Judge rules on GlaxoSmithKline's status in product liability cases

A judge has again rejected GlaxoSmithKline's arguments that its corporate citizenship is different completely from several plaintiffs in drug product liability cases because the drugmaker converted to a limited liability company based in Delaware.

U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Savage of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania had ruled in the spring that GSK cannot claim Delaware citizenship for purposes of federal diversity jurisdiction because the drug company's true "nerve center" is in Philadelphia.

Judge Savage held to that position in an opinion released Dec. 14, which remands nine Paxil cases to Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

The judge wrote in his opinion that GSK did not form the limited liability company with the "intent to manipulate jurisdiction," but he said "post-litigation conduct" reflected the intent to manipulate jurisdiction.

via post-gazette.com

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