Federal Judge Rejects Defendants’ Removal Argument in Mississippi Silica Suit

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — A judge in Mississippi has ruled that defendants in a silicosis lawsuit waited too long to remove the case to federal court after learning that the only non-diverse defendant in the case was not in existence at the time the plaintiff’s alleged silica exposures occurred.

Judge Keith Starrett of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi said in a July 28 decision that the petition to remove plaintiff Henry Booth’s complaint from Forrest County Circuit Court could have been filed much sooner than it was, based on Booth’s discovery responses and information that had …