Mealey's Toxic Torts : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Toxic Torts

January 14, 2026
2 PFAS Makers Remove Case, Claim Immunity In Wrongful Death Lawsuit

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Two makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on Jan. 13 removed to Illinois federal court a lawsuit brought by a woman who asserts claims for wrongful death and other injuries in connection with her husband’s cancer that she says was caused by his exposure to PFAS and other chemicals during his time working at an oil refinery. In their notice for removal, the manufacturers argue that they are immune from tort liability.
January 14, 2026
Defendant Denies PFAS Claims, Says Plaintiffs Contributed To Alleged Injuries

BOSTON — A defendant in a consolidated class action for drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) filed an answer in Massachusetts federal court on Jan. 13 denying all allegations and asserting affirmative defenses including one for contributory negligence, contending that the “plaintiffs’ own conduct caused or contributed to their alleged injuries.”
January 14, 2026
Water Authority Says It Has Sufficiently Pleaded PFAS Contamination Claims

WHEELING, W.Va. — A water authority that is suing numerous companies to recover costs associated with removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have tainted local sources of drinking water under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act filed a brief in West Virginia federal court arguing that the motion to dismiss the complaint filed by two of the defendants should be denied because the plaintiffs say they have adequately alleged that the two defendants in question operated a metal facility that released PFAS into the local groundwater.
January 13, 2026
Defendants Say Plaintiffs Do Not Properly Plead Claims For Mercury Exposure Injury

ATLANTA — Contractors who are defendants in a lawsuit brought by plaintiffs who contend they have been injured by mercury in local drinking water and through exposure at an industrial facility where they worked have filed a reply brief in Georgia federal court arguing that the plaintiffs “broad-brush allegations fall far short of the required pleading standards, warranting dismissal of all claims.” Olin Corp., another defendant, filed a reply brief arguing that the plaintiffs’ fraudulent concealment claims are not properly pled.
January 13, 2026
Lead-Contaminated Water Coverage Suit Will Remain In Federal Court, Judge Says

LANSING, Mich. — An insured city’s lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying bodily injury suits stemming from lead-contaminated water supplied by the city will remain in federal court, a Michigan federal judge said after determining that complete diversity of citizenship exists because the underlying plaintiffs, named as defendants by the insured city, must be realigned as plaintiffs based on the fact that their interests are aligned with the insured.
January 12, 2026
Plaintiffs Make ‘A Sufficient Start’ Towards Jurisdiction In PFAS Case, Judge Says

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut on Jan. 9 denied motions to dismiss an injury lawsuit related to exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances(PFAS) brought by firefighters and granted the plaintiffs’ motion for jurisdictional discovery, ruling that the allegations are “a sufficient start” toward establishing jurisdiction.
January 12, 2026
High Court Denies Review Of Jurisdiction Ruling In PFAS Exposure Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 denied review of an insured’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that a district court erred in remanding a declaratory judgment claim and retaining jurisdiction over breach of contract and bad faith claims in a dispute over coverage for underlying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure suits.
January 07, 2026
COMMENTARY: 2025 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends, & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2026

By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Jordan W.P. Evans
January 06, 2026
Insured Urges High Court To Review Jurisdiction Ruling In PFAS Exposure Suit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An insured urges the U.S. Supreme Court to grant its petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that a district court erred in remanding a declaratory judgment claim and retaining jurisdiction over breach of contract and bad faith claims in a dispute over coverage for underlying per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure suits, noting in its reply brief that the case presents an “ideal opportunity” to resolve a split among the circuits regarding when a district court is required to exercise discretion over mixed claims.
January 05, 2026
At Supreme Court, And Beyond, Monsanto Relies On Schaffner Preemption Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The latest chapter in the long-running saga of litigation involving Monsanto Co. and plaintiffs who contend that they have been injured by exposure to the herbicide Roundup involves Monsanto’s reliance on the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals preemption ruling in Schaffner v. Monsanto Corp., which Monsanto has made central to its argument in three petitions for a writ of certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court. The cases are set for conference on Jan. 9.
January 05, 2026
Man Insists Indiana Statute Does Not Bar His $250M Cancer Claim Against Monsanto

PHILADELPHIA — A pro se plaintiff has filed a reply brief in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that a lower court incorrectly ruled that his claim for $250 million against Monsanto Co., in which he alleges that exposure to the herbicide Roundup caused him to develop cancer, is barred by the statute of repose in the Indiana Products Liability Act.
January 05, 2026
Judge Denies Amazon’s Bid To Dismiss Case Over Heavy Metals In Rice It Sold

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington has denied Amazon.com Inc.’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a consumer who contends the website is liable for damages and fraudulent concealment in relation to rice that he bought that contained arsenic and other heavy metals. The judge ruled that the plaintiff plausibly alleged that Amazon has a duty to disclose the presence of heavy metals in rice products because that information is “not publicly known or easily discoverable.”
January 05, 2026
PFAS Defendant: Allegations Are ‘Insufficient’ To Show Purposeful Contact

WHEELING, W.Va. — A defendant in a lawsuit seeking to recover the costs associated with removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have tainted local sources of drinking water under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) has filed a reply brief in West Virginia federal court arguing that the allegations are “insufficient to demonstrate any purposeful contact” between the defendant and the state of West Virginia.
January 02, 2026
9th Circuit Panel Reverses, Says Chemical Exposure Case Belongs In Federal Court

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has reversed and remanded a toxic chemical exposure case, ruling that a lower court relied on an unpublished opinion that is not the law of the circuit when it remanded the case based on the local controversy exception in the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).
January 02, 2026
Judge: Flint Bellwether Plaintiffs’ Tort Claims Against Government Not Time-Barred

DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan has ruled that the U.S. government has failed to satisfy its burden of showing that the claims of any bellwether plaintiff are time-barred in the $722.4 million Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against the government related to the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint.
January 02, 2026
Parties Reach $17.25M Deal To Resolve Dispute Over Ohio Train Case Settlement

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has approved a stipulated settlement between Kroll Settlement Administration (KSA) and class counsel in the litigation related to the 2023 derailment of a train operated by Norfolk Southern Corp. in East Palestine, Ohio, under which KSA will pay $17.25 million to compensate the settlement fund for “any alleged violations or errors” it committed in its administration of the $600 million settlement reached in that litigation in 2024.
December 23, 2025
Oregon Federal Judge Partially Adopts, Rejects Water Contamination Case Findings

PENDLETON, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon, in partially adopting and partially rejecting a magistrate judge’s findings of fact and recommendation, opined that some claims brought by residents against the Port of Morrow and several agricultural companies alleging violations of state law and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) due to groundwater contamination in the Lower Umatilla Basin should be adopted while others should be dismissed without prejudice.
December 19, 2025
Former Police Officers Sue City Agency For Brain Cancer From Radioactive Waste

PHILADELPHIA — A former Philadelphia police officer and his wife, as well as the administrators for the estates of two police officers, have individually sued a city agency alleging that it is liable for causing brain cancer because the agency developed a former ammunition arsenal that contained depleted Uranium-238 and radium and made the facility commercial property that housed the office for the Philadelphia Police Narcotics Unit. Former officer Joseph Cooney contends in his complaint that he is entitled to punitive damages for the agency’s “wanton” conduct that caused his glioblastoma multiforme.
December 19, 2025
Insured’s Partial Summary Judgment Motion In AFFF Coverage Suit Denied

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal magistrate judge denied an insured’s motion for partial summary judgment in an ongoing dispute over coverage for underlying lawsuits filed against an insured and alleging injuries related to exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) allegedly contained in aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) that were manufactured and sold by the insured after determining that issues pertaining to the payment of attorney fees are premature and that the parties’ briefing on the issue of whether an insurer has a duty to defend one of the underlying suits is not sufficient.
December 18, 2025
Insured’s Bad Faith Claim In Contamination Coverage Suit Cannot Proceed, Judge Says

NEWARK, N.J. — A bad faith claim alleged against a general liability insurer cannot proceed because the claim is duplicative of the breach of contract claim and the insured failed to meet its burden of showing that the insurer “lacked a fairly debatable reason” for denying the insured’s claim for environmental contamination cleanup costs, a New Jersey federal judge said Dec. 17 in granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss the bad faith claim.
December 18, 2025
Fracking Operator Says Injury Case Fails Because Claims Are ‘Legally Deficient’

PITTSBURGH — A hydraulic fracturing operator on Dec. 17 filed a reply brief in Pennsylvania federal court arguing that it should dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of minors who contend that the company is liable for damages because the claims are “unsupported and legally deficient.”
December 17, 2025
Couple: Stay Of Glyphosate Lawsuit Uncalled For Despite Related Supreme Court Case

WILMINGTON, Del. — The attorney for a couple that is suing Monsanto Co. in Delaware state court for injuries allegedly caused by exposure to the herbicide Roundup sent a letter to the presiding judge on Dec. 16 arguing that a stay of the case is not warranted despite activity in a related case in the U.S. Supreme Court and that the plaintiff husband “deserves a trial in his lifetime.”
December 16, 2025
Woman: Monsanto’s ‘Wrongful Conduct’ Related To Roundup Caused Her Cancer

WILMINGTON, Del. — A woman has sued Monsanto Co. and an affiliate in Delaware state court contending that her cancer is a “direct and proximate result of Defendant’s negligent and wrongful conduct” in relation to the manufacture and distribution of the herbicide Roundup, which she says is “defective, dangerous to human health, unfit and unsuitable to be marketed and sold in commerce, and has lacked, at all relevant times, proper warnings and directions as to the dangers associated with its use.”
December 16, 2025
Man With Cancer Says $1.25M Glyphosate Award Not Worthy Of Supreme Court Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A man who won a $1.25 million damages award for injuries from exposure to the herbicide Roundup filed a supplemental brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 16 contending that the U.S. government’s amicus curiae brief in support of Monsanto’s petition for review is “incomplete and unpersuasive” because there is no circuit split over whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) forbids Monsanto from warning consumers that exposure to Roundup can cause deadly cancer.
December 16, 2025
Jackson, Miss., Residents Say Criteria For En Banc Review Of Water Ruling Not Met

NEW ORLEANS — Residents of Jackson, Miss., on Dec. 15 filed an opposition brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the court should reject the city’s petition for rehearing en banc after a panel determined that the residents have valid due process claims related to lead contamination of the local drinking water supply. The residents argue that the petition does not meet the criteria set forth in United States v. Rosciano and the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure.