Opinion ID: 1754456
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Amending the Complaint to Add Class Allegations

Text: Did the trial court abuse its discretion by allowing the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to add class allegations nearly three years after the initial complaint was filed? There is no merit to the defendants' argument that by filing the amended complaint adding class allegations the plaintiffs were attempting to blackmail the defendants into a favorable settlement or that they will be unduly prejudiced by litigating this case as a class action. Recent judicial decisions indicate that mass tort environmental claims are quite appropriate for resolution by the class action process (More and more trial and appellate courts are now recognizing that a central judicial tool for coordinating a multitude of related tort claims is the flexible use of the class action device. Asbestos personal injury and property damage suits evidence a growing trend of counsel and the courts to rely on the class action device to dispose of carefully selected common issues affecting the entire class. Herbert Newberg and Alba Conte, Newberg on Class Actions § 17.05 (3d ed.1992) (footnote omitted)). There was a significant delay by the plaintiffs in seeking to allege class claims; however, the defendants' vigorous defense of this case has accounted for much of the delay in this prolonged litigation. The defendants have filed three mandamus petitions with this Court and have attempted to have the case removed to a federal court. For example, the trial was originally set for August 1994; in July 1994, APCo petitioned this Court for a writ of mandamus and the trial had to be rescheduled. The trial was reset for April 1995; in March 1995, the defendants had the case removed to a federal court, and, although the case was ultimately remanded to the state court, the trial had to be rescheduled. Given that the plaintiffs are not entirely responsible for the delay in asserting class allegations, and that they have claimed newly discovered evidence relating to extensive chlorinization of the wastewater at issue and relating to the existence of alternative treatment technologies, which evidence they say makes class relief appropriate, the trial court was within its sound discretion in allowing the plaintiffs' class action amendment.