Uphill climb for gas-leak plaintiffs
September 2, 2008
“Actual Malice Hill” is not the name of a new teen slasher flick but a metaphor Judge Maurice Baldwin Jr. used last week when ruling on pre-trial motions in a Baltimore County class-action lawsuit against ExxonMobil Corp. stemming from a January 2006 gas leak at a Jacksonville station.
Baldwin, a Harford County judge specially assigned to the case, denied most of Exxon’s motions in his Aug. 28 opinion but injected a healthy does of skepticism toward many of the plaintiffs’ claims.
Most notable was Baldwin’s ruling regarding punitive damages. While the judge denied Exxon’s motion to dismiss the claims, he warned the plaintiffs that his decision “should not be taken as any assurance that the jury will consider that issue.”
“The climb up the actual malice hill is almost completely vertical,” Baldwin wrote. “The plaintiffs claim they can submit facts and factual inferences that get them to the top. Given recent Maryland case authorities I have reservations about that, but we will await the trial evidence to see if that issue should be submitted to the jury.”
Baldwin took a similar approach to claims for fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress, rejecting Exxon’s motion to dismiss but warning the plaintiffs they “should not feel assured those causes of action will reach jury consideration.”
The judge ruled in Exxon’s favor on two issues: prohibiting “prior bad acts” from being presented during the liability phase of the trial and barring statements made by witnesses to government agencies from being identified as part of potential or actual criminal investigations.
The trial is scheduled to start Oct. 1.
DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer
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