Louis E. Bellande and Bonnie L. Bellande v. 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare
Louis E. Bellande and Bonnie L. Bellande v. 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare, Inc.
- Joan Ericksen
- 0:16-cv-02700
- U.S. District Court · District of Minnesota
- 2
In Bellande v. 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare, Inc., Judge Ericksen denied Bonnie Bellande's motion to alter or amend the judgment dismissing her loss of consortium claim because her arguments could have been raised earlier and she did not show the dismissal was based on a clear legal error.
Bonnie Bellande, whose loss of consortium claim against 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare, Inc. remains dismissed with prejudice following denial of her post-judgment motion to reconsider.
What happened
This case is part of a large multi-district lawsuit (a consolidated proceeding combining many related cases) involving the Bair Hugger forced air warming device. Louis Bellande and Bonnie Bellande sued 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare, Inc. in August 2016. Louis's claims were dismissed in October 2018, and Bonnie's loss of consortium claim (a claim for harm suffered by a spouse due to injury to the other spouse) was dismissed with prejudice in January 2026.
After the court entered judgment against her, Bonnie Bellande asked for permission to file a motion asking the court to reconsider its dismissal. She then also filed a formal motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e), which allows a party to ask the court to correct clear legal or factual errors or consider newly discovered evidence shortly after a judgment is entered. The defendants opposed both requests.
Judge Ericksen denied Bonnie Bellande's Rule 59(e) motion. The court explained that the arguments she raised in her motion were available to her before judgment was entered but were not made in response to the defendants' earlier motion to dismiss — and that Rule 59(e) cannot be used to make arguments that could have been raised before judgment. The court also found that she had not shown the dismissal was based on a clear error of law.
The detailed version
This order arises within MDL No. 15-2666, the Bair Hugger Forced Air Warming Devices Products Liability Litigation in the District of Minnesota, specifically relating to Case No. 16-cv-2700 filed by Louis E. Bellande and Bonnie L. Bellande against 3M Company and Arizant Healthcare, Inc.
Louis Bellande's claims were dismissed in October 2018. Bonnie Bellande's claims — specifically a loss of consortium claim — were dismissed with prejudice in January 2026. Following entry of judgment, Bonnie Bellande sought permission to file a motion to reconsider under Local Rule 7.1(j), asserting she could also satisfy the requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e). She subsequently filed a Rule 59(e) motion. Defendants opposed.
Judge Joan N. Ericksen treated Bonnie Bellande's request for permission to reconsider as the functional equivalent of a Rule 59(e) motion to alter or amend the judgment, citing DuBose v. Kelly, 187 F.3d 999, 1002 (8th Cir. 1999), and Auto Servs. Co. v. KPMG, LLP, 537 F.3d 853, 855–57 (8th Cir. 2008). The court applied the standard from Innovative Home Health Care, Inc. v. P.T.-O.T. Assocs. of the Black Hills, 141 F.3d 1284, 1286 (8th Cir. 1998), which holds that Rule 59(e) motions serve only the limited purpose of correcting manifest (clear and obvious) errors of law or fact, or presenting newly discovered evidence, and may not be used to introduce arguments that could have been raised prior to judgment.
The court found two independent grounds to deny the motion: (1) the arguments Bonnie Bellande advanced were available to her before judgment but were not presented in response to defendants' motion to dismiss (MDL ECF No. 3023); and (2) she failed to demonstrate that dismissal of her claims rested on a manifest error of law.
Accordingly, Bonnie Bellande's Rule 59(e) motion (Docket Nos. 15 & 17) was DENIED. The order was signed by United States District Judge Joan N. Ericksen on February 20, 2026.
Reviewer note from the AI+
Read the full 2-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.