Judge Says Sales Reps Were Not Fraudulently Joined to Hip Action; Remands Case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A couple's allegation that sales representatives were aware of defects in Wright Medical Technology's Profemur hip system prior to its implantation led a federal judge to conclude that they were not fraudulently joined and the action should be remanded to state court. Spencer, et ux. v. Wright Medical Technology, No. 3:11-cv-632-H (W.D. Ky.).

Judge John G. Heyburn II of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky rejected Wright's efforts to invoke the fraudulent joinder exception to the court's diversity requirement for jurisdiction in his Feb. 17 opinion, saying that the court must resolve any …