Lincoln Electric Co. v. Gaither

Ruffin, Judge.

In ten lower court cases, over 350 plaintiffs, including Bobby Gaither, sued over forty companies, including Lincoln Electric Company, alleging that they were injured as a result of exposure to welding fumes. The defendants filed a consolidated motion to sever, arguing that the plaintiffs improperly joined their claims. The trial court denied the motion, and we granted the defendants’ petition for interlocutory appeal. For reasons that follow, we reverse.

1. As a threshold matter, we must address a shortcoming with respect to the parties’ citation to the record. Under our rules,…