Kaufman v. Eli Lilly & Co.
New York Court of Appeals
482 N.E.2d 63 (1985)
Kaufman (plaintiff), diagnosed with cervical cancer at 18, sued numerous DES manufacturers, including Eli Lilly & Co. (defendant), alleging her cancer resulted from her mother's use of the drug during pregnancy, and asserted (among other theories) that the manufacturers had conspired in a concerted action to obtain approval of DES without adequate testing. Kaufman was one of 15 similar plaintiffs; the first case tried, Bichler v. Lilly & Co., resulted in a jury verdict against Lilly that included a specific finding of concerted-action liability, affirmed on appeal. Kaufman then sought partial summary judgment giving preclusive (collateral estoppel) effect to six of the Bichler jury's findings, including the concerted-action finding. The appellate division granted this but allowed Lilly to appeal.
Whether, under the doctrine of collateral estoppel, an earlier judgment should be given preclusive effect where the party against whom it is used did not have a full and fair opportunity to contest the determination.