Court Rules Joinder of Metabolife Distributors Not Fraudulent

MOBILE, Ala. - A federal district court in Alabama has ruled that two independent distributors of Metabolife named in a Metabolife product liability suit were not fraudulently joined, remanding the case to the Circuit Court of Mobile County, Ala. Laster v. Metabolife International, Inc., et al., No. 01-0335-CB-L (S.D. Ala.).

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama concluded in its Dec. 13 decision that because the distributor defendants were 'captive' distributors of Metabolife products, instead of general retailers or distributors, they could have had a greater knowledge of their products and a different relationship with the manufacturer …