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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

January 09, 2024
Monsanto Seeks Reduction Of $1.5B Punitive Award, New Trial In Roundup Cases

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Monsanto Co. has filed a supplemental motion for remittitur in Missouri state court, arguing that it is entitled to a reduction and offset of $1.5 billion in punitive damages awarded to three plaintiffs who won their case for injuries from exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.
January 08, 2024
Judge Stays Delaware PFAS Case Pending Result In North Carolina Litigation

WILMINGTON, Del. — A state court judge in Delaware on Jan. 5 stayed a lawsuit brought by a North Carolina water utility against EIDP Inc., formerly known as E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and its affiliates over allegations that they have deliberately evaded accountability for their releases of per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and have withheld from state regulators and the public information related to the safety of PFAS. The judge did not elaborate on the decision to stay the case.
January 05, 2024
Judge Says Chronic Injury Claims May Not Head To Trial In Chemical Exposure Case

HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas has ruled that a plaintiff in a chemical injury lawsuit has not offered admissible expert testimony to establish that styrene exposure caused his long-term injures, therefore, his chronic injury claims may not proceed to trial.
January 05, 2024
Man Says Monsanto Knew Glyphosate Was Dangerous, Colluded With Officials

BATON ROUGE, La. — A man with cancer has sued Monsanto Co. in federal court in Louisiana, alleging that it manufactured and sold the herbicide Roundup with “full knowledge of its dangerous and defective nature” and that Monsanto violated federal regulations in an attempt to collude with certain employees of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a strategy “to quash investigations into the carcinogenicity of glyphosate,” Roundup’s active ingredient.
January 04, 2024
Judge Says Some Causes Of Action Warrant Class Status In PFAS Drinking Water Case

CONCORD, N.H. — A federal judge in New Hampshire has partially granted class certification in a long-running lawsuit over drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), ruling that trespass, negligence and negligent failure to warn causes of action can be resolved jointly across the class, but the plaintiffs’ nuisance claim could not.
January 04, 2024
Roundup Cancer Appeal Is Set To Proceed In 9th Circuit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 3 issued a scheduling notice confirming an appeal filed by four people who contend that the herbicide Roundup causes cancer, as they challenge a lower court’s order dismissing their case against Monsanto Co., the maker of the herbicide Roundup.
January 04, 2024
Judge Dismisses PFAS Case Against Pomegranate Juice Maker For Lack Of Standing

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York has dismissed a putative class action against a company that sells pomegranate juice, ruling that the plaintiff lacks standing to allege that the drinks contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) because she makes only conclusory allegations insufficient to plausibly allege that the product contains PFAS.
January 03, 2024
Judge Excludes Flint Witness, Says Testimony Not Reliable Under Daubert Standard

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan on Jan. 2 granted a motion to exclude one of the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses in the Flint water crisis litigation, ruling that in his analysis he “repeatedly deviated” from accepted methodology without providing adequate explanation for his choice to do so. As a result, the judge said the plaintiffs did not show that their expert’s testimony is reliable under Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
January 03, 2024
Company Seeks To Compel Insurers To Produce Documents In AFFF Litigation

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A company that makes firefighting products filed a motion on Jan. 2 in South Carolina federal court seeking to compel insurance companies to produce documents in a coverage dispute related to injuries from the firefighting substance aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) in the multidistrict litigation for AFFF, arguing that the insurers have refused to produce basic categories of documents that are directly related to the issues in dispute and are “plainly subject to discovery.” The company contends that the insurers’ objections to discovery requests are not valid, especially considering that the insurers are “seeking to escape up to $1 billion in coverage.”
January 02, 2024
Judge Says Cosmetics Companies Must Produce Foreign Materials In Hair Relaxer Case

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois has partially granted plaintiffs’ request for the production of numerous items in discovery in a lawsuit against Revlon Inc. and its affiliates regarding allegations that their hair relaxer products increase the risk of uterine and ovarian cancer because they contain phthalates, ruling that all of the defendants must produce foreign regulatory materials, product labels and usage instructions, scientific studies articles in scientific journals related to hair relaxer products sold outside the United States.
January 02, 2024
DuPont Parties Seek Dismissal Of PFAS Case For Failure To Plead Injury, Causation

NEW BERN, N.C. — Corteva Inc. and other affiliates of the company formerly known as E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. filed a motion in North Carolina federal court on Dec. 29 arguing that a polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination lawsuit should be dismissed for failure to adequately plead injury and causation beyond “generalized and conclusory allegations.”
January 02, 2024
DuPont Parties Say Plaintiff Fails To Allege ‘Cognizable Injury’ In PFAS Case

NEW BERN, N.C. — Corteva Inc., E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and affiliates filed a motion on Dec. 29 in North Carolina federal court contending that it should dismiss a lawsuit alleging drinking water contamination from per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) because the plaintiff’s claims “fail to allege a cognizable injury.”
December 21, 2023
Judge: Oil Company’s Due Process Claim Against County Fails In Drilling Permit Row

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California has ruled that a decision by municipal authorities that nullified an oil company’s zoning clearance to conduct drilling operations stands because the company failed “to provide any admissible evidence to overcome the presumption of honesty and integrity of the adjudicatory process.” The clearance was nullified, partly, after a federal agency discovered that drilling activities had contaminated local aquifers.
December 21, 2023
Group: Government’s Bid To Compel Disclosure Of Personal Data Is ‘Baseless’

RALEIGH, N.C. — The Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) in the Camp Lejeune Water crisis litigation has filed a response brief in North Carolina federal court arguing that the court should deny as “premature and baseless” the government’s motion to compel disclosure of plaintiffs’ dates of birth and Social Security numbers.
December 20, 2023
Amendments To Rule 702 For Expert Witness Testimony Go Into Effect

Amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, Fed. R. Evid. 702, went into effect to clarify how courts should decide the admissibility of expert testimony.
December 20, 2023
Panel Should Affirm Choice Of Law Used In $185M PCB Verdict, Teachers Say

SEATTLE — Teachers who won a total award of $185 million against Monsanto Co. in 2021 for injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle-area school where they taught have filed a brief in a Washington state appeals court arguing that the trial court that heard their lawsuit did not err when it applied Missouri law over Washington’s statute of repose because a Washington Supreme Court ruling “effectively renders” the statute of repose unconstitutional.
December 19, 2023
Jury Awards $857M In Total Damages Against Monsanto For PCB Injuries

SEATTLE — A state court jury in Washington on Dec. 18 awarded plaintiffs $857 million in total damages against Monsanto Co. for injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle area school, finding that Monsanto was negligent because it supplied a product that was “not reasonably safe” due to the lack of adequate warnings.
December 15, 2023
Leasing Company Says Norfolk Southern’s Third-Party Train Derailment Case Fails

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Trinity Industries Leasing Co., a third-party defendant that was sued by Norfolk Southern Corp. and Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (collectively, Norfolk Southern) in Ohio federal court in connection with the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, filed a reply brief on Dec. 14 arguing that the complaint should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and because Ohio’s long-arm statute is not co-extensive with due process.
December 15, 2023
Judge Denies Document Request, Says Flint Plaintiffs Did Not Meet Requirements

DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan has denied a motion to compel production of unredacted versions of documents in litigation seeking $722.4 million under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) related to the Flint water crisis because the plaintiffs failed to comply with pre-filing requirements, and the judge said she could not find that the plaintiffs made a good faith attempt to resolve issues related to redactions in one specific document.
December 15, 2023
Judge Denies Sanctions Sought By Water Pollution Plaintiffs In Row With Government

HONOLULU — A federal magistrate judge in Hawaii on Dec. 14 denied a motion by residents seeking sanctions against the U.S. government related to allegations that it destroyed text message electronic evidence of two senior military leaders involved in the response to a drinking water contamination lawsuit, ruling that “given the dearth of evidence that relevant texts ever existed, the Court is hard pressed to find that the steps the Government took to preserve relevant [electronically stored information (ESI)] were not reasonable.”
December 15, 2023
Man Says Companies Concealed Link Between Paraquat And Parkinson’s Disease

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A man with Parkinson’s disease on Dec. 14 sued the makers of the pesticide paraquat in Illinois federal court alleging that they had knowledge of studies that showed the relationship between paraquat exposure and Parkinson’s disease but “actively and fraudulently concealed” the information.
December 15, 2023
Plaintiffs’ Group Seeks To Compel Government To Produce Camp Lejeune Documents

RALEIGH, N.C. — The plaintiffs’ leadership group (PLG) in the multidistrict litigation over water contamination at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune on Dec. 14 filed a brief in North Carolina federal court arguing that it should compel the U.S. government to produce documents pertaining to housing at the base, files held by a federal agency regarding the water at Camp Lejeune and reports indicating the identities of the personnel at the base. The PLG says the defendant’s “dilatory efforts threaten to upend the Court’s schedule.”
December 15, 2023
Flint Plaintiffs: Defendant’s Employees’ Thoughts About Mistakes Are Relevant

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The class plaintiffs in the Flint water crisis litigation on Dec. 14 filed a brief in Michigan federal court arguing that evidence regarding whether employees of a defendant engineering firm believe that it made mistakes with respect to its work for the city is relevant and, therefore, the court should deny the firm’s request to exclude testimony on that issue.
December 14, 2023
AFFF Class Counsel Says PFAS Deal With Water Agencies Should Be Approved

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Class counsel in the multidistrict litigation for the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have filed a reply brief in South Carolina federal court arguing that it should deny objections to final approval of a $1.18 billion class settlement because the release of claims that is part of the deal is not “unreasonably overbroad” and predominating common questions are present.
December 14, 2023
Residents Say PFAS Water Case Belongs In State Court, Federal Issues Not Raised

HARTFORD, Conn. — Residents have filed a reply brief in Connecticut federal court arguing that it should grant an emergency motion seeking remand of their lawsuit against the Connecticut Water Co. (CWC) for drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) because CWC “knowingly misrepresents” the proceedings of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) as they pertain to cases brought against public water companies that have been transferred to the MDL for claims involving firefighting foam.