Background

• This is an MDL in the Eastern District of Louisiana concerning formaldehyde in FEMA trailer housing.
• Crumb & Forster moved to dismiss with prejudice the claims of Celeste Brown and the minors J.L. and S.B. for failure to cure material deficiencies in their Plaintiff Fact Sheets (PFS).
• Pre-Trial Orders 2 and 32 required Plaintiffs to serve completed PFSs treated as interrogatory and document-production responses, with a 30-day cure period after deficiencies were identified.
• Defendants notified Brown’s group of deficiencies; plaintiffs provided only boilerplate, generic supplements that were non-responsive.
• The court found substantial deficiencies in Brown’s PFS for herself and the minors, including missing medical, employment, and health-history information, and that the responses were largely recitations of not recalling information.
• The court concluded there was a clear record of delay and contumacious conduct by Brown, no effective lesser sanction would prompt compliance, and thus dismissal with prejudice was warranted.

Issues

Key Cases Cited

• Berry v. Cigna/RSI-Cigna, 975 F.2d 1188 (5th Cir. 1992) (extreme sanction under Rule 41(b) requires clear record of delay and futility of lesser sanctions)
• Callip v. Harris County Child Welfare Dep’t, 757 F.2d 1513 (5th Cir. 1986) (authority for extreme sanction standards under Rule 41(b))
• Price v. McGlathery, 792 F.2d 472 (5th Cir. 1986) (aggravating factors for delay and prejudice)
• Coane v. Ferrara Pan Candy Co., 898 F.2d 1030 (5th Cir. 1990) (discovery sanctions framework and deterrence considerations)
• FDIC v. Conner, 20 F.3d 1376 (5th Cir. 1994) (Rule 37(b) sanctions and dismissal standards for discovery violations)