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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

January 03, 2025
Man Sues Samsung For Selling Smartwatch Bands He Says Contain PFAS

LOS ANGELES — A man has filed a putative class action against Samsung Electronics America Inc. in California federal court contending that it is liable for fraud and the violation of various consumer laws because the bands for several of its smartwatches “contain excessive levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS),” which the man says misleads consumers and causes them to “overpay for Products that do not deliver advertised benefits and to forego safe alternatives available on the market.”
January 02, 2025
DuPont Affiliates Object To Group’s Bid To Add Them To PFAS Drinking Water Case

BOSTON — E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and its affiliates, which are nonparties in a lawsuit over drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have filed a brief in Massachusetts federal court arguing that the Newark Group, one of the defendants in the case, should not be allowed to add the DuPont entities as additional defendants because they never sent any PFAS-tainted waste to the Massachusetts town where the plaintiffs live.
January 02, 2025
After More Than 4 Years, Judge Lifts Stay In Perchlorate Drinking Water Case

NEW YORK — More than four years after staying a case brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lack of regulation for perchlorate in drinking water, a federal judge in New York has issued an order stating that the parties have consented to the district court’s lifting of the stay.
January 02, 2025
Evidence Is ‘Insufficient’ To Link Paraquat To Parkinson’s Disease, Report Says

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) released a preliminary report on Dec. 30 about potential human health outcomes related to exposure to the pesticide paraquat, determining that overall there are “data gaps relative to impacts to the thyroid and birth defects that may be linked to adverse impacts from the use of paraquat,” and, with respect to an alleged link between paraquat exposure and Parkinson’s disease, “there is currently insufficient evidence to demonstrate a direct causal association with paraquat exposure and the increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.”
January 02, 2025
Multiple Glyphosate Injury Cases Sent To Roundup MDL

SAN FRANCISCO — Multiple cases brought against Monsanto Co. alleging injuries from exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, were transferred to California federal court on Dec. 31. In one of the complaints, which is indicative of the others, Gene Kelly alleges that Monsanto is liable for damages based on “wrongful conduct and negligence” related to the manufacture and marketing of Roundup.
January 02, 2025
Woman Says ‘Wanton Acts’ Related To Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Caused Her Cancer

MOBILE, Ala. — A woman with cancer who alleges that her injury was caused by exposure to toxic substances due to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill sued BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its affiliates in Alabama federal court, seeking compensatory and punitive damages for “reckless and/or willful and wanton acts.”
December 23, 2024
Florida Federal Judge Allows 5 Rebuttal Experts In Toxic Exposure Case

ORLANDO, Fla. — “Disagreement with an expert’s premises is classic cross-examination fodder” and not grounds for exclusion under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, a federal judge in Florida noted in an order denying five motions to exclude filed in an environmental contamination case.
December 20, 2024
DuPont: PFAS Class Should Be Decertified Because Key Parts Of Case Have Changed

WILMINGTON, N.C. — E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. has filed a brief in North Carolina federal court contending that a class action brought by residents pertaining to alleged contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) should be decertified because “over the course of the last year, several of the key premises advanced by Plaintiffs and relied on by this Court as the cornerstones for class certification have been revealed to be either no longer true, or never having been true.”
December 19, 2024
Panel Says Man Failed To Show Causation For His Alleged Chemical Exposure Injuries

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that a man claiming that he was injured by chemical exposure in the course of his work making a delivery of chemicals to a paper factor failed to establish medical causation and therefore the case was properly dismissed.
December 19, 2024
Judge Sends PFAS Case Back To Connecticut State Court On Jurisdictional Grounds

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut has remanded to state court a case brought by the state of Connecticut against E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. for contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), ruling that the state has disclaimed relief relating to any contamination arising on federal enclaves; therefore, the state’s claims arise “exclusively on nonfederal land” and as a result federal jurisdiction does not exist.
December 19, 2024
Attorney Closes Contentious PCB Trial Calling For $4.14B In Punitive Damages

SEATTLE — Closing arguments in a lawsuit alleging injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle area school concluded Dec. 18 in Washington state court, with plaintiffs’ counsel asking for $4.14 billion in punitive damages against Monsanto Co. for “generational harm” and Monsanto’s attorney objecting to that term while insisting that the evidence presented over the two-month trial is “inconsistent with the plaintiffs’ theory of Monsanto’s conduct.”
December 18, 2024
Government Seeks Exclusion Of Another Witness In Flint Water Tort Claims Act Case

DETROIT — The U.S. government on Dec. 17 filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court calling for the exclusion of yet another plaintiffs’ expert witness in the $722.4 million Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against the government related to the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., this time on grounds that a doctor’s “lack of medical training disqualifies her from offering testimony that would speculate about the etiologies” of the plaintiffs’ alleged physical conditions related to the contaminated water.
December 17, 2024
Plaintiffs Challenge Jurisdiction In Dismissal Of Drinking Water Case Claims

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A group of plaintiffs asserting claims of personal injury from exposure to trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, benzene and other chemicals in their drinking water have asked a federal judge in Indiana to alter or amend an opinion and order dismissing three claims for relief, stating that there is no subject matter jurisdiction because the judge concluded that the plaintiffs lack standing.
December 17, 2024
School: Monsanto ‘Squandered’ Discovery Order Extension, Another Is Not Warranted

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The Burlington School District (BSD) on Dec. 16 filed a brief in Vermont federal court contending that Monsanto Co. “squandered” the extra time it was granted as part of an extension of discovery in the BSD’s lawsuit alleging contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and that the district court should deny Monsanto’s motion for another extension.
December 16, 2024
Payment To Lead Abatement Fund Is Not Damages, Ohio Supreme Court Says

COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio appellate court erred in determining that an insured’s obligation to contribute to a lead paint abatement fund constitutes damages under insurance policies because the payment to the abatement fund was ordered to prevent future harm to children’s health from lead paint and does not constitute damages under insurance policies, the Ohio Supreme Court said in reversing the appellate court’s ruling and reinstating a trial court’s ruling.
December 16, 2024
City Says Residents Fail To Assert Constitutional Claims In Jackson Water Case

NEW ORLEANS — The city of Jackson, Miss., which is accused of contaminating the local drinking water supply with lead, has filed an appellee brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the lower court correctly held that the plaintiffs do not state constitutional violations in their complaint and that the individually named city defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.
December 13, 2024
Equity Firms Are Subject To Jurisdiction In Ethylene Oxide Case, Plaintiffs Say

LOS ANGELES — Individuals who are suing the operators of a commercial sterilization facility alleging injury from exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO) filed a brief in California state court opposing a motion to quash service of the summons in the case filed by two of the defendants that are private equity firms, arguing that by virtue of owning and controlling the company running the facility, the firms have engaged in activities that support both general and specific jurisdiction in California.
December 12, 2024
Legislators Renew Push For Embattled Attorney Steven Donziger To Be Pardoned

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The push to obtain a pardon for embattled environmental attorney Steven R. Donziger, who was embroiled in a litigation saga related to an $18.5 billion verdict he obtained against Chevron Corp. for its pollution of indigenous communities in Ecuador, picked up steam on Dec. 11 when U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., joined by more than 30 of his legislative colleagues, sent a letter on Donziger’s behalf to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. In an interview, McGovern told Mealey Publications that Chevron “with all of its assets, its endless wealth and its legal team weaponized the U.S. justice system.”
December 12, 2024
Texas Sues PFAS Makers For Profiting ‘Immensely’ Through Deceptive Trade Practices

CLEBURNE, Texas — Texas sued 3M Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in state court on Dec. 11, arguing that they manufactured and marketed consumer products that contain PFAS and “profited immensely” while they knew that the products posed risks to human health and the environment.
December 12, 2024
Government Insists Experts For Flint Plaintiffs In Tort Case Should Be Excluded

DETROIT — The U.S. government has filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court arguing that it should exclude the testimonies of two of the plaintiffs’ experts in the $722.4 million Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against the government related to the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., because in their opinions they draw “inadmissible legal conclusions.”
December 11, 2024
Judge: PFAS Defendant Must Produce Witness To Address Corporate Events After 2002

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina on Dec. 10 issued an order pertaining to all cases in the multidistrict litigation for the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), directing one of the defendants in the case to prepare and produce a witness to speak for the corporation pursuant to a notice of deposition under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6) on events that took place after 2002.
December 11, 2024
DuPont Wants Special Master’s Order Blocking Discovery In PFAS Case Reversed

TRENTON, N.J. — EIDP Inc., formerly E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and its affiliates filed a reply brief in New Jersey federal court on Dec. 10, arguing that it should reverse an order issued by the special master in the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) groundwater contamination case brought against the companies by the state of New Jersey because, contrary to the special master’s ruling, the declaration of a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) fails to satisfy the requirements of invoking the deliberative process privilege.
December 10, 2024
EPA Finalizes Rules That Ban Toxic Chemical Solvents, Require Worker Protections

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized risk management rules that ban use of the toxic chemicals trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE) and require worker protections under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
December 10, 2024
French Cosmetics Maker Says Hair Relaxer Case Fails For Lack Of Jurisdiction

CHICAGO — French cosmetics manufacturer L’Oreal SA has filed a brief supporting a motion to dismiss in Illinois federal court, arguing that a toxic chemical injury lawsuit against it connected to hair relaxer products should be rejected because the company “does not belong in this case” and U.S. courts lack jurisdiction over the company.
December 06, 2024
Jury Hands Medical Device Company A Win In Ethylene Oxide Wrongful Death Case

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania state court jury on Dec. 6 handed down a verdict in favor of a medical device company in a lawsuit brought by a widow who contended that the company’s use of ethylene oxide (EtO) at a facility where it sterilizes medical instruments caused her husband’s wrongful death.