Va. Federal Court Finds Joinder of Non-Diverse Defendant Fraudulent in Oxycontin Suit

ABINGDON, Va. - A Virginia federal court has ruled that plaintiffs' attempt to add a non-diverse defendant three days after his Oxycontin products liability suit was removed to federal court for diversity jurisdiction "raises a red flag that the plaintiff may be forum shopping." McCaulley, et al. v. Purdue Pharma, L.P., et al., No. 2:01cv00080 (W.D. Va.).

In its Nov. 15 decision, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia concluded that plaintiffs did not have much to gain by adding the new defendant except to destroy complete diversity and have their case heard in state court, and …