Ill. Court Remands Ethylene Oxide Coordinated Docket, Says Subject-Matter Jurisdiction Doesn’t Exist

CHICAGO –– An Illinois federal court has remanded a coordinated ethylene oxide docket, finding that two Illinois citizens that have reached settlement agreements are not nominal defendants for jurisdictional purposes and, as such, subject-matter jurisdiction does not exist.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois explained in its Dec. 3 order that the plaintiffs and defendants Vantage Specialty Chemicals Inc. and Medline Industries, LP, had asked the court to remand the proceedings.

The claims at issue are part of coordinated pretrial proceedings, the court said. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants have polluted the air with …