LADWP dismissed from lawsuit against JM Eagle

Another entity listed in the original complaint filed in 2006 against JM Eagle for allegedly selling defective pipe to various states and municipalities, has been dropped from the suit at its request. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

filed paperwork in November requesting to be dismissed from a qui tam lawsuit against JM Eagle, the world's largest manufacturer of plastic pipe. The week of Dec. 12, a federal court judge granted the request and officially removed the nation's largest public utility from the "ever-shrinking list of interveners" in the qui tam action, according to a press release from JM Eagle.

"The lawsuit, which has already been shown to have significant weaknesses, falsely accuses JM Eagle of knowingly selling sub-standard plastic pipe to its government customers," noted the release in providing background information. The original complaint was filed by the law firm Phillips & Cohen LLP, and listed a number of government entities as "real parties in interest."

However, many of those "real parties in interest" declined further participation in the case, including the states of California, Florida, Tennessee, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana and New York; the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.), and a number of California cities, as well as the federal government, which was the first to decline to intervene in 2010 following a 3 ½ year Department of Justice investigation into the allegations, said JM Eagle.

"LADWP does not have any of the JM Eagle pipes at issue in its water system," reads the utility's Motion to Dismiss. "Thus it is in the best interest of the City to dismiss the claims brought on its behalf."

Neal Gordon, Vice President of JM Eagle, stated in the release, "It appears that Phillips & Cohen simply slapped names onto this lawsuit, whether they bought pipe or not, in an attempt to bolster its credibility. LADWP has done the right thing by removing itself from this contingency-fee firm's baseless action against an American manufacturing company."

In response to JM Eagle's release, Phillips & Cohen issued the following statement: "The judge simply granted the request of the LADWP, which determined after a lengthy investigation that it hadn't purchased any JM Eagle pipe. We supported that decision. We are continuing to pursue this case on behalf of three states and 42 cities and water districts."

The trial is scheduled to begin in July 2012.