Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-caed-2_09-cv-02445/USCOURTS-caed-2_09-cv-02445-24/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 890
Nature of Suit: Other Statutory Actions
Cause of Action: 28:1345 Property Damage

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SEDGWICK LLP

STEVEN DI SAIA (State Bar No.158119)

steven.disaia@sedgwicklaw.com

FREDERIC GRANNIS (State Bar No.185119)

frederic.grannis@sedgwicklaw.com

MATTHEW STEIN (State Bar No.236912)

matthew.stein@sedgwicklaw.com

801 South Figueroa Street, 19th Floor

Los Angeles, CA 90017-5556

Telephone: 213.426.6900

Facsimile: 213.426.6921

Attorneys for Third-Party Defendant

CATERPILLAR INC.

(Erroneously sued as Caterpillar, Inc.)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff,

v.

SIERRA PACIFIC INDUSTRIES, et al.,

Defendants.

Case No. 2:09-CV-02445-KJM (EFB)

STIPULATION AND ORDER FOR 

DISMISSAL OF THIRD-PARTY 

COMPLAINTS AGAINST 

CATERPILLAR INC.

AND RELATED CROSS-ACTIONS.

Plaintiff the United States of America, Third-Party Defendant Caterpillar Inc., and 

Defendants Eunice E. Howell, W.M. Beaty and Associates, Inc. and Ann McKeever Hatch, et al. 

(collectively “Defendants”), by and through their respective counsel of record, recite and 

stipulate as follows:

RECITALS

1. WHEREAS, on May 26, 2010, the United States of America filed its Second 

Amended Complaint against Defendants, asserting claims for negligence, liability under 

California Health and Safety Code §§ 13007-13009.1 and Civil Code §§ 3287 and 3288, 

negligence per se, trespass by fire, negligent supervision, and negligent hiring. The United States 

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did not sue third party defendant Caterpillar Inc. and did not include any product liability cause 

of action in its complaint. Instead, the United States of America’s claims are based on the 

theories asserted in the complaint including, without limitation, that the September 3, 2007 

Moonlight Fire was ignited by contact between the tracks of a Caterpillar Model 527 Track 

Skidder, serial number 4NS00150, and rocks in the origin that caused friction, heat, sparks

and/or metal fragments.

2. WHEREAS, Defendants Eunice E. Howell, W.M. Beaty and Associates, Inc. and 

Ann McKeever Hatch, et al., have filed third-party complaints against Caterpillar Inc., the 

manufacturer of the subject track skidder, alleging claims for implied equitable indemnity, 

contribution, and declaratory relief;

3. WHEREAS, the basis for these third-party complaints is the concern by the thirdparty complainants that the United States of America might allege as a basis for its claims that a 

defect in the track skidder contributed to the Moonlight Fire’s ignition; and

4. WHEREAS, in order to facilitate Caterpillar Inc.’s dismissal as a third-party 

defendant to this action, all parties wish to clarify that no allegation is being made that the 

Moonlight Fire was ignited by a defect in the design, manufacture, or warnings of the subject 

track skidder.

STIPULATION

WHEREFORE, it is hereby stipulated by and between the parties, by and through their 

respective counsel of record, that:

1. Plaintiff United States of America is not alleging wrongdoing by Caterpillar Inc. 

and nor is it asserting a claim that a defect in the design, manufacture, or warnings of Caterpillar 

Model 527 Track Skidder, serial number 4NS00150, contributed to the ignition of the Moonlight 

Fire; 

2. The third-party complaint attached hereto as Exhibit “A,” which was filed against 

Caterpillar Inc. on or about December 23, 2009, by Eunice E. Howell , individually and doing 

business as Howell’s Forest Harvesting, shall be dismissed in its entirety, with prejudice;

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3. The third-party complaint attached hereto as Exhibit “B”, which was filed against 

Caterpillar Inc. on or about January 15, 2010, by W.M. Beaty and Associates, Inc. shall be 

dismissed in its entirety, with prejudice;

4. The third-party complaint attached hereto as Exhibit “C”, which was filed against 

Caterpillar Inc. on January 15, 2010, by Ann McKeever Hatch, as Trustee of the Hatch 1987 

Revocable Trust, et al., shall be dismissed in its entirety, with prejudice; and

5. Caterpillar Inc. shall bear its own attorney’s fees and costs to the extent those fees 

and costs were incurred in defense of this action and are unrelated to its defense of the pending 

state court lawsuits based on the Moonlight Fire.

IT IS SO STIPULATED THROUGH COUNSEL OF RECORD

DATED: June 10, 2011 OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

By: /s/ Kelli L. Taylor

Kelli L. Taylor

Todd A. Pickles

Attorneys for Plaintiff

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DATED: June 10, 2011 MATHENY SEARS LINKERT & JAIME, LLP

By:/s/ Richard Stone Linkert

Richard Stone Linkert

Attorneys for Defendant

W.M. BEATY AND ASSOCIATES, INC., ANN 

MCKEEVER HATCH, AS TRUSTEE OF THE 

HATCH 1987 REVOCABLE TRUST, ET AL.

DATED: June 10, 2011 LAW OFFICES OF RUSHFORD & BONOTTO LLP

By: /s/ Phillip R. Bonotto

Phillip R. Bonotto

Attorneys for Defendant

EUNICE E. HOWELL, INDIVIDUALLY AND DBA 

HOWELL’S FOREST HARVESTING

DATED: June 10, 2011 SEDGWICK LLP

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By: /s/ Steven D. Di Saia

Steven D. Di Saia

Frederic F. Grannis

Matthew G. Stein

Attorneys for Third-Party Defendant

CATERPILLAR INC.

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ORDER

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: June 14, 2011. 

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