Benzene Defendants Back Removal, Maintain Schneider National Bulk Carriers Fraudulent Joined to Case

NEW ORLEANS –– Several defendants that recently removed a benzene lawsuit to federal court have opposed the plaintiff’s remand efforts, maintaining that a defendant named in the action –– Schneider National Bulk Carriers Inc. –– was improperly joined.

In an opposition brief filed June 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the removing defendants argued that the complaint does “not establish a reasonable basis for recovering against Schneider.”

Plaintiff Edward McPhate contends in his lawsuit that he developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a result of exposure to benzene-containing products he encountered while working as a truck …