Mealey's Toxic Torts
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August 16, 2022
Monsanto Denies Glyphosate Causes Cancer, Says Roundup Carries Proper Warnings
SAN FRANCISCO — Monsanto Co. on Aug. 11 filed its answer in California federal court denying responsibility for causing a cancer victim’s injury and maintaining that the plaintiff cannot proffer any scientifically reliable evidence that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, causes cancer or is defective or “unreasonably dangerous.” It also contends that Roundup is sold with proper warning labels.
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August 11, 2022
Flint Water Bellwether Case Ends In Mistrial As Juror Breaks Down In Tears
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A federal magistrate judge who had just stepped in and begun presiding over the Flint water crisis bellwether trial for U.S. Judge Judith E. Levy of the Eastern District of Michigan on Aug. 11 declared a mistrial after a juror broke down in tears and the jury told the magistrate judge that further deliberations would not result in a unanimous verdict, sources told Mealey Publications.
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August 11, 2022
Residents Say Companies Caused ‘Environmental Disaster’ With PFAS Contamination
BOSTON — Residents on Aug. 2 sued assorted companies in Massachusetts federal court contending that they are liable for an “environmental disaster” related to drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which was caused by their “intentional, reckless, and/or negligent acts and omissions” that discharged the chemicals into the local water supply.
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August 11, 2022
Agency: PFAS Makers Hid Toxicity Information, DuPont Fraudulently Moved Assets
CHARLESTON, S.C. — A drinking water authority on Aug. 8 sued 3M Co., E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in South Carolina federal court, alleging that they are liable for contaminating the water supply, concealing information about the toxicity of PFAS for decades and, with respect to DuPont, fraudulently transferring assets to spinoff companies to protect against potential liability judgments.
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August 11, 2022
Judge: Limitation Period Nixes Injury Claims Against 1 Defendant But Not The Other
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana on Aug. 8 dismissed one chemical company and denied dismissal of another in an injury lawsuit filed by a man who alleges that the companies’ release of ethylene oxide (EtO) caused him to develop cancer. The judge said the claims were barred by a one-year prescriptive period, which operates as a statute of limitations in Louisiana, but only as to one of the defendants.
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August 10, 2022
Municipality Sues 3M, DuPont, Others For Concealing Known Dangers Of PFAS
NORRISTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania municipality sued the 3M Co., DuPont de Nemours & Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in state court on July 29, contending that they knew about, yet concealed, the dangers of PFAS in the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which has contaminated local groundwater.
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August 10, 2022
Parkinson’s Victim: Companies Deliberately Misled Public About Risks Of Paraquat
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A man who suffers from Parkinson’s disease on Aug. 9 sued the makers of the pesticide paraquat in Illinois federal court contending that they acted with “oppression, fraud, and malice” because they were fully aware of the risks associated with paraquat yet they “deliberately crafted their label, marketing, and promotion” of the pesticide to mislead farmers and consumers.
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August 10, 2022
Flint Judge Steps Aside For Medical Reasons As Jury Continues Deliberations
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — U.S. Judge Judith E. Levy of the Eastern District of Michigan, who has presided over deliberations in the Flint, Mich., water crisis bellwether trial, is temporarily stepping aside and handing her duties to a magistrate judge due to an unspecified medical issue, pursuant to an order issued Aug. 9.
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August 09, 2022
Baby Food Case Against Gerber Is Valid Due To Concealment, Plaintiffs Say
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A group of plaintiffs on Aug. 5 filed a brief in Virginia federal court contending that it should not dismiss their case against baby food maker Gerber Products Co. because they have standing to pursue claims that Gerber concealed the presence and risk of toxic heavy metals in their products.
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August 09, 2022
Attorney Assails Plaintiffs’ Counsel For ‘Demonizing’ Monsanto As PCB Trial Starts
SEATTLE — An attorney for Monsanto Co. on Aug. 8 started her opening arguments in a lawsuit in Washington state court by attacking the plaintiffs’ attorney’s just-completed opening remarks as “all about demonizing Monsanto, not about finding the truth” and said the case is about “fear, not facts” as the plaintiffs seek what the attorney called a large payout of $215 million for alleged neurological injuries in students and their parents from the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in light fixtures at a Seattle area school.
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August 09, 2022
Cancer Victim: Monsanto Liable For ‘Fraudulent Concealment’ Of Roundup’s Dangers
FLORENCE, S.C. — A cancer victim on Aug. 5 sued Monsanto Co. in South Carolina federal court contending that it is liable for causing his injury because the company engaged in “fraudulent concealment of the true character, quality, and nature” of the herbicide Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate, a chemical the plaintiff says Monsanto knew, or should have known, is associated with an increased risk of developing cancer.
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August 04, 2022
Chemists Challenge EPA’s ‘Interim’ Health Advisories For PFAS In Drinking Water
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Chemistry Council (ACC) on July 29 filed a petition in the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals seeking review of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lifetime drinking water advisories for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), contending the EPA’s “scientifically flawed and procedurally improper ‘interim’ health advisories” are the result of “egregious procedural and substantive errors” om violation of federal law.
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August 04, 2022
Roundup Trial Begins With Debate Over Cancer, Cries Of ‘Half-Truths’, ‘Untruths’
ST. LOUIS — In opening arguments Aug. 3, the attorney for three cancer victims described Roundup maker Monsanto Co. as being more interested in combatting scientific studies showing its product was dangerous than in protecting the public, while Monsanto’s attorney insisted that the herbicide does not cause cancer as he contended that the plaintiffs’ attorney’s opening remarks contained “half-truths” and “untruths.”
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August 03, 2022
Monsanto Says En Banc Review Needed, Ruling On Glyphosate Safety Threatens ‘Chaos’
ATLANTA — On Aug. 2, Monsanto Co. filed a petition in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals seeking en banc review of its decision that reversed and remanded a glyphosate cancer case, arguing that the ruling “trivializes” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s safety determinations about pesticides “threatening chaos for settled preemption principles.”
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August 01, 2022
Exxon Bid To Limit New Jersey’s Damages In MTBE MDL Rejected
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge presiding over the methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) multidistrict litigation on July 27 denied a motion to dismiss by Exxon Mobil Corp. in which the oil company sought a limit on the damages New Jersey may seek in connection with MTBE contamination of state waters.
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August 01, 2022
New Jersey Panel Vacates Dismissal Of Contract Claims Over Plume
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — In a July 21 unpublished holding, a New Jersey appellate court said a “reasonable interpretation” of an agreement of sale supports breach of contract claims over a trust’s responsibility for remediating groundwater contamination caused by underground gasoline storage tanks at a property it conveyed in 2000.
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July 29, 2022
Couple Says Paraquat Makers Knew It Was ‘Highly Toxic’ But Concealed Information
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — On July 27, a couple sued a group of chemical companies in Illinois federal court contending that they are liable for the husband’s development of Parkinson’s disease from exposure to the pesticide paraquat, which the couple contends the defendants made and sold when they knew, or should have known, it was “a highly toxic substance that can cause severe neurological injuries and impairment” including Parkinson’s disease.
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July 29, 2022
Cancer Victim: Chemical Injury Case Is Timely Because Tortious Conduct Is Ongoing
NEW ORLEANS — A cancer victim on July 26 filed a brief in Louisiana federal court opposing a chemical plant’s motion to dismiss his chemical injury lawsuit, contending the defendant’s tortious conduct is ongoing and it is causing successive damages.
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July 29, 2022
Residents Say Sanctions Order In Fracking Case Violates Due Process; Stay Sought
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Landowners with water pollution claims related to hydraulic fracturing moved with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) on July 22 to stay an order sanctioning them for bad faith and harassment against a fracking operator until the conclusion of pending appeals in related cases that challenge the order on due process grounds.
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July 28, 2022
Panel Reverses, Says Evidence Does Not Support Jury Award, But Requires New Trial
EL PASO, Texas — An appellate panel in Texas on July 27 reversed and remanded a chemical injury case, ruling that a new trial is needed because the plaintiff presented enough evidence of actual damages, but that same evidence was “legally insufficient” to support the jury’s finding that the incident of his chemical exposure caused all the medical expenses awarded by the jury.