Hain Celestial Group v. Palmquist: Oral Argument

Case Summary:Hain Celestial Group v. Palmquist arises from a products‑liability suit brought by Grant and Sarah Palmquist on behalf of their son E.P., alleging that his physical and mental decline and diagnosis of heavy‑metal poisoning were caused by consuming Hain’s Earth’s Best organic baby foods purchased from Whole Foods. The Palmquists originally sued Hain and Whole Foods in Texas state court, Hain removed the case to federal court on diversity grounds, the district court dismissed non‑diverse Whole Foods as improperly joined, denied remand, and then granted judgment as a matter of law in Hain’s favor at trial, but the Fifth Circuit later vacated that judgment and ordered the case remanded to state court after concluding Whole Foods had been properly joined and complete diversity was lacking. The issue before the Supreme Court was whether a federal court of appeals may vacate a final merits judgment and order a case sent back to state court when it concludes, after that judgment, that complete diversity was lacking because a non‑diverse defendant (here, Whole Foods) was in fact properly joined and should not have been dismissed as “improperly joined” at the removal stage.