Ploense v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc

In Ploense v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc., 377 Ill. App. 3d 1091, 882 N.E.2d 653, 317 Ill. Dec. 773 (2007), the plaintiffs filed a wrongful death action against various producers of chrome products and the Chrome Coalition, a trade organization formed to promote the "sale and use of products containing chrome," alleging that their conduct contributed to her husband's development of terminal lung cancer due to exposure to chrome at work. Ploense, 377 Ill. App. 3d at 1092-93, 882 N.E.2d at 656. She alleged that the Chrome Coalition and the chrome producers engaged in a conspiracy to suppress information regarding the harmful effects of chrome. Ploense, 377 Ill. App. 3d at 1093, 882 N.E.2d at 656-57. The Chrome Coalition filed a motion to dismiss the action for lack of personal jurisdiction on grounds that it had no contacts with the state of Illinois, which was denied by the circuit court. Ploense, 377 Ill. App. 3d at 1094, 882 N.E.2d at 657-58. On appeal, the court reversed, rejecting the application of the conspiracy theory. In doing so, the court cited the supreme court's observation in Green that the conspiracy doctrine is premised on the character of coconspirators as agents and that the supreme court rejected this in Buckner v. Atlantic Plant Maintenance, Inc., 182 Ill. 2d 12, 24, 694 N.E.2d 565, 571, 230 Ill. Dec. 596 (1998), by holding that no agency relationship could exist between coconspirators. Ploense, 377 Ill. App. 3d at 1105, 882 N.E.2d at 666. The Ploense court then observed that the supreme court's reservations about the theory were reflected by its citation in Green to Chromium Industries, Inc. v. Mirror Polishing & Plating Co., 448 F. Supp. 544, 552 (N.D. Ill. 1978). Ploense, 377 Ill. App. 3d at 1105-06, 882 N.E.2d at 666. The Ploense court concluded that based on the reservations reflected by Green regarding conspiracy theory of jurisdiction, which was based upon a constructive agency relationship between coconspirators and the ultimate rejection of such an agency relationship in Buckner, it would not be inconsistent with the reasoning of our supreme court to reject the conspiracy theory as a sufficient basis upon which jurisdiction can be premised. Ploense, 377 Ill. App. 3d at 1105-06, 882 N.E.2d at 666. Accordingly, Ploense concluded that the Chrome Coalition had insufficient individual contacts with Illinois in that it never purposefully availed itself of the benefits and protections of Illinois laws, that plaintiffs never alleged that it targeted residents of this state with its misinformation, and that there was no evidence that the association had any agreements with chrome producers regarding Illinois. Ploense, 377 Ill. App. 3d at 1106-07, 882 N.E.2d at 667-68.