defendant chevron u s a inc s answer to plaintiffs complaint for da

Cal. Super. - 1st Dist.April 16, 2021

1 DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Jason Levin (State Bar No. 161807) Jennifer Bonneville (State Bar No. 243686) Nicole Harrison (State Bar No. 287659) STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP 633 West Fifth Street, Suite 1900 Los Angeles, California 90071 Telephone: (213) 439-9400 Facsimile: (213) 439-9599 jlevin@steptoe.com jbonneville@steptoe.com nharrison@steptoe.com Attorneys for Defendant CHEVRON U.S.A. INC. SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FOR THE COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO DOMINGO GONZALEZS and GEAN GONZALEZS, Plaintiffs, v. SYNGENTA AG; SYNGENTA CROP PROTECTION, LLC; CHEVRON USA INC.; WILBUR-ELLIS COMPANY, LLC; and DOES ONE through ONE HUNDRED, inclusive, Defendants. CASE NO.: CGC-20-588135 DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL Complaint Filed: December 3, 2020 Defendant CHEVRON U.S.A. INC., on its own behalf (“Defendant”), for itself and for no other defendant, and in answer to Plaintiffs’ Complaint (“Complaint”), answers, denies, and alleges as follows: ELECTRONICALLY F I L E D Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco 01/26/2021 Clerk of the Court BY: JUDITH NUNEZ Deputy Clerk 2 DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 GENERAL DENIAL 1. Defendant generally denies each and every allegation of the Complaint. Without limiting the foregoing, Defendant further denies that it is liable to Plaintiffs in any particular alleged in the Complaint, or in any other particular, or at all, and further denies that Plaintiffs have been damaged in the particulars alleged in the Complaint, or in any other particular, or at all. Defendant alleges the following affirmative defenses on information and belief: FIRST AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 2. Each purported cause of action in the Complaint is barred by an applicable statute of limitation including, but not limited to, California Code of Civil Procedure sections 335.1, 338 (a), (b) and (d), 339, 340.8, 366.1, and 343. SECOND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 3. Plaintiff Domingo Gonzalezs’ (“Mr. Gonzalezs”) lack of reasonable care for his safety and well-being was the sole cause of, or contributed to, his injuries and damages as alleged in the Complaint. By reason thereof, Plaintiffs are barred from recovering all or that portion of any damages attributable to Mr. Gonzalezs’ fault and/or lack of reasonable care. THIRD AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 4. Plaintiffs’ damages, if any, were legally caused or contributed to by Mr. Gonzalezs’ unforeseeable idiosyncratic conditions, unusual susceptibility or hypersensitive reactions for which Defendant is not liable. FOURTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 5. Defendant hereby invokes the provisions of California Code of Civil Procedure section 1431.2(a) (Proposition 51) and seeks to allocate its respective liability, if any, for Plaintiffs’ damages, if any, among those other persons or entities whose acts or omissions legally caused or contributed to Plaintiffs’ damages, if any. FIFTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 6. Each purported cause of action in the Complaint is barred by the equitable doctrines of laches, waiver, estoppel, comparative negligence, and unclean hands. 3 DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 SIXTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 7. Plaintiffs have unreasonably failed to mitigate their damages, if any. SEVENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 8. Mr. Gonzalezs’ employers’ lack of reasonable care or other wrongful conduct was the sole cause of, or contributed to, Plaintiffs’ injuries and damages, if any. Plaintiffs’ recovery, if any, from Defendant must be appropriately reduced by the amount of any workers’ compensation benefits paid by or on behalf of such employers. EIGHTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 9. If Defendant supplied any products as alleged in the Complaint or otherwise, Mr. Gonzalezs misused one or more of such products without the knowledge or consent of, and in a manner not reasonably foreseeable to Defendant at a time prior to its receipt of notice of the circumstances described in the Complaint. Such misuse was the sole cause of, or contributed to, Plaintiffs’ injuries and damages, if any. By reason thereof, Plaintiffs are barred from recovering all or that portion of any damages attributable to Mr. Gonzalezs’ misuse of such products. NINTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 10. If Defendant supplied any products as alleged in the Complaint or otherwise, Defendant provided such products to distributors or other intermediaries, including Mr. Gonzalezs’ employer(s), who were knowledgeable, informed, and sophisticated concerning the use of the products and the alleged risks to the health of users of such products, and reasonably relied on said intermediaries to convey appropriate warnings to downstream users. TENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 11. If Defendant supplied any products as alleged in the Complaint, and without assuming the burden of proof on this point, Defendant provided such products with labels, instructions, and warnings as were adequate to warn against such hazards and dangers, if any, associated with the products as were known by the scientific community at the time such products left Defendant’s custody. /// /// 4 DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 ELEVENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 12. Plaintiffs failed within a reasonable time after they discovered or should have discovered any breach of warranty to so notify Defendant. TWELFTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 13. If Defendant supplied any products as alleged in the Complaint, and without assuming the burden of proof on this point, the benefits of the design of such products outweighed any risks of the design at the time such products left Defendant’s custody. THIRTEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 14. Plaintiffs’ claims against Defendant are barred under the sophisticated user doctrine, because at the time of the injury, Mr. Gonzalezs, based on his particular position, training, experience, knowledge, or skill, knew or should have known of the products’ risks, harms, or dangers, if any. Johnson v. American Standard, 43 Cal. 4th 56 (2008). FOURTEENTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 15. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) has specifically promulgated federal regulations pertaining to the use of this product, and those regulations operate to pre-empt Plaintiffs’ state law product liability claims. THEREFORE, Defendant prays for judgment as follows: 1. That Plaintiffs take nothing by reason of his Complaint; 2. That the Court enter judgment in favor of Defendant; 3. That responsibility, if any, for Plaintiffs’ injuries and damages, if any, be allocated among those Defendants, persons, firms, corporations, and public and private entities other than Defendant whose acts or omissions legally caused or contributed to Plaintiffs’ injuries and damages, if any; 4. That Defendant have judgment in its favor for costs incurred herein; and 5. For such further relief as the Court may deem appropriate. /// /// 5 DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 DATED: January 26, 2021 STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP By: Jason Levin Jennifer Bonneville Nicole Harrison Attorneys for Defendant CHEVRON U.S.A. INC. 6 DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR JURY TRIAL Pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 631, Defendant CHEVRON U.S.A. INC. hereby gives Notice of Its Request for Trial by Jury. DATED: January 26, 2021 STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP By: Jason Levin Jennifer Bonneville Nicole Harrison Attorneys for Defendant CHEVRON U.S.A. INC. 7 DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PROOF OF SERVICE F.R.C.P. 5 / C.C.P. 1013a(3)/ Rules of Court, Rule 2060 I am a resident of, or employed in the County of Los Angeles, State of California. I am over the age of 18 and not a party to this action. My business address is: Steptoe & Johnson LLP, 633 West Fifth Street, Suite 1900, Los Angeles, California 90071. On January 26, 2021, I served the following listed document(s), by methods indicated below, on the parties in this action: DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL BY U.S. MAIL By placing □ the original / XX□ a true copy thereof enclosed in a sealed envelope(s), with postage fully prepaid, addressed as per the attached service list, for collection and mailing at Steptoe & Johnson, LLP 633 West Fifth Street, Suite 1900 in Los Angeles, California 90071, following ordinary business practices. I am readily familiar with the firm’s practice for collection and processing of document for mailing. Under that practice, the document is deposited with the United States Postal Service on the same day in the ordinary course of business. Under that practice, the document is deposited with the United States Postal Service on the same day as it is collected and processed for mailing in the ordinary course of business. SEE ATTACHED SERVICE LIST On January 26, 2021 I also served the foregoing document by method below: BY ELECTRONIC SERVICE (via electronic filing service provider) By electronically transmitting the document(s) listed above to File & ServeXpress, an electronic filing service provider, at www.fileandservexpress.com. To my knowledge, the transmission was reported as complete and without error. See Cal. R. Ct. R. 2.253, 2.255, 2.260. SEE SERVICE LIST MAINTAINTED BY FILE&SERVEXPRESS I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California and the United States of America that the above is true and correct. I am employed in the office of a member of the bar of this court at whose direction the service is made. Executed on January 26, 2021, at Los Angeles, California. Elena Hernandez 8 DEFENDANT CHEVRON U.S.A. INC.’S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFFS’ COMPLAINT FOR DAMAGES AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 SERVICE LIST San Francisco Superior Court Case No.: CGC-20-588135 Our File No.: 070185.00027 ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS Michael A. Kelly Khaldoun A. Baghdadi Sara M. Peters WALKUP, MELODIA, KELLY & SCHOENBERGER 650 California Street, 26th Floor San Francisco, CA 94108-2615 Tel: (415) 981-7210/Fax: (415) 391-6965 mkelly@walkuplawoffice.com kbaghdadi@walkuplawoffice.com speters@walkuplawoffice.com SERVED BY MAIL Robert King Michael Klenov KOREIN TILLERY LLC 505 North 7th Street, Suite 3600 St. Louis, MO 63101 Tel: (314) 241-4844/Fax (314) 241-3525 rking@koreintillery.com mklenov@koreintillery.com SERVED BY MAIL ATTORNEYS FOR DEFENDANTS Don Willenburg Roberta. Rich GORDON REES SCULLY MANSUKAHNI, LLP 1111 Broadway, Suite 1700 Oakland, CA 94607 Tel: (510) 463-8600/Fax: (510) 984-1721 dwillenburg@grsm.com rrich@grsm.com SERVED VIA FILE&SERVEXPRESS Attorneys for Defendants SYNGENTA AG and SYNGENTA CROP PROTECTION, LLC P. Gerhardt Zacher Thomas J. Tobin Matthew P. Nugent GORDON REES SCULLY MANSUKHANI, LLP 101 W. Broadway, Suite 2000 San Diego, CA 92101 Tel: (619) 230-7743/Fax: (619) 696-7124 Gzacher@grsm.com Ttobin@grsm.com mnugent@grsm.com SERVED BY MAIL Attorneys for Defendant WILBUR-ELLIS COMPANY LLC