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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

September 06, 2024
Panel Affirms Defense Verdict For Monsanto, Says Plaintiff’s Expert Not Qualified

ST. LOUIS — An appeals panel in Missouri has ruled that a trial court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded a plaintiff’s expert and denied a new trial sought by a man who lost his cancer case against Monsanto Co. The panel said that the expert was not qualified and that at trial the judge had instructed the jury to disregard a comment made by Monsanto, which the plaintiff said warranted a new trial.
September 04, 2024
Class Action: 3M, DuPont Hid PFAS Dangers In Carpet In ‘Concealment Enterprise’

MINNEAPOLIS — Two consumers filed a putative class action in Minnesota federal court against the 3M Co., E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and DuPont affiliates, contending that they were fully aware of the health risks posed by stain-repellant products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that they made and sold to carpet manufacturers and others without disclosing the toxicity of the products in what the plaintiffs call the “PFAS Concealment Enterprise.”
August 30, 2024
States Ask Supreme Court For Stay Of EPA Methane Rule, Say It Violates Federal Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A coalition of states has filed an application with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to stay the 2024 Methane Rule instituted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, arguing that it violates federal law by setting “presumptive standards” rather than merely identifying the “degree of emission limitation achievable through the application of the best system of emission reduction” and leaving it to the states to determine how to achieve that amount of reduction.
August 29, 2024
6th Circuit Reverses Ruling That Denied Immunity For Some In Drinking Water Case

CINCINNATI — In an appeal related to one of three lead-contaminated water lawsuits being litigated in Michigan federal court by residents against Benton Harbor, Mich., a divided panel of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 28 issued an unpublished opinion in which it reversed a ruling by the judge in the federal court that denied qualified immunity to two of the defendants. The panel, however, affirmed the judge’s decision that denied qualified immunity to another defendant on grounds that the plaintiffs had sufficiently alleged a claim of municipal liability against the city’s mayor.
August 29, 2024
Judge Denies Plaintiffs’ Bid To Strike Notice Of Nonparty At Fault In Water Case

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan has denied a motion to strike notice of a nonparty at fault in a lead-contaminated drinking water lawsuit brought by residents against Benton Harbor, Mich., ruling that the arguments raised in the motion to strike are best reserved for a motion in limine closer to the start of a trial.
August 28, 2024
Magistrate Seals Documents In PFAS Case Against DuPont And Its Affiliate

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A federal magistrate judge in North Carolina has granted a motion to seal nonpublic information, including information about business operations and strategies sought by the Chemours Co. in the long-running lawsuit brought by residents against E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and its affiliates related to claims that they dumped per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the Cape Fear River, resulting in groundwater contamination.
August 28, 2024
Man Seeks Damages For Exposure To Toxins Related To Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

MOBILE, Ala. — A man has sued BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its affiliates in Alabama federal court seeking compensatory and punitive damages for injuries he alleges are the result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the subsequent cleanup activities performed in the Gulf of Mexico, in which he says toxic chemicals were used.
August 28, 2024
9th Circuit Says CERCLA Does Not Limit FTCA’s Misrepresentation Exception

SAN FRANCISCO — The United States is entitled to sovereign immunity from claims brought by employees of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) who allegedly were harmed by radioactive contamination at a former U.S. Navy base that was leased to the SFPD because the claims were based on misrepresentations made by the Navy and are therefore exempt under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a trial court’s order and rejecting the employees’ assertion that the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) limited the exemption at issue.
August 27, 2024
Flint Water Plaintiffs Say Expert’s Opinions Constitute ‘Inadmissible Hearsay’

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Bellwether III plaintiffs in the litigation over the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., have filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court arguing that it should rule that the opinions of one of the experts for a defendant engineering firm are “inadmissible hearsay,” and the expert’s testimony should be excluded based on the federal rules of evidence.
August 27, 2024
Investors: Norfolk Southern Broke Securities Laws Related To Ohio Train Derailment

ATLANTA — Investors have filed a brief in Georgia federal court opposing a motion to dismiss their securities fraud class action against Norfolk Southern Corp. and its principals, arguing that they have laid out in “exacting detail” that the defendants misled investors about the purported safety of the railroad’s operations while the company implemented cost-cutting procedures that “systematically dismantled critical safety measures in pursuit of profits, culminating in the derailment” of a Norfolk Southern train in East Palestine, Ohio, which resulted in toxic chemical pollution in that town.
August 27, 2024
Judge Grants Dismissal Of Woman’s Claims That Hair Relaxer Chemicals Cause Cancer

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois entered a docket note indicating that she approved the stipulation of dismissal reached between L’Oréal USA Inc. and a woman who contended that normal household use hair straighteners and/or hair relaxer products contain chemicals that increase the risk of cancer.
August 26, 2024
ExxonMobil: New Trial Needed Based On Evidence Of Bias In $725.5M Benzene Verdict

PHILADELPHIA — ExxonMobil Corp. is asking a Pennsylvania state court judge to grant it a new trial on grounds the company has discovered new evidence that a jury’s $725.5 million benzene verdict against the company in May was fueled by bias.
August 26, 2024
Woman: Monsanto Is Liable For Damages For Cancer She Says Was Caused By Roundup

ST. LOUIS — A woman with cancer has sued Monsanto Co. in Missouri federal court seeking compensatory and punitive damages for “negligent and wrongful conduct” related to the design and manufacture” of the herbicide Roundup, arguing that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is “defective, dangerous to human health, unfit and unsuitable to be marketed and sold.”
August 21, 2024
DuPont Affiliates Say PFAS Claims Have ‘Fatal Shortcomings,’ Seek Dismissal

NEW BERN, N.C. — Corteva Inc. and other affiliates of the company formerly known as E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. have filed a reply brief in North Carolina federal court arguing that the plaintiffs in a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination lawsuit have failed to address “fatal shortcomings” regarding their claims and, therefore, the case should be dismissed.
August 20, 2024
Company Says Stay Needed To Avoid ‘Substantial Prejudice’ To PFAS Defendants

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — One of the defendants in a putative class action brought by firefighters who contend that they were poisoned by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which acts as a protective coating in firefighting gear, moved in Connecticut federal court on Aug. 19, seeking a stay of the case pending a final transfer decision by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. The defendant adopted the arguments that 3M asserts in its separate motion in which it argues that all of the defendants will suffer “substantial prejudice absent a stay.”
August 20, 2024
Residents Allegedly Harmed By Creosote Get Preliminary Approval Of $3.5M Settlement

LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge granted preliminary approval of a proposed class settlement that would see two petroleum companies place $3.5 million in a litigation fund to resolve claims alleging that they contributed to creosote contamination at a property that spread to the groundwater of neighboring areas.
August 19, 2024
U.S. Government Says Claims Regarding Firefighting Foam Injuries Must Be Dismissed

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The U.S. government filed a reply brief in South Carolina federal court on Aug. 16 arguing that the plaintiffs in five cases alleging injuries from exposure to the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), should have their cases dismissed because they have not met their burden of showing that the discretionary function exception (DFE) in the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) does not bar their claims.
August 16, 2024
Magistrate Nixes GE’s Bid To Dismiss Groundwater Case, Says Fact Questions Exist

ALEXANDRIA, La. — A federal magistrate judge in Louisiana has denied General Electric Co.’s bid to dismiss a groundwater contamination lawsuit against it, ruling that there are material questions of fact regarding the scope and extent of GE’s control over the investigation of contamination and its involvement in remediation efforts at the facility that is the source of the pollution.
August 16, 2024
3rd Circuit Reverses, Says Roundup Cancer Claims Are Preempted By FIFRA

PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 15 reversed a lower court and held that the alleged state law duty to include a cancer warning on the label for the herbicide Roundup imposes requirements that are different from those imposed by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and, therefore, the warning is preempted by FIFRA.
August 16, 2024
Judge Transfers Deepwater Horizon Toxic Injury Case To Alabama Federal Court

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware has ruled that a toxic chemical injury lawsuit against the operators of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig should be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama because multiple factors favor the move, including the fact that the plaintiff was exposed to harmful toxins within the borders of that district.
August 16, 2024
Judge Says Agent Orange Case Fails On Limitations And Causation Grounds

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York has dismissed a case alleging injury from exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange on grounds that the claims are barred under the relevant statute of limitations and because the plaintiff failed to state a claim for relief or prove causation.
August 15, 2024
Firm’s Bid To Exclude Evidence Is ‘Far Too Broad To Enforce,’ Flint Plaintiffs Say

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Bellwether III plaintiffs in the litigation over the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., have filed a brief in Michigan federal court arguing that it should deny the defendant engineering firm’s motion to prohibit the plaintiffs from introducing into evidence documents that have not been previously disclosed or authenticated because it is “far too broad to enforce” and it would “force the Court to preempt the equitable exceptions” contained in federal and local rules.
August 15, 2024
Lawncare Company: Glyphosate Appeal Fails Because It Lacked Control Over Roundup

SAN FRANCISCO — One of the respondents in an appeal over allegations that exposure to the herbicide Roundup caused plaintiffs’ cancer on Aug. 14 filed a response brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the claims against it fail because the company is an independent distributor of lawncare products that has no control over the “registration, product design, or labeling” of the items it sells.
August 14, 2024
EPA: Court Should Deny Groups’ Groundwater Petition Related To Injection Wells

NEW ORLEANS — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has filed a response brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that it should deny a petition filed by environmental groups seeking reversal of an EPA decision that handed over to Louisiana the responsibility of regulating the practice of sequestering carbon dioxide in underground injection fracking wells. The EPA says it “carefully considered” Louisiana’s long-term liability provision and appropriately concluded that its program was “approvable.”
August 14, 2024
Monsanto Removes Roundup Case To Federal Court, Seeks Transfer To MDL

OKLAHOMA CITY — Monsanto Co. has removed to Oklahoma federal court a lawsuit brought by a couple that contends the husband developed cancer as a result of exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, arguing that the case belongs in federal court because it should be transferred to the multidistrict litigation (MDL) for Roundup products