Plaintiffs Refute Notion that Supplier Defendants were Fraudulently Joined

NEW ORLEANS -- Plaintiffs in a Louisiana benzene lawsuit have sought to remand their claims, asserting that they can prove two defendants in the complaint were not fraudulently joined. Smith, et al. v. Acuity Specialty Products, et al., No. 06-10802 (E.D. La.).

In a Jan. 8 motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, plaintiffs Louis and Barbara Smith say that the two supplier defendants owed a duty to them.

The plaintiffs claim that Louis A. Smith's 34-year employment at the Bogalusa Box Plant exposed him to toxic levels of benzene, causing him to …