Donner, et al v. Alcoa, Inc., No. 12-1415 (8th Cir. 2013)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff sued Alcoa, alleging that he contracted pulmonary fibrosis after working with aluminum for many years and that Alcoa failed to warn him of the dangers associated with the use of aluminum products. After Alcoa removed the case to federal court, plaintiff moved to voluntarily dismiss his action. Plaintiff stated an intention to add his Missouri employer to a new suit in state court, thereby destroying diversity jurisdiction. The court reversed the district court's grant of plaintiff's motion for voluntary dismissal and remanded the case for further proceedings. The overall circumstances strongly suggested that plaintiff was merely seeking a more favorable forum, and thus the district court should have considered whether plaintiff's proposed claims against his Missouri employer had any merit.
Court Description: Civil case - Civil Procedure. District court abused its discretion in granting plaintiff a voluntary dismissal without first addressing whether his purported basis for adding a defendant that destroyed diversity had a reasonable basis in law and fact; the court's own review of the stated basis for the voluntary dismissal leads to the conclusion that the claim against the diversity-destroying defendant had no reasonable basis in law; order granting voluntary dismissal is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings.
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