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Southwestern Refining Co.5/11/2000
On Petition for Review from the Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District of Texas
Argued April 7, 1999
Justice Gonzales delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Justice Hecht, Justice Owen, Justice Baker, Justice Abbott and Justice O'Neill joined.
Justice Baker filed a concurring opinion, in which Justice Hecht joined.
Justice Enoch filed a dissenting opinion, in which Chief justice Phillips and Justice Hankinson joined.
The principal issue in this interlocutory appeal is the propriety of certifying a class action of 904 plaintiffs against Southwestern Refining Company for alleged personal injuries arising from a refinery tank fire in Corpus Christi, Texas. The trial court certified the class and directed that the class proceed in three phases: the first to determine general liability and gross negligence; the second to determine punitive damages; and the third to determine causation and actual damages. The court of appeals modified the certification order to require determination of the class representatives' actual damages before punitive damages may be assessed for the whole class. 960 S.W.2d 293. Southwestern filed this petition for review, contending that this Court has conflicts jurisdiction and that the common issues do not predominate over the individual issues. We agree with both of Southwestern's contentions. Therefore, we reverse the court of appeals' judgment and remand this cause to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I.
On January 26, 1994, at about 7:30 a.m., a slop tank at a Southwestern refinery in Corpus Christi exploded. Julia Bernal, Mary De La Garza, Anita Barrerra and Josephine Suarez, four Corpus Christi residents, sued Southwestern and four other defendants for extreme fear and mental anguish caused by the sight and sound of the explosion and for personal injuries and property damages caused by toxic exposure. They allege that the explosion and ensuing fire sent a plume of toxic smoke into the air and that soot and ashes from the smoke descended on their homes in the surrounding neighborhoods. Plaintiffs claim that because of the explosion, they suffered respiratory difficulties, skin irritation, eye irritation, headaches, and nausea, and their lawns, foliage, and pets died.
After an additional 900 claimants joined the lawsuit, plaintiffs moved to certify the personal injury claims as a class action consisting of all of the claimants. The trial court granted the motion, certifying the class with nineteen class representatives under Rule 42(b)(4) of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure. Tex. R. Civ. P. 42(b)(4). And as the plaintiffs requested, the court excluded from the class all claims for property or diminution-in-value damages. The court's order granting the motion provided for a three-phase trial:
Phase I will address the alleged liability of defendants to the named class representatives on the issues of negligence, strict liability, toxic trespass, nuisance and gross negligence. Phase I will establish whether defendants are liable for the explosion and whether the released materials were capable of causing the harm alleged by the class.
If during Phase I there is a finding of gross negligence, Phase II of the trial will determine the amount to be recovered by the class as punitive damage .
Phase III will determine whether the individual class members can show sufficient specific injuries or damages and whether they were proximately caused by the release due to the tank explosion. The amount of punitive damages, awarded in Phase II, if any, will be proportionately reduced by the number of individu
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