## Facts

- Multiple civil actions arose from the February 20, 2003 fire at The Station nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island during a Great White performance.
- Indoor pyrotechnics ignited foam insulation, and the fire rapidly spread, killing 100 people and injuring over 200 among roughly 412 patrons.
- Plaintiffs (injured patrons and estates) sued numerous defendants, including the nightclub owners/operators, the band and its management, and various manufacturers and corporate entities.
- Several related actions were filed in both state and federal courts; some state cases were removed to federal court.
- Motions challenged federal subject-matter jurisdiction and argued that, even if jurisdiction existed, the court had to abstain under the Multiparty, Multiforum Trial Jurisdiction Act of 2002 (MMTJA), 28 U.S.C. § 1369.

## Issues

1. Whether 28 U.S.C. § 1369(a) provided original federal jurisdiction over civil actions arising from the Station nightclub fire as a “single accident” with at least 75 deaths and minimal diversity.
2. Whether mandatory abstention under 28 U.S.C. § 1369(b) applied because the disaster was “local,” requiring that (a) a substantial majority of plaintiffs and (b) the primary defendants be citizens of the same state and (c) the claims be governed primarily by that state’s law.
3. Whether the cases should be dismissed or remanded for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction based on § 1369(b) abstention.

## Decision

- The court held that § 1369(a) conferred original jurisdiction because the claims arose from a single accident at a discrete location, with more than 75 deaths and minimal diversity among adverse parties.
- The court held that § 1369(b) mandatory abstention did not apply because a substantial majority of plaintiffs were not citizens of a single state and the primary defendants were not all citizens of that same state.
- The court denied motions to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.
- The court denied motions to remand and retained the actions in federal court.

## Legal Principles

- Under 28 U.S.C. § 1369(a), federal courts have original jurisdiction over civil actions arising from a single accident at a discrete location causing at least 75 deaths when minimal diversity exists.
- “Minimal diversity” under § 1369 is satisfied when at least one adverse party is a citizen of a different state; the presence of multiple defendants from different states can satisfy the statutory diversity requirement.
- Mandatory abstention under 28 U.S.C. § 1369(b) applies only if all three conditions are met: (1) a substantial majority of plaintiffs are citizens of a single state, (2) the primary defendants are citizens of that same state, and (3) the claims are governed primarily by that state’s law.
- For § 1369(b), “substantial majority” requires more than a bare plurality; where victims and prospective plaintiffs include significant out-of-state citizens, abstention is not required.
- “Primary defendants” for § 1369(b) may include out-of-state entities alleged to bear central responsibility, not only local defendants, defeating abstention when such defendants are not citizens of the forum state.

## Conclusion

The court retained federal jurisdiction under the MMTJA over consolidated tort actions arising from the Station nightclub fire, concluding that the statutory prerequisites for original jurisdiction were met and that mandatory abstention for “local” disasters did not apply, so dismissal and remand were unwarranted.


Passa v. Derderian, 308 F. Supp. 2d 43 (D.R.I. 2004)