MARQUINEZ v. DOLE FOOD COMPANY INC (2018)

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Luis Antonio Aguilar MARQUINEZ, et al. v. DOLE FOOD COMPANY INC., et al. Luis Antonio Aguilar Marquinez, et al., Appellants

No. 14-4245

Decided: May 29, 2018

Before: HARDIMAN and KRAUSE, Circuit Judges, and STENGEL,* District Judge.

Scott M. Hendler, Esq., Rebecca R. Webber, Esq., Hendler Lyons Flores, Austin, TX, Jonathan S. Massey, Esq., Massey & Gail, Washington, DC, for Plaintiff-Appellant Somers S. Price, Jr., Esq., Potter Anderson & Corroon, Wilmington, DE, for Defendants-Non-Participating Michael L. Brem, Esq., Schirrmeister Diaz-Arrastia Brem, Houston, TX, Donald E. Reid, Esq., Morris Nichols Arsht & Tunnell, Wilmington, DE, for Defendant-Appellee Dow Chemical Co William E. Gamgort, Esq., Timothy J. Houseal, Esq., Jennifer M. Kinkus, Esq., Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, Wilmington, DE, D. Ferguson McNiel, III, Esq., Vinson & Elkins, Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellee Occidental Chemical Corp John C. Phillips, Jr., Esq., Phillips Goldman McLaughlin & Hall, Wilmington, DE, for Defendant-Appellee AMVAC Chemical Corporation Kelly E. Farnan, Esq., Katharine L. Mowery, Esq., Richards Layton & Finger, Wilmington, DE, for Defendant-Appellee Shell Oil Co R. Jack Reynolds, Esq., Samuel E. Stubbs, Esq., Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw & Pittman, Houston, TX, for Defendants-Appellees Chiquita Brands International Inc, Chiquita Fresh North America LLC, Chiquita Brands LLC Robert G. Dick, IV, Esq., James W. Semple, Esq., Cooch & Taylor, Wilmington, DE, Boaz S. Morag, Esq., Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Del Monte Fresh Produce NA Inc

ORDER

In this appeal from a judgment entered by the United States District Court for the District of Delaware (Stark, J.), the panel (Hardiman, Krause, and Stengel, JJ.) certified a question of law to the Delaware Supreme Court pursuant to Third Circuit Local Appellate Rule Misc. 110.1. The Delaware Supreme Court accepted certification and issued an opinion holding that under Delaware law, the dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims in 1995 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Delgado v. Shell Oil Co., 890 F.Supp. 1324, 1375 (S.D. Tex. 1995), did not end the tolling of the Delaware statute of limitations on personal injury actions, 10 Del. C. § 8119. See Marquinez v. Dow Chem. Co., A.3d, No. 231, 2017, 183 A.3d 704, 705–06, 2018 WL 1324178, at *1 (Del. Mar. 15, 2018). The opinion of the Delaware Supreme Court requires us to vacate the summary judgment that had been entered in favor of Defendants.

While this appeal was pending, this Court decided a related case, Chavez v. Dole Food Co., 836 F.3d 205 (3d Cir. 2016) (en banc). There, we held that the District Court had erred in dismissing the plaintiffs’ claims in that case on first-filed grounds under circumstances materially identical to those in which it dismissed the claims of fourteen plaintiffs in this case on September 19, 2013. In light of Chavez, the District Court's dismissal order was erroneous.

Upon consideration of the record before us, the Delaware Supreme Court's opinion in Marquinez, and this Court's opinion in Chavez,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the District Court's orders entered September 19, 2013, and May 27, 2014, and its final judgment entered September 22, 2014, are VACATED.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that this appeal is REMANDED to the District Court for further proceedings consistent with the Delaware Supreme Court's opinion in Marquinez and this Court's opinion in Chavez.

Thomas M. Hardiman, Circuit Judge

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