MDL Defendants Ask Court to Strike All Remaining Class Allegations

CLEVELAND - Defendants in the federal welding fumes multi-district litigation have asked the presiding judge to strike class allegations remaining in six of the coordinated cases. In Re: Welding Fume Products Liability Litigation, No. 1:03-CV-17000 [MDL Docket No. 1535] (N.D. Ohio).

Defendants filed the motion on May 21, noting that Judge Kathleen M. O'Malley has already dismissed a proposed medical monitoring class claim in one MDL case, Steele v. A.O. Smith.

Judge O'Malley ruled on Sept. 14 that 16 Steele plaintiffs could not pursue medical monitoring claims as a class because they could not satisfy the typicality requirement (See HarrisMartin's …