The Atlantic Legal Foundation, joined by the DRI Center for Law and Public Policy, has filed an amicus brief in Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. Horn, No. 23-365, urging the Supreme Court to address the question of whether personal injury claims can be transformed into treble-damages civil RICO suits.

Horn v. Medical Marijuana, Inc. is a seemingly ordinary product liability suit involving a legal, non-psychoactive, CBD wellness product. The Second Circuit held, however, that the truck driver plaintiff, who lost his job after ingesting the product and then failing a routine drug test, can maintain a civil RICO claim for lost wages and other employment-related economic harm against the product’s producers. They have filed a certiorari petition requesting the Supreme Court to rule that civil RICO claims do not encompass economic harms resulting from personal injuries.

The ALF/DRI amicus brief argues that the Supreme Court should grant certiorari and reverse the Second Circuit to deter forum-shopping plaintiffs from circumventing state tort reform laws by transforming product liability suits into civil RICO treble-damages actions. Civil RICO’s expansive venue provision allows plaintiffs to sue practically anywhere. Unless the Supreme Court intercedes, plaintiffs will try to avoid state product liability reforms by filing in circuits that allow civil RICO claims for personal injury-related economic harms. Allowing such suits would greatly exacerbate the already skyrocketing costs of product liability litigation, and adversely affect product innovation and the public.

The amicus brief was authored by Sarah Spencer of Christensen & Jensen and ALF Executive Vice President & General Counsel Larry Ebner. Valuable pro bono assistance also was provided by Joe Hollingsworth, Bill Cople, and Elyse Shimada of Hollingsworth LLP.