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A class-action lawsuit involving a fire at a Wood County warehouse can move forward after a state Supreme Court decision.
Harrison Circuit Judge Thomas A. Bedell ruled correctly on class certification involving a 2017 warehouse fire the second time around, the state Supreme Court found.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — Thirty-year Circuit Judge Thomas A. Bedell followed the state Supreme Court’s order to more thoroughly discuss the issues in the certification of a potential class action lawsuit involving a 2017 Wood County warehouse fire.
A class-action lawsuit involving a fire at a Wood County warehouse can move forward after a state Supreme Court decision.
That was the word Wednesday from the high court, which voted 3-1 (Justice Haley C. Bunn didn’t participate) that Bedell ruled correctly in denying a writ of prohibition from the lawyers representing warehouse owner Surnaik Holdings of WV LLC. Justice Tim Armstead was the lone justice who would have granted the writ, which would have stopped the class action cold.
Bedell’s first class action certification order, from 2020, didn’t pass muster with the high court, which sent the case back for more work.
Harrison Circuit Judge Thomas A. Bedell ruled correctly on class certification involving a 2017 warehouse fire the second time around, the state Supreme Court found.
The longtime judge then held a hearing and issued an opinion that’s end result was the same as the first, but much different in getting to that point.
“In Surnaik I, because of the circuit court’s insufficient discussion of the predominance and superiority requirements of Rule 23(b), we granted the writ of prohibition. Accordingly, we vacated the circuit court’s September 2019 order granting class certification,” wrote the author of Wednesday’s opinion, Chief Justice John Hutchison.
“When the case returned to the circuit court, the respondent renewed his bid to have the circuit court grant class certification to his case. The defendant again opposed class certification,” Hutchison wrote. “In an order signed June 15, 2021, the circuit court again granted class certification to the respondent’s case. The circuit court gave the same definition to the members of the class, defining them by geographic isopleths exposed to certain amounts of smoke-borne particulates.
“The difference, however, was that the circuit court’s order clearly contains the appropriate and thorough analysis of predominance and superiority required by our decision in Surnaik I. As to predominance, the order includes an element-by-element analysis of the respondent’s claims (for nuisance and negligence), as well as Surnaik’s affirmative defenses,” Hutchison wrote.
“The circuit court concluded that the duty and breach of duty elements for both claims centered on Surnaik’s actions. The circuit court found these two elements were not merely common, they were identical to all members of the class and, therefore, capable of class-wide proof,” Hutchison wrote.
“As to superiority, the circuit court found these two elements would require the most extensive discovery, document review, fact-witness depositions, expert testimony, preparation, and trial presentation. The circuit court balanced these class-wide questions with the individual questions, such as specific property or personal injury damages, and it found the class-wide questions were predominant and that a class action was the superior tool to resolve them,” Hutchison wrote.
The fire at Surnaik’s Parkersburg warehouse burned for eight days and shrouded much of the area in dark black smoke. The class will involve individuals from Parkersburg, Vienna, Blennerhasset, Lubeck, Washington and Waverly, as well as from Belpre, Ohio.
The class action certification process is required to determine whether a class-action lawsuit is really in the interests of judicial economy. This can be a pivotal decision, since trying cases on an individual basis wouldn’t be palatable for most law firms due to the small return vs. work required. But opponents of class actions are quick to assert that in these actions, individual plaintiffs usually just receive a small return while lawyers reap a major one. Class-action lawyers come back with the contention that this is the best way to hold large corporations with deep pockets accountable.
The attorneys for the class action are Alex McLaughlin and John Skaggs of Calwell Luce diTrapano PLLC in Charleston. Surnaik’s lawyers are Ryan Donovan, Zak Ritchie and Andrew Robey of Hissam Forman Donovan Ritchie PLLC in Charleston.
Bedell, of Harrison County, is presiding as a special judge.
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