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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

November 20, 2023
Man: ‘Unreasonably Dangerous Condition’ Of Paraquat Caused His Parkinson’s Disease

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A man sued the makers of the pesticide paraquat in Illinois federal court on Nov. 17 contending that he developed Parkinson’s disease “as a direct and proximate result of the defective and unreasonably dangerous condition” of paraquat and that the manufacturers breached their warranty to him as a customer because the product was “not of merchantable quality.”
November 20, 2023
Supreme Court, Amid Dissent, Refuses To Hear DuPont’s Appeal Of $40M PFAS Verdict

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 20 refused to hear a case brought by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. in which the company contended that a lower court’s decision affirming a $40 million per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) verdict against it is “deeply flawed” because it misapplies Supreme Court precedent by allowing the results of “a handful of early trials to preclude trial on key issues across an entire” multidistrict litigation. Justice Clarence Thomas authored a dissent, saying he would have granted review because “expansive use of nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel in the MDL context raises serious due process concerns.”
November 17, 2023
Judge Stays Discovery Pending Appeal Of Immunity Ruling In Drinking Water Case

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan has granted a stay of discovery pending an appeal in a lead-contaminated water lawsuit, ruling that whether the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity is “an abstract issue of law suitable for appellate review.”
November 17, 2023
Leasing Company Says It Had No Role In Chemical Release From Ohio Train Derailment

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A railcar leasing company has filed a reply brief in Ohio federal court seeking dismissal of the amended master complaint filed by residents of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia related to a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, arguing that the leasing company played no role in the derailment or the subsequent actions in which railroad operators Norfolk Southern Corp. and Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (collectively, Norfolk Southern) vented and burned the toxic chemicals.
November 14, 2023
Maryland Appeals Court Upholds Expert Testimony In Lead Exposure Case

BALTIMORE — A Maryland appeals court affirmed a more than $2 million jury verdict for lead exposure in paint after finding that the expert who opined that a man’s injuries were caused by his early childhood exposure was properly admitted.
November 06, 2023
La. Federal Judge Denies Summary Judgment Motion In Creosote Contamination Row

LAKE CHARLES, La. — A railroad company is not entitled to summary judgment on claims that it contributed to contamination of a property because there are genuine issues of fact regarding whether it was aware of the contamination and whether creosote-soaked wooden poles were loaded onto its rail cars, a Louisiana federal judge found on Nov. 3 in denying the company’s motion for summary judgment.
November 06, 2023
Residents: DuPont Liable For Injuries, ‘Reckless’ Dumping Of PFAS In N.C. River

NEW BERN, N.C. — Residents have sued Corteva Inc. and other affiliates of the company formerly known as E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. in North Carolina federal court contending that they are liable for “a nearly four decades-long history” of discharging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into the Cape Fear River, polluting the primary source of local drinking water in conduct that was “so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether injury would result.”
November 03, 2023
Couple Says Paraquat Makers Are Liable For Husband’s Parkinson’s Disease

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A couple has sued the makers of the pesticide paraquat in Illinois federal court contending that the husband developed Parkinson’s disease as a result of exposure to the chemical and that the companies knew it was “inherently defective and unreasonably dangerous.”
November 03, 2023
8th Circuit Vacates Ban On Chlorpyrifos, Says EPA Had ‘Narrow View’ Of Its Authority

ST. LOUIS — A panel of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 2 vacated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s rule banning the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos in agriculture, ruling that the agency had a “too-narrow view of its own authority” and had an obligation to anticipate the effects of its actions. The panel remanded the matter to the EPA for further consideration.
November 02, 2023
Pennsylvania Schools Say Train Derailment Case Should Not Be Transferred To Ohio

PITTSBURGH — Multiple school districts have filed a brief in Pennsylvania federal court arguing that their lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Corp. and Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (collectively, Norfolk Southern) related to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that led to the release of toxic chemicals in the air and groundwater should not be transferred to Ohio federal court because their claims arise from contamination in Pennsylvania.
November 02, 2023
Judge Tosses Deepwater Horizon Case After Excluding Plaintiff’s Causation Expert

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana has dismissed a lawsuit brought against BP Exploration & Production Inc. and others by a man who alleged that he was injured by exposure to toxic chemicals from his work as an onshore cleanup worker following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The judge excluded the plaintiff’s medical expert and ruled that without the expert the plaintiff could not establish general causation.
November 02, 2023
Flint Class Plaintiffs Propose $8M Settlement With Engineering Firm

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The class plaintiffs in the Flint water crisis litigation have moved in Michigan federal court for preliminary approval of an $8 million settlement with one of the firms that provided engineering and consulting services to the city of Flint.
November 02, 2023
Jury Awards $175M To Man With Cancer In Roundup Trial Against Monsanto

PHILADELPHIA — On Oct. 27, a state court jury in Pennsylvania awarded a man with cancer $175 million in combined damages, finding that Monsanto Co. is liable for his injuries from exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.
November 01, 2023
California Jury Hits Monsanto With $332M Roundup Verdict, Says Company Was Negligent

SAN DIEGO — A jury in California on Oct. 31 awarded a man with cancer $332 million in combined damages against Monsanto Co., finding the company liable for negligence, design defect and failure to warn with regard to the hazards associated with its herbicide Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate. The jury said Monsanto’s failure to warn was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s cancer.
October 31, 2023
Michigan High Court Refuses To Hear Flint Felony Case Against Former Governor

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court on Oct. 31 denied review of a felony case brought by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office against former Gov. Rick Snyder related to the Flint, Mich., water crisis, stating that the court is “not persuaded that the question presented should be reviewed.” Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a press release in response to the Supreme Court’s order saying it “effectively closes the door on the criminal prosecutions of the government officials the People alleged to be responsible for the Flint Water Crisis, without the People being permitted to admit a single item of evidence in open court.”
October 31, 2023
Magistrate Judge Nixes 2 Of Monsanto’s Experts, 1 Plaintiff Witness In PCB Trial

SEATTLE — A federal magistrate judge in Washington has excluded two expert witnesses that Monsanto Co. sought to use in a polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination lawsuit, ruling that Monsanto failed to justify the late disclosure of one expert’s report and that the other expert’s report was based on “unreliable methodology and data” obtained from the first expert. The magistrate judge also excluded one of the plaintiff’s rebuttal witnesses due to her lack of “foundation of knowledge.”
October 27, 2023
Residents Insist Sanctions Warranted In Water Case Due To Destruction Of Evidence

HONOLULU — Residents who are suing the U.S. government on Oct. 26 filed a reply brief in Hawaii federal court contending that sanctions are warranted because the government admits to destroying text message electronic evidence of two senior military leaders involved in the response to drinking water contamination that has been traced to errors made by personnel in charge of a jet fuel storage facility.
October 27, 2023
Judge Partially Denies Motion To Compel Documents In PCB Case Against Monsanto

CHICAGO — A federal magistrate judge in Illinois has partially granted and partially denied a motion by the state seeking to compel Monsanto Co. to produce documents in a lawsuit over alleged statewide contamination of waterways by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). With regard to a request for documents related to third-party consultants, the judge ruled that the request is “overbroad, unduly burdensome and likely requests irrelevant information.”
October 27, 2023
Flint Water Crisis Law Firms Say Fee Dispute Filed By Former Colleagues Is Barred

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Two law firms moved in Michigan federal court to dismiss a lawsuit brought against them for breach of contract by a law firm that contends that it is entitled to a greater share of attorney fees in relation to an agreement between the parties for representing plaintiffs in the class action involving the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich. The two defendant law firms say the suit should be dismissed because it is barred by collateral estoppel.
October 27, 2023
Man Says Companies Knew Paraquat Causes Neurological Injury And Still Sold It

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A man representing a deceased woman’s estate has sued the makers of the pesticide paraquat, arguing that they are liable for wrongful conduct because they knowingly sold a product that is toxic and causes neurological injuries, including Parkinson’s disease.
October 26, 2023
Schools’ Train Derailment Case Should Be Moved To Ohio, Norfolk Southern Says

PITTSBURGH — Norfolk Southern Corp. and Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (collectively, Norfolk Southern) have filed a brief in Pennsylvania federal court arguing that a lawsuit brought by several school districts alleging that “negligent, reckless, ultrahazardous, and/or intentional conduct” led to the release of toxic chemicals in the air and groundwater when a train operated by Norfolk Southern derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, should be transferred to the Ohio federal court where train derailment lawsuits have been consolidated.
October 25, 2023
Monsanto, Woman With Cancer Stipulate To Dismissal Of Her Roundup Lawsuit

ABINGDON, Va. — Monsanto Co. and a woman with cancer, who is a non-citizen farmworker, on Oct. 24 stipulated in Virginia federal court to dismissal with prejudice of her lawsuit for alleged injury from exposure to the herbicide Roundup but did not provide details. The plaintiff had argued that Monsanto and her former lawyers deprived her of her rights when they reneged on a settlement offer that would have allocated multiple plaintiffs $120,000 each.
October 24, 2023
Water Districts Seek To Intervene In $1.18 Billion AFFF Settlement With DuPont

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Two water districts have filed a joint motion to intervene in a South Carolina federal court case in which a proposed class settlement of more than $1.18 billion related to claims of drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in connection with the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) has been preliminarily approved, arguing that key terms in the agreement could be interpreted in a way that would affect the districts’ potential claims for a share of the settlement amount.
October 24, 2023
Monsanto: Roundup Claims Fail For Lack Of ‘Scientifically Reliable Evidence’

SAN FRANCISCO — Monsanto Co. filed an answer on Oct. 23 in California federal court denying all allegations brought by a woman who says she developed cancer after being exposed to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate. Monsanto says the claims fail because the plaintiff “cannot proffer any scientifically reliable evidence that the products at issue were defective or unreasonably dangerous.”
October 23, 2023
Plaintiff: Utility Company’s Defense In PFAS Pollution Case ‘Rings Hollow’

ROME, Ga. — A man seeking certification of a class of plaintiffs suing the 3M Co., E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and others for water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has filed a brief in Georgia federal court arguing that Dalton Utilities, which is one of the defendants, is not entitled to summary judgment. The plaintiff says Dalton Utilities’ argument that the nuisance cannot be abated because it is expensive “rings hollow.”