Distributors Cite Economic Loss Rule in Bid to Dismiss Drywall Cases

NEW ORLEANS - Distributor defendants in the Chinese Drywall MDL have filed a motion to dismiss certain property damage claims brought against them by Florida homeowners, contending they are barred by the Economic Loss Rule. In Re: Chinese-Manufactured Drywall Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2047 (E.D. La.).

In a Sept. 28 motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the distributors maintain that under Florida law, the plaintiffs' tort theories cannot support a claim for property damage to anything more than "other property" that is separate and apart from the subject homes. Because the allegedly …