical science.

NELF, together with Associated Industries of Massachusetts, filed an amicus brief in support of Raytheon. In it NELF explained that the plaintiffs’ case depends on weakening and obfuscating, in a variety of ways, the standard set out in Donovan I. Their claim requires proof of a present, actual physical “impact,” which in this case would mean that they each have suffered subcellular changes connected to beryllium sensitivity, the very thing the plaintiffs cannot show. NELF then explained how, under the erroneous standard advanced by the plaintiffs, a mere risk of a risk of future disease would give rise to a Donovan claim. NELF rebutted in detail the use the plaintiffs make of Donovan I’s successor case, Donovan v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 268 F.R.D. 1, 16 (D. Mass. 2010) (“Donovan II”), showing, for example, that the Donovan requirements are not limited to tobacco class actions and that the plaintiffs hold numerous erroneous views of the facts of Donovan II. Finally, NELF explained that amendment of their complaint, in order to seek refuge for their claims under an issue of law left undecided in Donovan I, should not be allowed because it would be futile.

In its June 10, 2014 decision, the Court upheld summary judgment, chastising the plaintiffs for trying to alter their appeal to encompass the issue left undecided in Donovan I.

Comments are closed.

    The Docket

    To obtain a copy of any of NELF's briefs, contact us at info@nelfonline.org.

    Categories

    All
    1st Circuit Court Of Appeals
    2nd Circuit Court Of Appeals
    3rd Circuit Court Of Appeals
    Business Litigation Session
    CT
    CT Superior Court
    CT Supreme Court
    Employer Employee Relationships
    February 2018
    February 2019
    Government Regulation/Administration Of Justice
    MA
    MA Appeals Court
    MA Division Of Administrative Law Appeals
    March 2015
    MA Superior Court
    MA Supreme Judicial Court
    MA US District Court
    ME
    ME Supreme Judicial Court
    NH
    NH Supreme Court
    Property Rights
    RI
    RI Supreme Court
    SCOTUS
    United States Supreme Court
    US Court Of Appeals Federal Circuit
    US District Court ME
    VT
    VT Supreme Court

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    August 2020
    June 2020
    January 2020
    June 2019
    April 2019
    October 2018
    June 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    October 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    October 2015
    June 2015
    March 2015
    October 2014
    June 2014
    February 2014
    October 2013
    June 2013
    February 2013
    October 2012
    June 2012
    February 2012
    October 2011
    June 2011
    February 2011
    October 2010
    June 2010
    February 2010
    October 2009
    February 2009
    October 2008
    June 2008
    February 2008
    October 2007
    June 2007
    October 2006
    June 2006
    February 2006
    October 2005
    June 2005
    February 2005
    October 2004
    June 2004
    February 2004
    October 2003
    May 2003
    February 2003
    September 2002
    May 2002
    February 2002
    May 2001