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Mealey's Toxic Torts

September 27, 2024
Water Fluoridation Presents ‘Unreasonable Risk’ To Health, Judge Says

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California has ruled that plaintiffs have proven that water fluoridation at the level of 0.7 mg/L – the prescribed optimal level of fluoridation in the United States – presents an ‘“unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, without consideration of costs or other non-risk factors, including an unreasonable risk to a potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulation under the conditions of use’” and ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to initiate rulemaking for fluoridation pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
September 26, 2024
3rd Circuit Denies Rehearing In Roundup Labeling Lawsuit, Affirming Monsanto’s Win

PHILADELPHIA — A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by a couple seeking to overturn a ruling by a Third Circuit panel that handed Monsanto Co. a win when it held that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts a state law duty to include a cancer warning on the label of the herbicide Roundup.
September 26, 2024
Monsanto Asks 9th Circuit To Take Judicial Notice Of Documents In Glyphosate Case

SAN FRANCISCO — Monsanto Co. on Sept. 25 filed a reply brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in support of a motion calling on the court to take judicial notice of documents that were identified and incorporated in prior filings by the plaintiffs in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit, arguing that the plaintiffs attached 600 pages of exhibits and other documents, yet now they ask the court not to consider those documents because they “contradict [the plaintiffs’] allegations.”
September 25, 2024
Norfolk Southern: Investors Attempt To ‘Concoct’ Securities Case From Train Crash

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern Corp. and its principals filed a reply brief in Georgia federal court arguing that it should dismiss a securities fraud class action filed against them related to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on grounds that the plaintiffs “attempt to concoct securities fraud claims” out of the crash and the stock price declines that followed it.
September 25, 2024
State Seeks Reconsideration Of Ruling, Says Schools’ PCB Case Should Be Stayed

BURLINGTON, Vt. — The state of Vermont has moved in a Vermont federal court for reconsideration of its opinion that denied the state’s motion to stay a lawsuit brought by 95 school districts against Monsanto Co. related to contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), arguing that without a stay there will be two cases “racing one another to resolve the same issues—and to judgment—for the same contamination” in something that is a matter of “urgent statewide public policy.”
September 25, 2024
Plaintiffs Defend $162M In Fees For Train Case, Oppose Attorneys’ Bid For A Cut

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The plaintiffs in the litigation over the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that released toxic chemicals into the air and soil have filed a reply brief in Ohio federal court arguing that it should approve their motion for $162 million in attorney fees, reimbursement of $18 million in litigation costs incurred by class counsel and service awards of $15,000 to each class representative because “the settlement has been a success by all measures, as demonstrated by its extraordinary participation rate.” They also argue that attorneys who seek a contingency fee arrangement are “misguided.”
September 24, 2024
California, Environmental Groups Sue Exxon For Single-Use Plastics Pollution

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Attorney General’s Office and environmental groups on Sept. 23 separately filed complaints against Exxon Mobil Corp., accusing it of creating a public nuisance and violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by manufacturing single-use plastics that it misrepresented as recyclable while earning billions dollars from sales of plastic products per year.
September 23, 2024
Judge Says Some PFAS Claims Against DuPont, Affiliates Are Properly Alleged

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina has ruled that some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination claims against EIDP Inc., formerly known as E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and its affiliates, have been plausibly alleged. The judge determined that, among other claims, the plaintiffs’ negligence causes of action related to the defendants’ discharge of PFAS into the Cape Fear River are valid.
September 18, 2024
Judge Approves Protocol For Electronic Information In PCB Case Against Monsanto

BURLINGTON, Vt. — In a text-only order entered as a note on the docket, a Vermont federal judge on Sept. 18 granted Monsanto Co.’s motion for a protocol governing electronically stored information (ESI), but denied the company’s requests for a protective order and nixed Monsanto’s bid for an agreement that would have established a procedure for logging protected information produced inadvertently during the litigation brought by 95 school districts against Monsanto Co. related to contamination from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
September 18, 2024
Hair Relaxer Plaintiffs: L’Oréal ‘Conflates’ Issues Related To Document Discovery

CHICAGO — The plaintiffs suing L’Oreal USA Inc. and its affiliates in Illinois federal court over injuries allegedly cause by toxic chemicals in hair relaxer products filed a reply brief in support of their motion to enforce discovery orders arguing that documents held by its parent company, L’Oréal SA, are within the control of L’Oréal USA for discovery purposes and that L’Oréal USA’s opposition to the motion “conflates” the unrelated issues of how discovery searches will be conducted versus what evidence is generally relevant and discoverable.
September 17, 2024
Judge Says States’ Claim That Federal Emissions Rule Is ‘Arbitrary’ Has Merit

BISMARCK, N.D. — A federal judge in North Dakota has granted a motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining implementation of a rule promulgated by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) establishing standards for methane and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to the oil and gas sector, ruling that at the preliminary stage the states have shown that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that the rule is “arbitrary and capricious.”
September 17, 2024
No Coverage Owed For Subpoena Issued To Insured In Fire-Suppressing Foam MDL

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — No coverage is owed to an insured distributor of a fire-suppressing foam for a subpoena served on the insured in an underlying multidistrict litigation seeking damages for bodily injuries and contaminated drinking water caused by the use of the foam because the subpoena does not constitute a claim under the insurance policy at issue, a Connecticut federal judge said in denying the insured’s motion for summary judgment and in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
September 16, 2024
Judge Adds Nearly $91M In Damages To Benzene Verdict Against ExxonMobil

PHILADELPHIA — A state court judge in Pennsylvania on Sept. 13 denied ExxonMobil Corp. a new trial and instead added $90,833,561.65 in delay damages to the $725.5 million verdict a jury awarded to a man who was injured from exposure to benzene, bring his total award to $816,333,561.65.
September 16, 2024
Vermont Amends Complaint As PFAS Litigation Against DuPont, 3M Drags On

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The state of Vermont has filed an amended complaint in South Carolina federal court in the latest chapter of a long-running saga of litigation as the state seeks to recover damages from 3M Co., E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and others it says are liable for injuries related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the state’s water supply.
September 13, 2024
Magistrate Denies Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs’ Discovery Request As ‘Overbroad’

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal magistrate judge in North Carolina denied a motion to compel production of documents sought by the Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) in the litigation over water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, ruling that the request for production was “overbroad and otherwise outside the scope” of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(l).
September 12, 2024
Jury Hands Monsanto A Win In Pennsylvania Glyphosate Cancer Trial

PHILADELPHIA — A jury in a Pennsylvania state court on Sept. 12 ruled in favor of Monsanto Co. in a trial for damages brought by a man who contended that he developed cancer from exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.
September 12, 2024
Judge Allows Consumer Suit Alleging ‘Compostable’ Bags, Tableware Contain PFAS

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California federal judge on Sept. 11 granted in part and denied in part a motion to dismiss a putative class action against a compostable product maker and Target Corp. for selling tableware and food storage bags that were allegedly deceptively labeled as “compostable” when they in fact contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
September 12, 2024
9th Circuit: Monsanto’s Brief Denying Glyphosate Claims Is Now Officially Filed

SAN FRANCISCO — The clerk of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has issued an order stating that the response brief initially filed under seal in August by Monsanto Co. and Bayer CropScience LP (collectively, Monsanto) in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit is now officially filed. In the brief Monsanto argues that the plaintiff has not plausibly alleged “an unreasonable safety risk” associated with the herbicide Roundup.
September 11, 2024
Judge Finds PFAS Claims Against Drink Maker Exceed Proposition 65

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge said a consumer’s putative class action against a sports drink maker for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other statutes is not barred under the state’s Proposition 65 because her allegations of health risks caused by the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the product exceed those covered by the regulation, but dismissed several of her claims as insufficiently pleaded.
September 11, 2024
Companies Deny Stonecutter’s Silicosis Claims From Work With Quartz Countertops

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Several defendants being sued by a worker with silicosis who says he was injured by exposure to crystalline silica while cutting quartz countertops have filed answers in California state court denying all allegations in the plaintiff’s amended complaint. One of the defendants, DAL-Tile LLC, also asserts 46 affirmative defenses, arguing that the plaintiff fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against it.
September 11, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Win For BP In Deepwater Injury Case; Expert Properly Excluded

NEW ORLEANS — A lower court did not err in excluding a man’s causation expert in a Deepwater Horizon oil spill injury case, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, affirming a summary judgment award in favor of BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its affiliates.
September 10, 2024
Plaintiffs Seek $162M In Attorney Fees For Ohio Train Derailment Settlement

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The plaintiffs in the litigation over the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which released toxic chemicals into the air and soil have moved in Ohio federal court for $162 million in attorney fees, reimbursement of $18 million in litigation costs incurred by class counsel and service awards of $15,000 to each class representative.
September 10, 2024
Judge Says DuPont Must Produce Material Held In 36 Boxes Related To PFAS Case

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A discovery referee in North Carolina has ruled that affiliates of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (referred to as Old DuPont) must provide the state of North Carolina with discoverable information contained in 36 boxes in Old DuPont’s possession, and he ruled that Old DuPont must provide the state with copies of its document retention policies that apply to materials stored at a facility called Iron Mountain.
September 10, 2024
Judge: Groups Fail To Show Radioactive Materials Pose Irreparable Harm

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has denied declaratory and injunctive relief to advocates for public health and environmental groups that sought to stop construction of an 8-mile recreational trail through a portion of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge that is contaminated with plutonium from the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant. The judge ruled that the plaintiffs “do not come close to establishing irreparable harm.”
September 09, 2024
Parties Agree To Dismiss With Prejudice Case Over Glyphosate Cancer Claims

WILMINGTON, Del. — The parties in a widow’s glyphosate cancer lawsuit against Monsanto Co., in which a Delaware state court judge previously declared a mistrial, on Sept. 6 filed a joint stipulation for dismissal of the case with prejudice. The one-paragraph stipulation did not elaborate on the reasons for the dismissal.