Sixth Circuit Reverses Dismissal, Under First-To-File Rule, Of Action Brought By Putative Class Members Of Earlier-Filed Class Action

Last week, in Baatz v. Columbia Gas Transmission LLC, No. 15-3208, 2016 WL 731900 (6th Cir. 2016), a panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a group of landowners in Medina, Ohio against Columbia Gas Transmission for allegedly storing natural gas under their property without compensation. The district court had dismissed the lawsuit under the "first-to-file" rule on the ground that it was duplicative of a class action filed against Columbia over a year earlier by other Ohio landowners: Wilson v. Columbia Gas Transmission LLC, No. 2:12-cv-01203 (S.D. Ohio Dec. 21, 2012). While the panel concluded that the first-to-file rule applied, it nevertheless reversed the district court's dismissal because it found that the Medina landowners raised "serious concerns" about their ability to have their claims heard in the...