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Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • August 21, 2025

    Judgment, New Trial Needed In Louisiana Groundwater Case, Plaintiffs Say

    ALEXANDRIA, La. — Bellwether plaintiffs in a groundwater contamination lawsuit have filed a reply brief in Louisiana federal court seeking a judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) or a new trial, contending that the defendant is using the Louisiana Groundwater Act as “both a procedural shield and substantive sword,” and they say that “this blatant contradiction cannot stand.”

  • August 21, 2025

    County: Oil Company’s Appeal Must Be Nixed In Permit Row Involving Local Aquifers

    LOS ANGELES — A county government in California on Aug. 20 filed a motion to dismiss an appeal in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that an oil company that is challenging a default judgment against it that nullified the company’s zoning clearance to conduct drilling operations failed to file an appropriate motion in the lower court to set aside the default judgment in a dispute that involves contamination of local aquifers.

  • August 21, 2025

    Split 4th Circuit Reverses, Says Plaintiff Has Standing In EtO Injury Lawsuit

    RICHMOND, Va. — A split panel of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court’s ruling that granted summary judgment on standing to Union Carbide Corp. and its affiliate in a lawsuit alleging exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO), ruling that the plaintiffs properly allege elements of West Virginia’s medical monitoring tort and therefore have Article III standing. The majority also said that “none of the reasons for which the district court excluded” the plaintiffs’ expert was proper.

  • August 20, 2025

    Judge: Insured Met Burden Of Showing Pollution Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage

    ALBANY, N.Y. — An insured municipality met its burden of showing its insurers owe a duty to defend it against an environmental contamination claim, a New York federal judge said after determining that there is a “reasonable possibility” that the contamination at issue was caused by a fire or an emergency, which are exceptions to the policies’ pollution exclusion.

  • August 20, 2025

    Investors’ Fraud Claims Over Ethylene Oxide Statements Are ‘Flawed,’ Company Says

    CINCINNATI — A company that sterilizes medical equipment has filed a brief in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that it should dismiss the appeal of investors who allege the company committed securities fraud in relation to statements it made about litigation involving a subsidiary of the company over personal injury claims connected to exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO), the chemical used in the sterilization process. The company argues that the investors assert the “same flawed arguments” on appeal that they asserted at the lower court.

  • August 20, 2025

    Panel Reverses, Remands Vermont’s PFAS Case Against 3M Based On Correspondence

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 19 vacated and remanded a lawsuit brought by the state of Vermont against 3M Co. over alleged contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), ruling that 3M’s removal of the case to federal court was timely because Vermont’s email to 3M and a letter sent by a state environmental agency “did not provide nearly enough information for 3M to ascertain that the case against it was removable under the federal officer removal statute.”

  • August 19, 2025

    Amici Ask High Court To Rule In Favor Of Couple In Tainted Baby Food Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two lawyer groups on Aug. 18 filed amicus curiae briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a couple that has sued a baby food manufacturer for allegedly contaminating its product with heavy metals.  Civil procedure professors (CPP) argue that the petition is “simply wrong” in its application of Caterpillar Inc. v. Lewis, while American Association for Justice (AAJ) contends that the baby food company asks the Supreme Court to “adopt a radical new view of the law.”

  • August 18, 2025

    Monsanto: $175M Glyphosate Award Broke With Precedent, Warranting Review

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — Monsanto Co. has filed a petition for review in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court arguing that a lower court “broke with decades of precedent” when it affirmed a $175 million jury award to a couple in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit.  Monsanto maintains that the lower court’s decision amounts to “fashioning a new legal standard under which the most coercive ex parte pressure to reach a verdict will never be found prejudicial.”

  • August 11, 2025

    COMMENTARY: The Forever Chemical: Regulation, Litigation And Insurance

    By Robert D. Chesler, Arthur J. Clarke, Walker Prentke, Brian Della Torre and Matthew J. Sinkman

  • August 15, 2025

    Federal Judge: Deepwater Horizon Injury Case Belongs In Florida For Many Reasons

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware has ruled that a lawsuit brought by a woman alleging she was injured by exposure to toxic chemicals and oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster belongs in Florida federal court, citing numerous reasons, including that the matter is a local controversy “in which Florida has a strong interest.”

  • August 15, 2025

    Monsanto Appeals $175M Glyphosate Cancer Award To Pennsylvania Supreme Court

    HARRISBURG, Pa. — Monsanto Co. on Aug. 14 filed a petition in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appealing a lower court’s decision that affirmed a $175 million jury award to a couple in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit. The ruling was handed down on May 8 by a Pennsylvania Superior Court panel that said it was “unpersuaded by Monsanto’s claim that a punitive damages award in an amount six times the compensatory damages award is inherently violative of due process.”

  • August 15, 2025

    Panel: Plaintiffs’ Expert’s Opinion In Roundup Case Not Based On Sufficient Facts

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has affirmed a lower court ruling that excluded a plaintiff couple’s expert in a cancer lawsuit against Monsanto Co. related to exposure to the herbicide Roundup, ruling that the district court correctly determined that the expert’s opinion was not based on sufficient facts or data as required by Federal Rule of Evidence 702(b).

  • August 14, 2025

    AFFF Makers Want 8 Cases Nixed For Failure To Comply With Case Management Order

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — The defendants in the multidistrict litigation (MDL) for the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) on Aug. 13 filed a reply brief in South Carolina federal court arguing that eight cases should be dismissed with prejudice because each of the plaintiffs failed to comply with a case management order that the defendants say requires the plaintiffs to tender complete medical records and certain expert reports or have their cases dismissed with prejudice.

  • August 14, 2025

    Sharply Divided 6th Circuit Denies Rehearing En Banc In Benton Harbor Lead Case

    CINCINNATI — A sharply divided Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has denied a petition for rehearing en banc in a groundwater contamination lawsuit against federal agencies and Michigan state agencies related to lead pollution in drinking water in the city of Benton Harbor. In a concurrence and two dissents, the judges levelled claims at each other that included a contention by one judge that the majority decision denying rehearing “brazenly defies Supreme Court precedent.”

  • August 14, 2025

    Coca-Cola, Citing Supplemental Authority, Says PFAS Case Warrants Dismissal

    WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The Coca-Cola Co. has filed a notice of supplemental authority in New York federal court, asking it to consider rulings in two cases as it comes to a decision on the company’s motion to dismiss a class action brought by an individual who alleges that various fruit drinks made by Coca-Cola contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

  • August 13, 2025

    Judge: Government Is Liable For Nearly $600,000 In Damages In Jet Fuel Spill Case

    HONOLULU — A federal judge in Hawaii has issued findings of fact and conclusions of law in which she determined that the U.S. government is liable for a total of $598,633.15 in damages to plaintiffs who sued it related to groundwater contamination from a jet fuel spill at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base.

  • August 13, 2025

    Couple Tells Supreme Court That Ruling In Heavy Metal Baby Food Case Should Stand

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A couple has filed a merits brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in a dispute over baby food allegedly contaminated with heavy metals, arguing that it should affirm the decision by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which “correctly held that complete diversity was lacking at the time of final judgment,” and “correctly vacated the judgment and remanded the entire case to state court.”

  • August 13, 2025

    Judge: North Carolina Attorney General May Sue DuPont For PFAS Contamination

    FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A North Carolina state judge has denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the North Carolina attorney general against E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. for contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), ruling that the attorney general has the authority to bring the case even though the state statute that granted that authority has been repealed in the years following the initiation of the lawsuit.

  • August 12, 2025

    Government Says Camp Lejeune Vapor Intrusion Evidence Should Be Barred

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The U.S. government on Aug. 11 filed a response brief in North Carolina federal court arguing that it should overrule objections raised by the plaintiffs in the Camp Lejeune water crisis litigation as they relate to a magistrate judge’s ruling on the admissibility of vapor intrusion evidence because “there is nothing erroneous or contrary to law” about the magistrate judge’s interpretation of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) or his recommendation to the district court to grant in part the government’s motion in limine barring the introduction of the evidence in question.

  • August 12, 2025

    68 Plaintiffs Say Monsanto Is Liable For Wrongful Death, Cancer Related To Roundup

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Sixty-eight individuals have sued Monsanto Co. in Delaware state court alleging that its “negligent and wrongful conduct” related to the design and sale of the herbicide Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate, has caused wrongful deaths and cancers.

  • August 12, 2025

    PFAS Plaintiffs Say They Have Established Jurisdiction Against DuPont, Others

    BOSTON — The plaintiffs in a consolidated class action for drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on Aug. 11 filed briefs in Massachusetts federal court opposing a motion to dismiss filed by EIDP Inc. and affiliates of E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. (collectively, DuPont) and others, arguing that they have sufficiently alleged causation and the district court has jurisdiction.

  • August 11, 2025

    4th Circuit: Regular Appeal Notice Proper For Challenging CAFA Remand Order

    RICHMOND, Va. — A regular notice of appeal filed under 28 U.S. Code Section 1291 is appropriate to seek review of a remand order based on the Class Action Fairness Act’s local controversy exception, a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled, affirming a remand order in a putative class complaint alleging community lead exposure following hydroblasting of a television tower in Baltimore.

  • August 08, 2025

    Chemours Appeals Injunction Against It Related To PFAS Discharges Into Ohio River

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Chemours Co. FC LLC on Aug. 7 filed a notice in West Virginia federal court indicating that it is appealing to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a judge’s ruling that granted an environmental advocacy group a preliminary injunction in a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination case.  Chemours’s notice, which did not provide any reasons for the appeal, was filed the same day the judge granted the preliminary injunction.

  • August 08, 2025

    Calif. Judge Sanctions City Plaintiffs In Modesto Dry-Cleaning Pollution Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — Finding that “egregious discovery violations” were committed, a California judge imposed issue, evidence and monetary sanctions on the city of Modesto regarding the concealing and destroying of records that show the known existence of perchloroethylene (PCE) contamination in sewers at several former dry-cleaning sites around the city three years before it filed a lawsuit against two chemical companies.

  • August 04, 2025

    Hawaii Federal Judge: 4 Individuals, Group Can Bring CWA Fuel Release Claims

    HONOLULU — Four out of 10 individuals and the environmental group they belong to have standing to bring claims against the U.S. Navy under the Clean Water Act (CWA) for releases from an underground fuel storage facility in Honolulu that allegedly contaminated surrounding waters, a federal judge in Hawaii ruled in partly granting the plaintiffs’ partial motion for summary judgment.