Duncan v. Exxon Mobil Corp.
Duncan v. Exxon Mobil Corp.
Opinion of the Court
ORDER
Pending is Plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand (Doc. No. 11). Defendants have responded.
I. BACKGROUND
The ExxonMobile Defendants
Due to the pipeline’s dilapidated state and Defendants’ inaction, the pipeline ruptured in March 2013 in Faulkner County, Arkansas spilling over 5,000 barrels of Wabasca Heavy Crude — a mixture composed of tar sands, solvents, and petroleum.
Plaintiffs sued the ExxonMobile Defendants and David Rulston — an ExxonMobil Pipeline Company employee who is the maintenance and operations technician for the pipeline in Faulkner County. Plaintiffs assert three causes of action: negligence, nuisance, and strict liability.
The action was filed in the Circuit Court of Faulkner County, Arkansas. Defendants removed the case to federal court, asserting that this Court has authority to hear the claims under the Court’s diversity-of-citizenship jurisdiction.
II. LEGAL STANDARD
An action filed in state court may be removed to federal court if it originally could have been brought in federal court.
One exception to the diversity “time-of-filing” requirement is the fraudulent-joinder exception.
Fraudulent joinder exists when a plaintiff files a “frivolous or otherwise illegitimate claim against a non-diverse defendant solely to prevent removal.”
The Eighth Circuit later noted that the Filia standard is more demanding than Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6)’s standard.
State law must be analyzed to determine whether there is a reasonable factual and legal basis for the claim against the non-diverse defendant; however, the “question is ultimately one of feder
The party invoking federal jurisdiction has the burden of proving jurisdiction is proper by a preponderance of the evidence.
III. DISCUSSION
Defendants argue that there is no basis in law or fact for Plaintiffs’ claim against Raulston. According to Defendants, Raulston cannot be sued for the pipeline’s rupture under Arkansas law because he had no involvement in the decisions to reverse the pipeline’s flow, increase its capacity, or use it to transport tar sands—and because the Complaint’s allegations do not allege sufficient personal involvement by Raulston in any of the events leading to the pipeline’s rupture.
Plaintiffs assert that Raulston need not have been a decision-maker to be liable under Arkansas law. Raulston is individually liable for negligence, according to Plaintiffs, because he is responsible for the pipeline’s electrical maintenance and repair and his failure to adequately inspect and repair the pipeline caused the pipeline’s rupture.
Under Arkansas law, to prevail on a negligence claim a plaintiff must plead and prove that the defendant owed a duty to the plaintiff, the defendant breached that duty, and the breach was the proximate cause of the plaintiffs injuries.
After reviewing the Complaint, I am satisfied that the factual allegations are sufficient to support a reasonable basis for predicting that Raulston might be liable under Arkansas law.
Accepting Plaintiffs’ version of the facts as true and drawing all reasonable infer
The ExxonMobile Defendants decided to reverse the pipeline’s flow, increase its capacity, and use it to carry heavy crude containing tar sands instead of petroleum. These changes added stress to the pipeline and caused accelerated wear.
Raulston is the operations maintenance technician for the pipeline in Faulkner County, Arkansas.
Raulston’s primary responsibility is electrical maintenance and repair for the Pegasus Pipeline in Arkansas.
Raulston is listed as the “Exxon/Mobile Pipeline Emergency Contact” for Faulkner County in the Central Arkansas Water Risk Mitigation Plan.
The changes in the pipeline’s use caused the pipeline to rupture.
If the changes hadn’t been made, or if the pipeline had been properly inspected and repaired, the pipeline would not have ruptured.
Based on these allegations, I predict that an Arkansas court would find that Raulston was sufficiently involved in the events surrounding the pipeline’s rupture to be sued for negligence. Since Raulston was responsible for inspecting and repairing the pipeline, I believe an Arkansas court might conclude that he owed a duty to Plaintiffs to exercise ordinary care in inspecting and repairing the pipeline’s electrical equipment. If it’s shown that Raulston failed to exercise ordinary care, and his failure is a proximate cause of Plaintiffs’ damages, he may be liable. Additional discovery may reveal that Raulston cannot be liable. As it stands now, however, there is a reasonable basis in both fact and law for predicting that Raulston might be liable to Plaintiffs.
Since Plaintiffs have stated a colorable claim against Raulston under Arkansas law, Defendants have failed to show that Raulston was fraudulently joined. Accordingly, this case must be remanded to state court.
CONCLUSION
Based on the above findings of fact and conclusions of law, this case must be remanded to state court because subject-matter jurisdiction is lacking. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ Motion to Remand (Doc. No. 11) is GRANTED. The case is REMANDED to the Circuit Court of Faulkner County, Arkansas under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).
. Doc. No. 13.
. Doc. No. 14.
. See Doc. No. 15.
. Unless noted otherwise, the facts in this section, which are presumed true for purposes of this order, are taken from Plaintiffs' Complaint. See Doc. No. 2.
. Exxon Mobil Corporation, Exxon Pipeline Company, and Mobile Pipe Line Company are referred to collectively as the “ExxonMobile Defendants.”
. Doc. No. 1.
. Id.
. Doc. No. 12.
. 28U.S.C. § 1441(a).
. 28U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1).
. See 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441 and 1446; see also Lincoln Prop. Co. v. Roche, 546 U.S. 81, 89-90, 126 S.Ct. 606, 163 L.Ed.2d 415 (2005); Knudson v. Sys. Painters, Inc., 634 F.3d 968, 975 (8th Cir. 2011).
. Knudson, 634 F.3d at 976.
. Id. (quoting Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. Co. v. Cockrell, 232 U.S. 146, 152, 34 S.Ct. 278, 58 L.Ed. 544 (1914)).
. Junk v. Terminix Intern. Co., 628 F.3d 439, 445 (8th Cir. 2010) (quoting In re Prempro Prods. Liab. Litig., 591 F.3d 613, 620 (8th Cir. 2010)).
. Knudson, 634 F.3d at 980 (quoting Filia v. Norfolk S. Ry. Co., 336 F.3d 806, 810 (8th Cir. 2003)).
. 336 F.3d 806 (8th Cir. 2003).
. Id. at 811.
. Junk, 628 F.3d at 445; see also Knudson, 634 F.3d at 980.
. Id. (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) and Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)).
. Id. at 446 (quoting Wilkinson v. Shackelford, 478 F.3d 957, 964 (8th Cir. 2007)).
. Filia, 336 F.3d at 810, n. 10.
. Knudson, 634 F.3d at 978 (citing Poulos v. Naas Foods, Inc., 959 F.2d 69, 73 n. 4 (7th Cir. 1992)).
. Id. at 975 (quoting Junk, 628 F.3d at 446).
. Filia, 336 F.3d at 811.
. Id. (quoting Iowa Pub. Serv. Co. v. Med. Bow Coal Co., 556 F.2d 400, 406 (8th Cir. 1977)).
. Knudson, 634 F.3d at 975 (citing In re Prempro Prods. Liab. Litig., 591 F.3d at 619).
. Doc. No. 13.
. Id.
. Doc. Nos. 12, 14.
. See Branscumb v. Freeman, 360 Ark. 171, 179, 200 S.W.3d 411 (2004).
. Bayird v. Floyd, 2009 Ark. 455, at *6, 344 S.W.3d 80 (2009) (quoting McGraw v. Weeks, 326 Ark. 285, 294, 930 S.W.2d 365 (1996)) (internal quotations omitted).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jeff and Angel DUNCAN Lynn and Mary Mayall and Colonial Roofing, LLC v. EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION Exxon Mobil Pipeline Company Mobile Pipe Line Company and David L. Raulston
- Status
- Published