Al Shimari v. CACI International, Inc.
Al Shimari v. CACI International, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
THIS MATTER is before the Court on Defendant CACI Premier Technology, Inc.’s (“CACI PT”) Motion for Reconsideration of the Court’s Order Denying Defendants’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Based on the Statute of Limitations.
There are two issues before the Court. The first issue is whether the Court should apply Ohio or Virginia law to Plaintiffs Taha Yaseen Arraq Rashid, Sa’ad Hamza Hantoosh Al-Zuba’e, and Salah Hasan Nusaif Jasim Al-Ejaili’s (“Rashid Plaintiffs”) common law claims, as these plaintiffs joined this action by amended complaint after the case was transferred from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. (“Southern District of Ohio”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a).
Having concluded that Virginia law applies, the second issue is whether to grant Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration of this Court’s Order dated November 25, 2008, which denied Defendants CACI International, Inc. and CACI PT’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Based on the Statute of Limitations (“2008 Order”). (Dkt. No. 76). In the 2008 Order, the Court held that the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims were not barred by the applicable statute of limitations because Virginia law recognized cross-jurisdictional equitable tolling. (Id.) In light of the recent Virginia Supreme Court decision in
I. BACKGROUND
This case arises from claims asserted by suspected enemy combatants, Suhail Najim Abdullah Al Shimari, Taha Yaseen Arraq Rashid, Sa’ad Hamza Hantoosh AlZuba’e, and Salah Hasan Nusaif Jasim AlEjaili, who assert that they were detained, interrogated, and tortured by CACI PT, a government contractor, and United States soldiers. (2d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 1, 5-7, 11, 26, 45, 54, Dkt. No. 177.)
In response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, a multinational coalition force led by troops from the United States and Great Britain invaded Iraq on March 20, 2003. Al Shimari v. CACI Premier Tech., Inc., 657 F.Supp.2d 700, 705 (E.D.Va. 2009). After the invasion, the United States military commandeered the Abu Ghraib prison and used it to detain and interrogate persons thought to have information about the anti-Coalition insurgency. Al Shimari v. CACI Int'l Inc., 679 F.3d 205, 209 (4th Cir. 2012) (en banc). The United States contracted with CACI PT to help the military interrogate and communicate with these detainees. Id. In the spring of 2004, a well-publicized prison abuse scandal revealed that “detainees at the ‘hard site’ within Abu Ghraib prison were brutally tortured and abused.” (2d Am. Compl. ¶ 1.)
All four Plaintiffs were released from Abu Ghraib between February 1, 2004, and March 27, 2008, without ever being charged with any crime. (Id. ¶ 22, 25, 44, 53, 63.) On June 30, 2008, Plaintiff Al Shimari tiled this action in the Southern District of Ohio against Defendants CACI International, a Delaware corporation with its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and CACI PT, its wholly-owned subsidiary located in Arlington, Virginia. (See id. ¶¶ 8-9.) In his Complaint, Al Shimari alleged that CACI PT employees, including Steven Stefanowicz, Daniel Johnson, and Timothy Dugan, conspired with each other, CACI International, Inc., and military personnel to torture and inflict harm on Plaintiffs and other detainees. (2d Am. Compl. ¶¶ 64-65, 80.) Al Shimari brings common law tort and civil conspiracy claims and claims arising'under the ATS.
II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In May and June 2008, Plaintiffs’ counsel filed four individual, single-plaintiff cases in California, Washington, Maryland, and Ohio.
On October 10, 2008, Defendant filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Based on the Statute of Limitations. (Dkt. No. 44.) In that motion, Defendant sought to bar the Rashid Plaintiffs from asserting their common law claims due to Virginia’s two-year statute of limitations period for common law torts. Notably, Plaintiff A1 Shimari, who filed his case in the Southern District of Ohio, was not subject to Defendant’s Motion,
On November 25, 2008, the Court issued its 2008 Order denying Defendants’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment with respect to the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law tort claims. (See Dkt. No. 76.) In the 2008 Order, the Court held that the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims were subject to equitable tolling under Virginia law, as Plaintiffs were putative members in a class action filed in another jurisdiction before the Virginia two-year limitations period elapsed. In doing so, me Court held that Welding, Inc. v. Bland County Service Authority, 261 Va. 218, 541 S.E.2d 909 (2001), permitted equitable tolling for common law tort claims of putative members of class actions under Virginia law. Id.
Subsequently, on March 18, 2009, the Court granted Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the Amended Complaint to the extent Plaintiffs’ claims relied on ATS jurisdiction, and denied the motion on all other grounds. (See Dkt. No. 94.) On appeal, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed and remanded the case to this Court. See Al Shimari v. CACI Int’l Inc., 658 F.3d 413 (4th Cir. 2011), rev’d en banc, Al Shimari, 679 F.3d at 209. The Fourth Circuit granted a rehearing en banc and vacated its prior judgment. See Al Shimari, 679 F.3d at 224. On rehearing, the Fourth Circuit dismissed the appeal, finding it lacked jurisdiction over the matter. Id.
III. STANDARD OF REVIEW
Under Rule 54 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[A]ny order ... that adjudicates fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties ... may be revised at any time before the entry of judgment adjudicating all the claims and all the parties’ rights and liabilities.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b). Motions for reconsideration of interlocutory orders are not subject to the same strict standards applicable to motions for reconsideration of final judgments. Am. Canoe Ass’n, Inc. v. Murphy Farms, Inc., 326 F.3d 505, 514 (4th Cir. 2003). “This is because a district court retains the power to reconsider and modify its interlocutory judgments, including partial summary judgments, at any time prior to final judgment when such is warranted.” Id. at 514-15 (citing Fayetteville Investors v. Commercial Builders, Inc., 936 F.2d 1462, 1469 (4th Cir. 1991)). Courts generally do not depart from a previous ruling unless “(1) a subsequent trial produces substantially different evidence, (2) controlling authority has since made a contrary decision of law applicable to the issue, or (3) the prior decision was clearly • erroneous and would work manifest injustice.” See Am. Canoe Ass’n, 326 F.3d at 515 (quoting Sejman v. Warner-Lambert Co., Inc., 845 F.2d 66, 69 (4th Cir. 1988)).
IV. DISCUSSION
The Court grants Defendant’s Motion, and thus dismisses the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims from this action for two reasons. First, the Court finds that Virginia law governs the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims because they failed to avail themselves of Ohio law by first filing their claims in Ohio and requesting transfer of their case to this district under § 1404(a). Second, applying Virginia law, the Court concludes that the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision in Casey controls the issue of cross-jurisdictional equitable tolling and thus compels departure from the Court’s 2008 Order. Therefore, the Court grants Defendant’s Motion and vacates its 2008 Order because, under Casey, the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims were not tolled during the preceding class action and are thus barred by the statute of limitations. The Court addresses each issue in detail.
A. Choice of Law
The Court concludes That Virginia’s choice of law rules govern the Rashid Plaintiffs’ claims because they failed to avail themselves of the transferor court before raising their claims in this jurisdiction.
District courts sitting in diversity must apply federal procedural law and the substantive law of the state in which the court sits. Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304
The focal concern underlying § 1404(a) transfers is the fairness to a plaintiff after the defendant transfers the case for its convenience. Van Dusen, 376 U.S. at 630-31, 84 S.Ct. 805. Consequently, such an involuntary transfer suggests plaintiffs must be afforded the benefit of the laws of the jurisdiction of which they availed themselves. Id. This reasoning underlies the application of a transferor court’s laws to cases transferred' to other venues such that plaintiffs are afforded the benefit of the laws of the jurisdiction in which they chose to file their lawsuit. Id. However, where plaintiffs, rather than defendants, seek transfer, the prejudicial concerns necessarily differ. See Ferens v. John Deere Co., 494 U.S. 516, 110 S.Ct. 1274, 108 L.Ed.2d 443 (1990). Indeed, forum shopping looms as the principal concern where plaintiffs seek transfer. The Supreme Court addressed the forum shopping issue in Ferens. In Ferens, the issue was whether the statute of limitations period of the transferor court governed a tort suit following a § 1404(a) transfer initiated by the plaintiffs. Id. at 521, 110 S.Ct. 1274. Since their claims were barred by Pennsylvania’s two-year limitations period, the Ferenses chose to file suit in Mississippi to take advantage of Mississippi’s generous limitations period. Id. at 519, 110 S.Ct. 1274. After initiating a § 1404(a) transfer back to Pennsylvania for their convenience, the Ferenses sought to have Mississippi law govern their claims. Id. In holding that Mississippi law applied even after the transfer to Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court explained that judicial economy necessitates that the law of the transferor court govern transferred cases, regardless of the party seeking transfer. Id. at 530, 110 S.Ct. 1274. Recognizing the inherent risk of forum shopping, the Court nonetheless held that the simplistic rule that transfers initiated by either party should be treated the same “effects the appropriate balance between fairness and simplicity.” Id. at 532,110 S.Ct. 1274.
Notably, and particularly relevant here, the Ferens Court also noted that, in order for the law of the transferor court to apply post-transfer, a plaintiff must first file in the transferor court. Id. at 531, 110 S.Ct. 1274. Specifically, the Court stated that, “Plaintiffs in the position of the Ferenses must go to the distant forum because they have no guarantee, until the court there examines the facts, that they may obtain a transfer.” Id. In other words, the law of the transferor court can only be applied when the plaintiffs have availed themselves of the transferor court’s jurisdiction and subsequently transferred their case pursuant to § 1404(a).
The Court concludes that Virginia substantive law governs the Rashid Plaintiffs’ claims because they did not avail themselves of Ohio law by first filing their lawsuit in Ohio and then requesting a § 1404(a) transfer to this Court. The
The Court also finds support in Van Dusen and the Ferens Court’s eventual expansion thereupon. In Van Dusen, the Court held that permitting the application of the law of the transferor court “allow[s] plaintiffs to retain whatever advantages may flow from the state laws of the forum they have initially selected.” Van Dusen, 376 U.S. at 633, 84 S.Ct. 805. Accordingly, Ferens held that transfer pursuant to § 1404(a) “should not deprive parties of state-law advantages that exist absent diversity jurisdiction.” Ferens, 494 U.S. at 523, 110 S.Ct. 1274, Reading these rules together, the Court finds evident that the Rashid Plaintiffs are not subject to the law of Ohio, the transferor court. The Rashid Plaintiffs have suffered no loss of advantages flowing from the forum they initially selected because their claims were initially raised in Virginia.
Plaintiffs cite two cases which they suggest stand for the opposite conclusion, yet the Court finds neither instructive nor persuasive. Plaintiffs first cite Pappion v. Dow Chemical Co., 627 F.Supp. 1576, 1581 (W.D.La. 1986), where the district court applied the law of the transferor court in determining whether the plaintiffs added by amended complaint after a § 1404(a) transfer were time-barred. The Court-finds this case distinguishable for two reasons. First, Pappion preceded Ferens, which, as indicated, explicitly requires that plaintiffs seeking application of the transferor court's law “must go to the distant forum.” Therefore, Pappion’s holding is' inapplicable to the present case. Second, the issue in Pappion is entirely different than the issue in this case. Pappion addressed whether Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 15(c) allowed for the relation back of new claims, added by a post-transfer amended complaint, to the original complaint so as to deem the new claims timely. In its analysis, the Pappion Court did not squarely address the choice of law issues presented here.
The Court also finds the Rashid Plaintiffs’ reliance on Riddle v. Shell Oil Co., 764 F.Supp. 418 (W.D.Va. 1990), equally misplaced. In Riddle, the district court addressed whether a plaintiff would have to go to the distant forum to assert claims against a new defendant added by an amended complaint filed post-transfer. Id. at 423. The Riddle Court held that, because the plaintiff had already gone to the distant forum and availed herself to the
For these reasons, the Court concludes that the Rashid Plaintiffs are not entitled to the application of Ohio law to their common law claims. Because the Rashid Plaintiffs first asserted their claims in this Court, which sits in diversity, their common law claims are governed by Virginia law. Thus, Virginia’s choice of law rules apply to the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims.
B. Equitable Tolling
Having concluded that Virginia law applies to the Rashid Plaintiffs’ claims, the Court also concludes that their claims are barred by the applicable statute of limitations because Virginia does not recognize cross-jurisdictional equitable tolling for putative, unnamed class members.
As a federal court sitting in Virginia, this court applies the substantive law of Virginia and federal procedural law. Erie, 304 U.S. at 64, 58 S.Ct. 817. Virginia’s choice of law rules require application of its own statute of limitations to claims involving torts occurring outside the Commonwealth. Jones v. R.S. Jones & Assocs., 246 Va. 3, 431 S.E.2d 33, 34 (1993). Therefore, because the Rashid Plaintiffs’ tort claims arise from alleged injuries occurring in Iraq, the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims are subject to Virginia’s two-year statutory period.
Having concluded that the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims are governed by Virginia’s two-year statutory period, the Court next addresses the issue of whether the same claims are barred as untimely. Defendants urge the Court to reconsider its 2008 decision in which the Court found that, under. Virginia law, the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims were timely filed even though they were raised well after the two-year limitations period elapsed. The 2008 Order Court concluded by finding that the Rashid Plaintiffs’ claims were equitably tolled during the pendency of a class action in which they were putative class members. Relying on Welding, Inc. v. Bland County Service Authority, 261 Va. 218, 541 S.E.2d 909 (2001), the Court held that the Virginia Supreme Court expressly recognized cross-jurisdictional tolling. The Court reasoned that it was not bound by the Fourth Circuit’s decision’in Wade v. Danek Medical, Inc., 182 F.3d 281 (4th Cir. 1999), which’ predicted, in dicta, that Virginia would not recognize cross-jurisdictional equitable tolling.
In Casey, the Virginia Supreme Court resolved the question of whether
In light of Casey, the Court is compelled to reconsider its previous ruling on cross-jurisdictional equitable tolling and conclude that the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims are barred by Virginia’s statute of limitations. It is undisputed that Plaintiff Al Shimari was the only named plaintiff in the Saleh action. Thus, each of the Rashid Plaintiffs was a putative, unnamed member to the Saleh class action. As Casey makes clear, the statute of limitations applicable to the Rashid Plaintiffs’ claims was not tolled during the pendency of the Saleh class action to any unnamed putative member. Casey, 722 S.E.2d at 846. Under Casey’s reasoning, because the Rashid Plaintiffs lacked standing to assert their rights in the Saleh action as unnamed plaintiffs, the Saleh action could not “toll the running of the statutory period for unnamed putative class members who are recognized under Virginia law as plaintiffs or represented plaintiffs in the original action. Id. (citing Harmon v. Sadjadi 273 Va. 184, 639 S.E.2d 294, 302 (2007)). Therefore, the Rashid Plaintiffs, in presenting tort claims for the first time well after Virginia’s statute of limitations has run, are barred from pursuing their claims in this litigation.
The Rashid Plaintiffs alternatively argue that, should the Court read Casey as rejecting cross-jurisdiction equitable tolling, the Court should not apply Casey to their claims because Casey is a new rule, and thus, should not be retroactively applied. The Court rejects that argument because the Virginia Supreme Court did not announce a new rule in Casey. Rather, the Court clarified that Virginia does not recognize cross-jurisdictional equitable tolling for putative members of previously filed class actions. A decision is applied prospectively only if (1) it established a new principle of law by overruling clear past precedent, (2) retroactive application would impede its operation, and (3) retroactive application creates substantial inequity. City of Richmond v. Blaylock, 247 Va. 250, 440 S.E.2d 598, 599 (1994). Contrary to the Rashid Plaintiffs’ position, however, Casey fails to satisfy the first requirement — the overturning of “clear past precedent.” In fact, Casey explicitly states that, at the time of the decision, there was “no authority in. Virginia jurisprudence for the equitable tolling of a statute of limitations based upon the pen
V. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court grants Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration of the Court’s Order Denying Defendants’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment Based on the Statute of Limitations. (Dkt. No. 161.) The Court holds that Ohio law does not apply to the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims because these plaintiffs failed to avail themselves of Ohio law, as they joined this action after the case was transferred from the Southern District of Ohio to this Court. Thus, the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims are subject to Virginia law.
Furthermore, in light of the Virginia Supreme Court’s recent declaration on the issue, the Court finds that the Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims are barred by Virginia’s statute of limitations because the claims were not tolled during the pendency of a related class action in a different jurisdiction. Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED that the Court’s Order dated November 25, 2008 (Dkt. No. 76) is VACATED. It is further
ORDERED that the Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration (Dkt. No. 161) is GRANTED. The Rashid Plaintiffs’ common law claims encompassed within Counts X, XII, XIII, XV, XVI, XVIII, XDC, and XX of the Second Amended Complaint are DISMISSED with prejudice.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
. This Motion was filed jointly with CACI International, Inc., the parent company of CACI PT. The Court dismissed all claims pending against Defendant CACI International on March 8, 2013. (See Dkt. No. 215.) Accordingly, the Court will refer to Defendant CACI PT as “Defendant.”
. The Court notes that the Rashid Plaintiffs have never questioned that the law of any state, other than Virginia, applies to this action. (See Pi’s. Opp’n to Defs.’ Partial Mot Summ. J., Dkt. 53.)
. On March 8, 2013, the Court dismissed all conspiracy claims against CACI PT. Specifically, Plaintiffs’ conspiracy claims encompassed within Counts II, V, VIII, XI, XIV, and XVII concerning CACI PT and its employees were dismissed with prejudice. Plaintiffs’ conspiracy claims encompassed within Counts II, V, VIII, XI, XIV, and XVII related to CACI PT and the United States military were dismissed without prejudice. (See Dkt. No. 215.)
. Specifically, the cases filed were (1) this action, which originated in the Southern District of Ohio, (2) Al-Janabi v. Stefanowicz, No. 08-cv-2913 (C.D.Cal.); (3) Al-Ogaidi v. Johnson, No. 08-cv-1006 (W.D.Wash.); and (4) Al-Qurashi v. Nakhla, No. 08-cv-1696 (D.Md.). (O’Connor Decl. ¶¶ 6-8.) The AlQurashi action was eventually voluntarily dismissed. (Id. ¶ 10.)
. Defendant reasserts its previous position that Plaintiff A1 Shimari was neither subject to its previous motion nor the present Motion for Reconsideration. (Def.'s Reply at 8.)
. The Saleh class action refers to Saleh v. Titan Corp., Civil Action No. 05-1165, which was originally filed in the Southern District of California, transferred to this Court, and ultimately transferred back to the District Court for the District of Columbia. See Saleh v. Titan Corp., 580 F.3d 1 (D.C.Cir. 2009).
. Following remand, the Court granted Plaintiffs’ motion to reinstate their ATS claims. (See Dkt. No. 159.) Therefore, Plaintiffs’ claims arising under the ATS remain pending.
. Defendant alternatively asserts that application of Ohio law to the Rashid Plaintiffs' claims would violate due process because the Rashid Plaintiffs never appeared in Ohio, assert claims having no connection to Ohio, and thus any application of Ohio law “would be arbitrary and unfair, and thus violative of due process." (Def.’s Mem. Supp. Br. on Choice of Law at 7-13, Dkt. No. 187.) However, because the Court grants Defendant’s Motion on other grounds, the Court finds it prudent to refrain from deciding this constitutional question. See Strawser v. Atkins, 290 F.3d 720, 730 (4th Cir. 2002) (citing INS v. St. Cyr, 533 U.S. 289, 299-301, 301 n. 13, 121 S.Ct. 2271, 150 L.Ed.2d 347 (2001) and Ashwander v. TVA, 297 U.S. 288, 347, 56 S.Ct. 466, 80 L.Ed. 688 (1936)).
. Although the Court concludes that Virginia law applies to the Rashid Plaintiffs' common law claims, this decision should not be construed as a ruling on the law governing Plaintiff Al Shimari’s pending common law claims because his claims are not subject to Defendant's present Motion. Furthermore, an open question remains as to the application of state law to claims against military contractors for torts occurring overseas. See Al Shimari, 679 F.3d at 229-230 (Wilkinson, J., dissenting). Therefore, the Court makes no judgment on what law governs Al Shimari remaining claims.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Suhail Najim Abdullah AL SHIMARI v. CACI INTERNATIONAL, INC.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published