Missouri Court: Plaintiffs’ Failure to Seek Default Judgment Against Inactive Defendant Doesn’t Mean Company is Fraudulently Joined

ST. LOUIS –– A Missouri court has remanded an asbestos action, finding that the plaintiffs’ failure to seek a default judgment against an inactive defendant did not necessarily mean that the party was fraudulently joined.

In the May 26 order, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri wrote that the removing defendant had failed to support its “novel” idea that a defendant’s inaction proves that the plaintiff fraudulently joined that defendant.

In their complaint, the plaintiffs alleged that Donna Harrison developed mesothelioma as a result of asbestos exposure. The lawsuit was originally filed in the Circuit …