Wrongful-death suit against H.B. Fuller dismissed

In a closely watched case that has drawn national attention, U.S. District Judge Michael Davis has dismissed a wrongful-death suit against St. Paul-based H.B. Fuller Co. on jurisdictional grounds.

The suit was brought by the sister of Joel Linares, a Guatemalan teenager who died in 1993 after years of allegedly sniffing Fuller's Resistol glue and other Fuller products to get high.

The case is being watched nationwide because it addresses the issue of whether a company should be held liable for illegal uses of legally manufactured products. In addition, Dallas-based attorney Scott Hendler, who represents Linares' family, had said he was considering plans to seek class-action status for the suit, potentially including more than 15,000 children who abuse inhalants in Guatemala.

Davis did not address the suit's claims, but considered only whether the case ought to be heard in federal court in St. Paul. He agreed with Fuller's argument that because the products in question were manufactured and distributed by its Guatemalan subsidiary, the suit belonged in a Guatemalan court room.

In his order, filed Tuesday in St. Paul, Davis said his court does not have jurisdiction "because Fuller-U.S. cannot be sued for the acts of its subsidiary, and because as manufacturer of the glue, Fuller-Guatemala is an indispensable party. As a result, Guatemalan citizens are on both sides of the suit."

Guatemala has a one-year statute of limitations on such suits, so the Linares suit no longer can be brought there.

Fuller spokesman Bill Belknap said the company "agrees with the judge's decision, and we look forward to putting this matter behind us."

"This was not a decision on the merits, but simply a jurisdictional decision," Hendler said. "We're reviewing the ruling to determine whether or not to appeal, or to proceed in state court.

"We're surprised and somewhat disappointed, but that doesn't end the struggle to remove this product from the reach of children," he added. "That's something we'll continue to work towards, notwithstanding H.B. Fuller's resistance to it."

Hendler said Davis' ruling is not binding on other courts. "We may file additional cases in alternative jurisdictions," which might include other states where Fuller does business, he said. "We represent several dozen children with severe neurological damage, and for whom we've identified Resistol as the primary inhalent."

Jan Symchych, an attorney with Dorsey and Whitney who represented Fuller in the Linares suit, noted that Davis agreed with Fuller's position that the case is "immutably Guatemalan."

"That's the same no matter whether it's filed in state court in Minnesota or in federal court or in any other state," she said. "The same principles of law that Judge Davis applied are applicable. . . . Now that we've prevailed in federal court, it's pretty sound precedent for being able to prevail wherever they bring suit."

Fuller, which has been cited by national publications and business groups as a socially responsible company, nevertheless has been criticized by activists for a number of years for not doing enough to keep its toxic glue out of the hands of Latin American street children who abuse inhalents.