EAST ST. LOUIS - The University of Delaware seeks relief from a subpoena that Chad Finley of Tor Hoerman’s firm in Edwardsville served for Paraquat plaintiff David Heistand of Maryland.
University counsel Casey Grabenstein of Chicago moved to quash it at U.S. district court on Jan. 22, claiming it’s procedurally defective and substantively overbroad.
“UD may not even have the human or financial resources to respond in full to a subpoena for 60 years of documents," he wrote.
“It would be nearly impossible and patently unreasonable to expect current UD employees to have any knowledge of any or all responsive documents that may have existed at some point in time over the past 60 years but no longer exists.”
He claimed Chief U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel allowed discovery from third parties as necessary to establish proof of use or exposure.
“Only one of the subpoena requests even mentions the individual plaintiff," he wrote.
He claimed the other 12 had no bearing on whether Heistand used Paraquat or was exposed.
Heistand and about 6,000 other plaintiffs from many states claim the weed killer caused Parkinson’s disease.
Finley sued Paraquat producer Syngenta last April claiming Heistand inhaled, ingested or absorbed it from 2000 to 2020 while working on his farm.
Finley claimed Paraquat was sold to owners or operators of farms and was using ground based or aerial sprayers in the vicinity where Heistand lived and worked.
He claimed Heistand was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2017.
“Plaintiff did not know or have reason to know or suspect that defendant’s products may have caused his injuries more than two years before the filing of this action," he wrote.
Finley listed Hoerman as counsel along with Kenneth Brennan and Steven Davis of his firm.
Finley has filed 165 Paraquat suits.
The clerk has closed 43 without prejudice through voluntary dismissals and court orders finding failure to answer mandatory questionnaires.