Supreme Court Declines to Hear Tuna Warning Preemption Case

By Ricardo Carvajal & John R. Fleder –

On April 20, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand the Third Circuit’s decision in Fellner v. Tri-Union Seafoods.  As we discussed in a prior posting, Fellner’s lawsuit contends that Tri-Union is guilty of negligence under New Jersey law for failing to warn consumers of the risks posed by methylmercury in its canned tuna products.  The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey granted Tri-Union’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit on federal preemption grounds, but the Third Circuit reversed that decision.  We will have to see if the Supreme Court’s action not to hear the case now suggests that it will rule in the future that there is no federal preemption of claims such as Fellner’s.