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Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • 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 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.

  • December 15, 2025

    Judge Won’t Transfer Class Suit Over Lead In Tampons To Ohio

    SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge denied a tampon manufacturer’s motion to transfer a putative class action lawsuit accusing it of concealing the presence of lead in its tampons in violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) to federal court in Ohio, where similar claims have been brought against it, finding that transfer would not be convenient for the California-based plaintiffs.

  • December 15, 2025

    COMMENTARY: 2025 Updated Primer On PFAS/Forever Chemical Claims Regulation, Litigation & Insurance Coverage Issues

    By Scott M. Seaman and Gar N. Lauerman

  • December 15, 2025

    Judge Denies Bid For Summary Judgment In Chemical Exposure Case

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California has ruled that a class of residents presented substantial evidence that groundwater contamination from volatile organic compounds(VOCs) stemming from circuit board production and other chemical processes has migrated through the soil and onto their property, raising a genuine dispute as to whether there has been physical damage, and, therefore, that the defendants are not entitled to summary judgment on the claims raised by the class.

  • December 02, 2025

    COMMENTARY: PFAS Causation: What Current Scientific Evaluations Suggest About Alleged Health Effects

    By Brian D. Gross, Max Swetman and Mikaela K. Barbour

  • December 12, 2025

    PFAS Makers Say Federal Contractor Defense Bars PFAS Claims Against Them

    RALEIGH, N.C. — Tyco Fire Products LP and Chemguard Inc. (collectively, Tyco) have removed to North Carolina federal court a lawsuit brought by a North Carolina municipality that alleges that Tyco, 3M Co., E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. and others are liable for contaminating the groundwater with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF).  Tyco contends that the claims against it fail pursuant to the federal contractor defense.

  • December 12, 2025

    Tannery Operator, Scotchgard Producer Sued For Sloughing PFAS Scraps In Landfills

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The operators of two Michigan landfills that implemented measures to eliminate the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in remnants of solid waste accepted from a former regional tannery operation sued two companies allegedly responsible for the contamination in federal court pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Michigan Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA) for recovery of the costs spent to eradicate the issues.

  • December 11, 2025

    Government Says Exclusion Of Expert Reports Would Be ‘Disproportionate And Severe’

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The U.S. Government on Dec. 10 filed a brief in North Carolina federal court arguing that the Plaintiff Leadership Group’s (PLG) motion to strike supplemental reports filed by a government expert in the Camp Lejeune water contamination litigation constitutes a sanction that is “disproportionate and severe” because the documents in question contain corrections that are contemplated under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26.

  • December 11, 2025

    3M Denies PFAS Liability, Asserts 63 Affirmative Defenses Saying Claims Fail

    TRENTON, N.J. — The 3M Co. has filed an answer in New Jersey federal court denying claims brought by residents who contend that it and other chemical companies are liable for injuries from exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).  Asserting 63 affirmative defenses, 3M argues that the residents fail to state a claim and maintains that any claims made by the plaintiffs are barred because 3M owed no duty to them.

  • December 11, 2025

    Man With Cancer: Monsanto Actively Concealed Roundup’s Dangers, Committed Fraud

    SAN DIEGO — A man with cancer has sued Monsanto Co. and its affiliates in California state court arguing that they are liable for his injury because they actively concealed from the public the true risks of exposure to the herbicide Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate.

  • December 11, 2025

    School District, Monsanto Cite Rule 702 In Battle Over Experts For PCB Trial

    BURLINGTON, Vt. — The Burlington School District (BSD) and Monsanto Co. have filed multiple briefs in Vermont federal court battling over the inclusion of witnesses in the BSD’s lawsuit alleging contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).  The BSD argues that the opinions of its proffered experts are admissible, and Monsanto contends that its experts are “reliable.”

  • December 10, 2025

    Statute Of Limitations Is Not Applicable In Mercury Poisoning Case, Plaintiffs Say

    ATLANTA — Plaintiffs who claim that they have been injured by mercury in local drinking water and through exposure at an industrial facility where they worked filed two briefs in Georgia federal court arguing that it should deny two motions to dismiss their claims because they have sufficiently pleaded fraudulent concealment and, therefore, the statute of limitations does not apply.

  • December 10, 2025

    Government Insists Flint Minor Bellwether Plaintiffs’ Case Should Be Dismissed

    ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The U.S. government has filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court arguing that the court should dismiss the claims of minor bellwether plaintiffs in the Flint water contamination lawsuit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the plaintiffs have not established any of the three requirements for Good Samaritan liability.  The government also says the discretionary function exception (DFE) applies because the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) affords the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “significant discretion in responding to water system issues.”

  • December 10, 2025

    Experts Connecting Metal In Baby Food To ASD/ADHD Out In California Case

    LOS ANGELES — A California judge agreed to exclude two experts retained by a boy who alleges that exposure to toxic heavy metals in baby food led to neurological injuries after finding that one expert failed to meet the admissibility standard set in California in Sargon Enterprises, Inc. v. University of Southern California and that the other based his conclusions on that expert’s findings.

  • December 08, 2025

    Journal Editor Retracts Article On Safety Of Roundup Due To ‘Critical Issues’

    NEW YORK — Citing concerns regarding the authorship and content of an article on the safety of the herbicide Roundup that was published 25 years ago in a scientific journal, one of the publication’s editors in chief on Dec. 5 retracted the article, which had previously concluded “there is no potential for Roundup herbicide to pose a health risk to humans.” The editor said that the retraction is “based on several critical issues that are considered to undermine the academic integrity of this article and its conclusions.”

  • December 08, 2025

    Review Of Jurisdiction Issue In PFAS Exposure Suit Not Warranted, Insurer Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court should deny 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 because every other federal appellate court agrees with the Sixth Circuit’s disposition, an insurer says in its Dec. 5 response brief.

  • December 08, 2025

    Federal Judge Will Allow Experts To Testify In Flint, Mich., Tort Claims Case

    DETROIT — A Michigan federal judge largely denied a series of motions filed to exclude 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., noting that because the case will be heard as a bench trial, the judge can assess the admissibility of the testimony after hearing it during trial.

  • December 03, 2025

    West Virginia, Illinois Settle PCB Cases With Monsanto For A Combined $180.5M

    CHICAGO — West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey on Dec. 2 announced a $60.5 million settlement with Monsanto Co. and its affiliates to resolve claims involving contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The announcement came one day after Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced that the state has reached a $120 million settlement with Monsanto to resolve similar claims related to PCB contamination.

  • December 02, 2025

    Government: High Court Review Of Glyphosate Case Needed, FIFRA Ruling ‘Incorrect’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The federal government on Dec. 1 filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the petition of Monsanto Co., which is challenging a $1.25 million damages award for injuries from exposure to the herbicide Roundup. The government says that the lower court’s decision, which rejected Monsanto’s argument that the lawsuit was preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), is “incorrect.”