Opinion ID: 542293
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: roots of the dispute

Text: 2 The seeds of this controversy were sown some time ago in Connecticut (where the Sandstrom family was living). Plaintiff's son and ward, Richard C. Sandstrom, a legal incompetent, allegedly sustained injuries there through exposure to pesticides used by the defendant. 1 The problem with ChemLawn pesticides was apparently widespread; in 1986, a class action (the Blake suit) was brought against ChemLawn in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Sandstrom would have been part of the Blake class. But the district court refused class certification. 3 Undaunted, Sandstrom continued to plough the same field. Along with 23 other plaintiffs, he filed a civil action (the Bugman suit) against the same defendant in the same court on February 10, 1988. Jurisdiction was premised on diversity of citizenship and the existence of the requisite amounts in controversy. See 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1332(a) (1982). ChemLawn moved to sever the 23 individual claims. With respect to those plaintiffs who did not reside in the district, ChemLawn also sought to change venue pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1404(a). 2 In haec verba, the motion specifically requested that such claims be transferred to the Federal Judicial District[s] in which the respective plaintiffs reside and/or their causes of action arose. In an accompanying memorandum, ChemLawn stated that jurisdiction over it was available in each of the judicial districts represented by the named plaintiffs. 4 By the time this motion was served, Sandstrom--unlike most of his fellow Bugman plaintiffs--no longer dwelt in the district where the exposure had occurred, having moved from Connecticut to Maine. Sandstrom did not oppose defendant's motion to transfer and, apparently preferring Maine to Connecticut or Pennsylvania as a locus for further prosecution of his claim, acquiesced in defendant's suggestion that the case be sent to Maine. On June 28, 1988, the district court granted the motion, severed Sandstrom's claim, and transferred the remnant to the United States District Court for the District of Maine. 5 A year went by. The parties cultivated and completed pretrial discovery. The court scheduled trial to begin on July 17, 1989. Plaintiff sought a continuance, but the judge would not oblige. Plaintiff then took a different tack: to rid himself of the unwanted trial assignment, he stipulated to a voluntary dismissal, without prejudice. 3 The case was dismissed on June 14, 1989. 6 Far from abandoning hope of harvesting the fruits of his litigation, Sandstrom planned merely to postpone the yield. Within a matter of weeks, he brought the instant diversity action in the Maine federal court. The new case (Sandstrom II ) was materially indistinguishable from the old case (Sandstrom I ) which had been carved out of Bugman. Following service of process, ChemLawn moved to dismiss Sandstrom II for want of in personam jurisdiction. The district court granted the motion. Sandstrom v. ChemLawn, 727 F.Supp. 676 (D.Me.1989).