Date: 10-05-2001

Case Style: Lesley Warfield, et al. v. AlliedSignal TBS Holdings, Inc., et al.

Case Number: 00-5761

Judge: Gilman

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

Plaintiff's Attorney: Charles Stanford West, Williamson, West Virginia

Defendant's Attorney: Anne A. Chestnut of Greenbaum, Doll & McDonald, Lexington, Kentucky

Description: Lesley Warfield filed a wrongful death action against her late husband's employer, AlliedSignal Truck Brake Systems, Inc., and its holding company, AlliedSignal TBS Holdings, Inc. (collectively, AlliedSignal). Following a scheduling conference before the district court, Warfield dismissed her complaint against AlliedSignal with prejudice pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. More than a year after AlliedSignal had been dismissed from the case, Warfield moved to vacate her earlier dismissal. The district court denied the motion. For the reasons set forth below, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

I. BACKGROUND

On October 11, 1997, Kenny Warfield was fatally injured at the AlliedSignal plant in Frankfort, Kentucky while operating an Orion 2200 metal-stamping machine. His widow, Lesley Warfield, brought a wrongful death action against AlliedSignal, alleging that the company engaged in intentional and willful misconduct by disabling the safety features on the machine. She also filed suit against the various manufacturers of the Orion 2200 and its component parts (the Orion defendants). The claim was filed in the Franklin County Circuit Court in Frankfort, Kentucky. AlliedSignal removed the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on the basis of diversity of citizenship.

On December 2, 1998, counsel for both Warfield and the defendants held a preliminary telephone conference pursuant to Rule 26(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Because the complaint alleged that the "[d]ecedent was killed while acting in the scope and course of his employment," the attorneys for AlliedSignal requested that the company be voluntarily dismissed with prejudice from the lawsuit. They maintained that Kentucky's workers' compensation law provided the exclusive remedy in the matter and that Warfield's failure to dismiss AlliedSignal from the case would constitute a waiver of her right to claim further workers' compensation benefits. Warfield refused their request, arguing that such action was premature given the limited facts known to her at the time.

The district court later convened a scheduling conference on January 20, 1999. During the conference, AlliedSignal repeated its request to be dismissed from the case with prejudice. Warfield again refused, citing reports from the Kentucky Occupational Safety and Health Agency that AlliedSignal had engaged in "willful and serious" misconduct. The district court, however, agreed with AlliedSignal's counsel that if Warfield pursued the tort claims against AlliedSignal, she faced the possibility of losing her workers' compensation benefits. The court then gave Warfield's attorneys nine days to confer with their client about the risks associated with going forward with the lawsuit against AlliedSignal. Following such consultations, Warfield filed a notice of voluntary dismissal with prejudice of all claims against AlliedSignal on February 1, 1999. This was done pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(i) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, before AlliedSignal had filed an answer to Warfield's complaint. The district court then issued an order dismissing the complaint with prejudice the following day, February 2, 1999.

Warfield's case against the Orion defendants proceeded. Extensive discovery was taken by both sides. Warfield maintains that this discovery produced significant evidence that the "AlliedSignal defendants had, in fact, intentionally, recklessly, and dangerously altered and mis-maintained and operated the metal-stamping machine that crushed the decedent, and that this conduct by the AlliedSignal defendants caused the death of the decedent."

On the verge of trial, Warfield reached a settlement with the Orion defendants. Then, on April 18, 2000, she filed a motion to vacate the February 2, 1999 order dismissing AlliedSignal with prejudice. Warfield contended that she had originally dismissed AlliedSignal "against her will" because she "felt intimidated" by the district court and "feared losing all." She failed, however, to support this contention with any affidavit, documentation, or newly discovered evidence. In a one-page order, the district court denied Warfield's motion to vacate. This appeal followed.

Outcome: For all of the reasons set forth above, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court.

Plaintiff's Experts: Unknown

Defendant's Experts: Unknown

Comments: E-mail suggested corrections, comments and/or corrections to: Kent Morlan

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