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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

April 04, 2024
Insurer Says District Court Properly Found Coverage Is Barred For Cleanup Costs

ATLANTA — A district court’s ruling that no coverage is owed to an insured for contamination cleanup costs caused by the release of petroleum and other contaminants from an underground storage tank at a gas station must be affirmed because the district court correctly found that the claim for contamination cleanup costs incepted prior to the issuance of the policy and is, therefore, barred from coverage, the insurer says in its appellee brief filed in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal.
April 02, 2024
Judge Grants Final Approval To $12.5B PFAS Settlement Between 3M, Water Providers

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina has given final approval to a $12.5 billion class action settlement between 3M Co. and water providers who sued the company alleging that it was liable for contamination of drinking water with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In the order, the judge said that objections to the deal raised by the Ojibwe Tribe of Native Americans had been addressed.
April 01, 2024
Judge Dismisses Federal Claims Against School District For Lead, Asbestos Exposure

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal judge in Pennsylvania dismissed state-created danger and substantive due process bodily integrity claims brought by residents who contend that they were poisoned by exposure to lead and asbestos in schools in Scranton, Pa., but the judge declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ state law medical monitoring claim to allow them to file that claim in state court.
March 29, 2024
L’Oréal: Bid To Compel Responses In Hair Relaxer Case ‘Unwarranted And Improper’

CHICAGO — L’Oréal USA filed a brief in Illinois federal court on March 28 arguing that a motion to compel compliance with discovery orders filed by plaintiffs who contend they have been injured by chemicals in hair relaxer products is “unwarranted and improper” and that it has provided responses to interrogatories and there is nothing left to compel.
March 28, 2024
Judge Nixes Some Lead Claims Related To Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Products

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California on March 27 dismissed without prejudice California state law claims, including an unfair competition law (UCL) claim, against Trader Joe’s Co. related to allegations that its dark chocolate products contain lead and other heavy metals but denied dismissal with regard to claims brought pursuant to business practice laws in other states.
March 28, 2024
Glyphosate Cancer Plaintiff Says His Expert’s Opinions Have Not Been ‘Debunked’

SAN FRANCISCO — A man who sued Monsanto Co. for allegedly causing his cancer as a result of exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, on March 27 filed a brief in California federal court arguing that Monsanto’s arguments to exclude his expert witness fail because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not “debunked” the expert’s opinions.
March 28, 2024
Judge Dismisses PFAS Cosmetics Class For Failure To Adequately Plead Allegations

NEW YORK — A federal judge has dismissed a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) lawsuit against a cosmetics company, ruling that the class plaintiffs failed to adequately plead that the products in question contained PFAS and lacked standing.
March 27, 2024
Justice: Defendant May Obtain Plaintiff’s Medical Record Of Drug Use, But Not Of HIV

BRONX, N.Y. — A New York state court justice has ruled that a realty company sued for causing lead-paint poisoning injuries is entitled to the infant plaintiffs’ mother’s medical records related to her use of drugs and alcohol, but he determined that the realty company cannot access her medical history pertaining to HIV.
March 26, 2024
Plaintiffs Suing EPA Over Water Fluoridation Allege ‘Bureaucratic Lethargy’

SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs who sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly causing an “unreasonable risk of injury” due to the artificial fluoridation of drinking water have filed a brief in California federal court, arguing that the court “is confronted with precisely the scenario that Congress had in mind” when it enacted the citizen petition provision of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), namely, “an EPA that has let ‘bureaucratic lethargy’ undermine the appropriate enforcement of TSCA’s ‘vital authority’ for safeguarding public health.”
March 26, 2024
Jackson Water Crisis Case Fails, Portion Should Be Stricken, Defendant Says

JACKSON, Miss. — An engineering firm that is a defendant in the Jackson, Miss., water crisis litigation answered the second amended class complaint and moved to strike a portion of the complaint on grounds that it contains allegations that “have absolutely zero connection” to the firm’s scope of professional services in which it provided a water treatment system corrosion control study and engineering services to the city concerning its potable water system. In the answer, the firm denies all allegations and asserts 46 affirmative defenses, including failure to state a claim.
March 25, 2024
Panel: EPA Exceeded Authority With Order Stopping Company From Producing PFAS

NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has vacated orders issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ruling that the agency exceeded its authority when it issued the orders finding that a company that adds fluorination to plastic bottles and in that process creates per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is engaging in a “significant new use” for regulatory purposes.
March 22, 2024
Attorneys Ask President Biden To Pardon Embattled Attorney Steven Donziger

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A legal collective has sent a letter to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. seeking 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, arguing that he was subject to arbitrary detention for 993 days on a Class B misdemeanor contempt charge prosecuted by a private law firm working for Chevron after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to pursue the case.
March 21, 2024
AFFF Maker Seeks Ruling That Pollution Exclusions Do Not Bar Liability Claims

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A company that makes the firefighting agent known as aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) has moved in South Carolina federal court for partial summary judgment against a group of insurers asking the court to find that the product liability and common-law causes of action alleging bodily injury and/or property damage that have been asserted against the company in the multidistrict litigation are not excluded from coverage by pollution exclusions.
March 21, 2024
Glyphosate Cancer Plaintiff Appeals Defense Verdict In Missouri State Court

ST LOUIS — A man who lost his glyphosate cancer lawsuit against Monsanto Co. has filed a notice of appeal in Missouri state court following the trial judge’s denial of his motion for a new trial.
March 20, 2024
Cancer Plaintiff Says New Roundup Trial Needed, Defense Verdict Based On ‘Errors’

PHILADELPHIA — A man who lost his glyphosate cancer case to Monsanto Co. has filed a motion and brief in Pennsylvania state court arguing that he is entitled to a new trial “on the basis of the Court’s evidentiary errors that prejudiced the outcome of the trial.”
March 19, 2024
In Toxic Landfill Case, N.Y. Federal Judge Partly Grants Summary Judgment Motion

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Summary judgment is not appropriate for personal injury claims brought by a group of residents of North Tonawanda, N.Y., who allege that they were affected by toxic substances at a landfill in Wheatfield, N.Y., because the residents were not given the opportunity to present expert witness reports regarding their injuries, a New York federal judge found in partly granting a motion for summary judgment filed by Wheatfield and a group of companies that allegedly contributed to pollution at the landfill.
March 19, 2024
L’Oreal: Mascara Plaintiffs Fail To Plead Plausible Basis For PFAS Claims

NEW YORK — L’Oreal USA Inc. has filed a reply brief in New York federal court contending that it should dismiss a lawsuit brought by plaintiffs who argue that the cosmetics company is liable for making and selling mascara that contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) because the plaintiffs fail to plead a plausible basis for the assumption that L’Oreal’s mascaras were “certain to be free from any trace of PFAS.”
March 19, 2024
Water District Seeks To Intervene To Object To $1.18B AFFF PFAS Settlement

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Class counsel in the multidistrict litigation for the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which contains per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), filed a brief in South Carolina federal court on March 18, arguing that a California water district’s motion to intervene for the purpose of filing an appeal of a $1.18 billion class settlement that recently received final approval should be denied because the motion is untimely due to the fact that the water district waived its ability to challenge the settlement because it opted out of the deal.
March 18, 2024
Judge Cuts Roundup Punitive Damages Award By More Than $950M, Denies New Trial

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A state judge in Missouri on March 15 reduced the punitive damages awards for three plaintiffs from $1.5 billion to $549.9 million against Monsanto Co. for injuries from exposure to the herbicide Roundup but denied Monsanto’s motion for a new trial and its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV). The judge also issued orders for each of the plaintiffs amending their respective awards.
March 18, 2024
Judge: Norfolk Southern’s Bid To Dismiss Train Case Fails; Third-Party Claims Valid

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has granted in part and denied in part the motion to dismiss filed by Norfolk Southern and Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (collectively, Norfolk Southern) in litigation pertaining to alleged injuries and the release of toxic chemicals from the derailment of a train in East Palestine, Ohio, ruling that the plaintiffs’ allegations are sufficient to overcome Norfolk Southern’s preemption argument. The judge also issued two other rulings: one on railcar owners’ motions to dismiss the master complaint and one on the owners’ motions to dismiss Norfolk Southern’s third-party complaint.
March 15, 2024
Magistrate: Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs Are Entitled To ‘Exotic’ Files Of Water Tests

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal magistrate judge in North Carolina has ruled that plaintiffs in the lawsuit over drinking water contamination at the U.S. Marine Corps Base at Camp Lejeune are entitled to “exotic” modeling files in their native format that pertain to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s (ATSDR) testing at the site.
March 15, 2024
Monsanto Again Seeks To Exclude Witness In Roundup Case, This Time Under Daubert

SAN FRANCISCO — Monsanto Co. has filed a motion in California federal court seeking to exclude a plaintiffs’ expert witness in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit for a second time, arguing that under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the witness’ testimony does not “fit” the facts of the case and is based on debunked science.
March 15, 2024
Plaintiffs: Stone Countertop Companies Are Liable For Pulmonary Injuries

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Three toxic injury lawsuits were filed by workers in California state court against the makers of stone countertops, arguing that the defendants are liable for pulmonary injuries because the workers were exposed to crystalline silica while cutting the stone slabs. In one case, which is indicative of all of the cases, a man with silicosis contends that the defendants fraudulently concealed the toxic hazards of their stone products.
March 14, 2024
Judge Finds Flint In Contempt For Failure To Replace Water Services Lines

DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan has held Flint, Mich., in contempt for its failure to replace all of the city’s drinking water service lines that contain lead, ruling that “it has no good reason for its failures,” which are a violation of a settlement reached in 2017.
March 14, 2024
Flint Engineering Firm Defends Actions In Row Over Attacks On Plaintiffs’ Attorney

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The attorney for an engineering firm that is a defendant and party to a $25 million class settlement in the Flint, Mich., lead-contaminated water litigation has filed a letter brief in Michigan federal court related to the dispute that has arisen over what actions the firm took in connection with an incident in which the plaintiffs’ counsel was the subject of verbal attacks, supposedly in response to public comments he had made about Flint. The attorney says he is “confident” that any activities the firm took in response to those public comments are “truthful, appropriate, and fully within its First Amendment right to comment on a matter of public significance.”