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Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • January 16, 2026

    High Court To Hear Monsanto’s FIFRA Label Preemption Appeal Related To Roundup

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 16 granted certiorari in a case that involves a dispute over whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts state law failure-to-warn claims based on the content of pesticide product labels, related to the herbicide Roundup.

  • January 16, 2026

    Cutters Allege Fraud Against Stone Companies, Seek Monitoring For Silica Exposure

    SAN FRANCISCO — A group of stone cutters has filed a putative class action in California federal court arguing that they are at risk of developing silicosis from working with artificial stone slabs and countertops, which exposes them to crystalline silica.  The plaintiffs contend that stone companies have disregarded their safety.

  • January 15, 2026

    Cancer Sufferers File 3 Cases Against Monsanto Alleging Fraud Related To Roundup

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Three people with cancer filed nearly identical lawsuits on Jan. 14 in Delaware state court asserting that Monsanto Co. fraudulently represented that independent scientists have concluded that glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, is safe. One plaintiff, James O’Brien Jr., argues that Monsanto’s “intentional, grossly negligent, wanton, willful, and reckless conduct warrants” punitive damages.

  • January 15, 2026

    Michigan County Says PFAS Makers Concealed Dangers Of AFFF, Seeks Damages

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A Michigan municipality has sued 3M Co., EIDP and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in South Carolina federal court, seeking damages for groundwater contamination from PFAS used in the firefighting agent aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), the dangers of which the county says the defendants fraudulently concealed.

  • January 15, 2026

    Airbnb Denies Liability For Carbon Monoxide Injuries At Rental Property

    SAN FRANCISCO — Airbnb Inc. has filed an answer in California federal court denying all claims brought by a family that alleges they were poisoned by carbon monoxide (CO) during a stay at a property they rented through the online platform. Airbnb also asserts affirmative defenses, contending that the family is not entitled to punitive damages because the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.

  • January 15, 2026

    Md. Federal Judge Dismisses Some Groundwater Contamination Claims In RCRA Suit

    BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland partly granted a motion to dismiss claims filed by two state residents in a citizen suit brought under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) alleging that Perdue Farms Inc. and its affiliates contaminated groundwater with per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) and caused “imminent and substantial endangerment to health or the environment” but denied dismissal of claims related to open dumping prohibitions and pollution of surface water.

  • January 15, 2026

    Plaintiffs Say Monsanto Seeks To Evade Accountability For Harm From Glyphosate

    HACKENSACK, N.J. — Plaintiffs who are suing Monsanto and its affiliates seeking damages for alleged injuries from the herbicide Roundup have filed a brief in New Jersey state court opposing the defendants’ omnibus motion to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the defendants “seek to evade accountability in New Jersey for the nationwide harm caused by their Roundup products,” but the motion is “meritless.”

  • January 14, 2026

    2 PFAS Makers Remove Case, Claim Immunity In Wrongful Death Lawsuit

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Two makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on Jan. 13 removed to Illinois federal court a lawsuit brought by a woman who asserts claims for wrongful death and other injuries in connection with her husband’s cancer that she says was caused by his exposure to PFAS and other chemicals during his time working at an oil refinery.  In their notice for removal, the manufacturers argue that they are immune from tort liability.

  • January 14, 2026

    Defendant Denies PFAS Claims, Says Plaintiffs Contributed To Alleged Injuries

    BOSTON — A defendant in a consolidated class action for drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) filed an answer in Massachusetts federal court on Jan. 13 denying all allegations and asserting affirmative defenses including one for contributory negligence, contending that the “plaintiffs’ own conduct caused or contributed to their alleged injuries.”

  • January 14, 2026

    Water Authority Says It Has Sufficiently Pleaded PFAS Contamination Claims

    WHEELING, W.Va. — A water authority that is suing numerous companies to recover costs associated with removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have tainted local sources of drinking water under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act filed a brief in West Virginia federal court arguing that the motion to dismiss the complaint filed by two of the defendants should be denied because the plaintiffs say they have adequately alleged that the two defendants in question operated a metal facility that released PFAS into the local groundwater.

  • January 13, 2026

    Defendants Say Plaintiffs Do Not Properly Plead Claims For Mercury Exposure Injury

    ATLANTA — Contractors who are defendants in a lawsuit brought by plaintiffs who contend they have been injured by mercury in local drinking water and through exposure at an industrial facility where they worked have filed a reply brief in Georgia federal court arguing that the plaintiffs “broad-brush allegations fall far short of the required pleading standards, warranting dismissal of all claims.”  Olin Corp., another defendant, filed a reply brief arguing that the plaintiffs’ fraudulent concealment claims are not properly pled.

  • January 13, 2026

    Lead-Contaminated Water Coverage Suit Will Remain In Federal Court, Judge Says

    LANSING, Mich. — An insured city’s lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying bodily injury suits stemming from lead-contaminated water supplied by the city will remain in federal court, a Michigan federal judge said after determining that complete diversity of citizenship exists because the underlying plaintiffs, named as defendants by the insured city, must be realigned as plaintiffs based on the fact that their interests are aligned with the insured.

  • January 12, 2026

    Plaintiffs Make ‘A Sufficient Start’ Towards Jurisdiction In PFAS Case, Judge Says

    NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut on Jan. 9 denied motions to dismiss an injury lawsuit related to exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances(PFAS) brought by firefighters and granted the plaintiffs’ motion for jurisdictional discovery, ruling that the allegations are “a sufficient start” toward establishing jurisdiction.

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Denies Review Of Jurisdiction Ruling In PFAS Exposure Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 12 denied review of 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.

  • January 07, 2026

    COMMENTARY: 2025 Key Insurance Decisions, Trends, & Developments & A Look Ahead To 2026

    By Scott M. Seaman, Pedro E. Hernandez and Jordan W.P. Evans

  • January 06, 2026

    Insured Urges High Court To Review Jurisdiction Ruling In PFAS Exposure Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An insured urges the U.S. Supreme Court to grant its 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, noting in its reply brief that the case presents an “ideal opportunity” to resolve a split among the circuits regarding when a district court is required to exercise discretion over mixed claims.

  • January 05, 2026

    At Supreme Court, And Beyond, Monsanto Relies On Schaffner Preemption Ruling

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The latest chapter in the long-running saga of litigation involving Monsanto Co. and plaintiffs who contend that they have been injured by exposure to the herbicide Roundup involves Monsanto’s reliance on the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals preemption ruling in Schaffner v. Monsanto Corp., which Monsanto has made central to its argument in three petitions for a writ of certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court.  The cases are set for conference on Jan. 9.

  • January 05, 2026

    Man Insists Indiana Statute Does Not Bar His $250M Cancer Claim Against Monsanto

    PHILADELPHIA — A pro se plaintiff has filed a reply brief in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that a lower court incorrectly ruled that his claim for $250 million against Monsanto Co., in which he alleges that exposure to the herbicide Roundup caused him to develop cancer, is barred by the statute of repose in the Indiana Products Liability Act.

  • January 05, 2026

    Judge Denies Amazon’s Bid To Dismiss Case Over Heavy Metals In Rice It Sold

    SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington has denied Amazon.com Inc.’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a consumer who contends the website is liable for damages and fraudulent concealment in relation to rice that he bought that contained arsenic and other heavy metals.  The judge ruled that the plaintiff plausibly alleged that Amazon has a duty to disclose the presence of heavy metals in rice products because that information is “not publicly known or easily discoverable.”

  • January 05, 2026

    PFAS Defendant: Allegations Are ‘Insufficient’ To Show Purposeful Contact

    WHEELING, W.Va. — A defendant in a lawsuit seeking to recover the costs associated with removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that have tainted local sources of drinking water under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) has filed a reply brief in West Virginia federal court arguing that the allegations are “insufficient to demonstrate any purposeful contact” between the defendant and the state of West Virginia.

  • January 02, 2026

    9th Circuit Panel Reverses, Says Chemical Exposure Case Belongs In Federal Court

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has reversed and remanded a toxic chemical exposure case, ruling that a lower court relied on an unpublished opinion that is not the law of the circuit when it remanded the case based on the local controversy exception in the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA).

  • January 02, 2026

    Judge: Flint Bellwether Plaintiffs’ Tort Claims Against Government Not Time-Barred

    DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan has ruled that the U.S. government has failed to satisfy its burden of showing that the claims of any bellwether plaintiff are time-barred in the $722.4 million Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against the government related to the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint.

  • January 02, 2026

    Parties Reach $17.25M Deal To Resolve Dispute Over Ohio Train Case Settlement

    YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio has approved a stipulated settlement between Kroll Settlement Administration (KSA) and class counsel in the litigation related to the 2023 derailment of a train operated by Norfolk Southern Corp. in East Palestine, Ohio, under which KSA will pay $17.25 million to compensate the settlement fund for “any alleged violations or errors” it committed in its administration of the $600 million settlement reached in that litigation in 2024.

  • December 23, 2025

    Oregon Federal Judge Partially Adopts, Rejects Water Contamination Case Findings

    PENDLETON, Ore. — A federal judge in Oregon, in partially adopting and partially rejecting a magistrate judge’s findings of fact and recommendation, opined that some claims brought by residents against the Port of Morrow and several agricultural companies alleging violations of state law and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) due to groundwater contamination in the Lower Umatilla Basin should be adopted while others should be dismissed without prejudice.

  • 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.