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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

October 11, 2023
Plaintiffs’ Master Complaint Seeks Damages For Exposure To Camp Lejeune’s Water

RALEIGH, N.C. — The plaintiffs who sued the U.S. government over injuries allegedly from toxic water at U.S. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune filed a master complaint in North Carolina federal court asking it to enter judgment against the government pursuant to the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022 (CLJA) and award damages for the harm they have endured.
October 10, 2023
Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Deepwater Horizon Injury Case For Lack Of Causation

NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion has agreed with a lower court’s decision that a plaintiff’s medical experts failed to show causation in a lawsuit against BP Exploration & Production Inc. related to injuries the plaintiff allegedly sustained while assisting with the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
October 09, 2023
Newspapers Say DuPont’s Trade Secret Claim Related To PFAS Settlement Fails

ROME, Ga. — Two newspapers have filed a brief in Georgia state court arguing that E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and its affiliates are not permitted to prevent the publication of the terms of a settlement related to a lawsuit brought by the city of Rome against DuPont concerning contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) because “it has long been settled law in Georgia that public agencies cannot make payments that they make or receive in connection with settlement agreements secret.”
October 04, 2023
N.Y. Federal Judge: Not Enough Evidence To Find Oil Spill Claims Are Time-Barred

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — There is not enough evidence at this stage to determine whether claims of property damage and personal injury raised by residents of a former industrial neighborhood who say they were harmed by an oil spill are time-barred, a New York federal judge found in denying a motion to dismiss filed by the company allegedly responsible for the spill.
October 02, 2023
Firms Deny Wrongdoing In Solicitation Of Camp Lejeune Water Crisis Clients

WHEELING, W.Va. — Two firms that have been sued for alleged illegal phone calls soliciting clients for mass tort cases relating to toxic water exposure at Camp Lejeune filed an answer to the complaint on Sept. 29 in West Virginia federal court denying all claims against them and asserting affirmative defenses. Specifically, the firms contend that they are not subject to jurisdiction in West Virginia, and they say the claims are barred because the plaintiff consented to receive phone calls or her consent was not required.
September 29, 2023
Lead Cases Nixed As Judge Adopts Magistrate’s Report Calling Claims ‘Insufficient’

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan on Sept. 28 issued three rulings dismissing consolidated lawsuits that alleged malfeasance by state and federal authorities resulted in lead-contaminated groundwater, saying she agrees with a magistrate judge’s determination that the allegations are “patently insufficient to meet the ‘shocks-the-conscience’ standard required for federal due process claims.”
September 29, 2023
PFAS Defendant: Plaintiffs’ Objections To Magistrate’s Report ‘Without Merit’

BOSTON — A defendant in a lawsuit alleging drinking water contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on Sept. 28 filed a brief in Massachusetts federal court arguing that the plaintiffs’ claims are procedurally barred based on a federal magistrate judge’s report and contending that the plaintiffs’ subsequent arguments opposing the report are “without merit.”
September 29, 2023
Judge Grants Monsanto Directed Verdict In Glyphosate Case After Plaintiff Rests

CLAYTON, Mo. — A state court judge in Missouri on Sept. 28 verbally granted Monsanto Co.’s motion for a directed verdict, ending a lawsuit in which a man alleged that he developed cancer from exposure to the herbicide Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate. A source told Mealey Publications that the judge will follow his bench ruling with a written order. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
September 29, 2023
City Of Jackson Says Water Crisis Plaintiffs Fail To Show Coercion Or Deception

JACKSON, Miss. — The city of Jackson filed a reply brief in Mississippi federal court arguing that the plaintiffs in the litigation over the contaminated water crisis in the city fail to show how the city coerced or deceived anyone into consuming contaminated water. The city also contends that the plaintiffs have not shown that they relied on any statement made by the city that the plaintiffs believe was deceptive.
September 28, 2023
U.S. Navy’s Bid To Dismiss Groundwater Case Denied Pending Complaint Correction

HONOLULU — A federal judge in Hawaii has denied the U.S. government’s motion to dismiss a groundwater contamination lawsuit against the U.S. Navy in light of the plaintiffs’ motion to correct their fourth amended complaint to resolve a clerical error regarding the list of plaintiffs who have sought medical care in response to the alleged injury.
September 28, 2023
Contentious Oral Arguments In Lead Paint Case Focus On Applicability Of Ruling

CHICAGO — A panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in long-running lead-based paint litigation for personal injuries involving 150 consolidated cases, as plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that a lower court’s ruling holding that they were prevented from bringing their claims for injury was “clear error” while attorneys for the defendants said issue preclusion doctrines apply to all plaintiffs and bind them from pursuing the litigation.
September 28, 2023
Senators Want EPA To Declare Public Health Emergency For Ohio Train Derailment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Both U.S. senators from Ohio have sent a letter to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asking him to declare a public health emergency related to contamination from chemicals that were released when a train operated by Norfolk Southern Corp. derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, in February.
September 27, 2023
Glyphosate Cancer Case Sent To MDL Argues Monsanto Knew Roundup Was Carcinogenic

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Sept. 26 transferred a glyphosate cancer lawsuit to the multidistrict litigation for the herbicide Roundup in California federal court. The case alleges that a Mississippi man developed cancer as a result of exposure to Roundup, the danger of which Monsanto knew and yet concealed.
September 27, 2023
Chicago Sues Monsanto, Says It Knew That PCBs Were ‘Highly Toxic’

CHICAGO — The city of Chicago has sued Monsanto Co. and its affiliates in Illinois state court alleging that they are liable for creating “a vast public nuisance” in the city by manufacturing and selling polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which the city says the defendants knew were “highly toxic” and would put human health at risk.
September 26, 2023
Judge: Plaintiffs’ Expert’s Methodology ‘Well-Supported,’ Opinion Is Admissible

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan on Sept. 25 denied defendants’ motion to exclude a plaintiffs expert in the litigation related to the lead-contaminated water crisis in the city of Flint, Mich., ruling that the methodology he used is “well-supported” in that he uses sources upon which other experts have relied in the case and uses data derived from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), which included the water lead levels observed during the Flint water crisis.
September 26, 2023
Judge Nixes Deepwater Horizon Case For Expert’s Failure To Meet Daubert Standard

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana has dismissed a lawsuit for injuries allegedly caused by exposure to toxins related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, ruling that the plaintiff’s general causation expert has been rejected repeatedly by other courts under the standard set in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and a second expert proffered by the plaintiff is not a medical doctor.
September 26, 2023
Man Says Wife’s Wrongful Death Caused By Toxic Exposure From Deepwater Horizon

NEW ORLEANS — A man has sued BP Exploration & Production Inc. and affiliated companies in Louisiana federal court contending that they are liable for the wrongful death of his wife from exposure to toxic chemicals from to the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
September 25, 2023
Michigan High Court Refuses To Hear State’s Appeals Of Flint Felony Dismissals

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court has denied review of the felony cases brought by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office against former state and local officials involved in the Flint water crisis, stating that the court is “not persuaded that the question presented should be reviewed.”
September 20, 2023
Firefighter With Cancer: PFAS Makers Showed ‘Conscious Disregard’ For Safety

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A retired firefighter who has cancer has sued the 3M Co., E.I. Dupont de Nemours & Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in South Carolina federal court arguing that they are liable for causing his cancer because PFAS is a key ingredient in the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) and he was exposed to it on the job. The plaintiff contends that the defendants falsely represented that PFAS was safe and that that constitutes “conscious disregard and reckless indifference for the safety and welfare of the public.”
September 19, 2023
Insurer Says Pollution, Lead Exclusions Bar Coverage For Lead Exposure Suit Claims

BUTTE, Mont. — No coverage is owed to an insured for an underlying third-party complaint alleging that the insured’s negligence in installing a water well contributed to injuries sustained by tenants who consumed the well water because the policies’ exclusions for pollution and lead bar coverage, an insurer says in a complaint filed in Montana federal court.
September 18, 2023
Companies: Norfolk Southern’s Ohio Train Derailment Third-Party Case Fails

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Two companies have filed a joint motion to dismiss a third-party complaint against them brought by Norfolk Southern Corp. and Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (collectively, Norfolk Southern) in the Ohio train derailment litigation arguing that Norfolk Southern cannot bring negligence claims against them because they are not owners or operators of the railcars that were involved in the accident.
September 15, 2023
Water Agency Says PFAS Makers Are Liable For Drinking Water Contamination

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A water authority has sued the makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are used as ingredients in the firefighting substance aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), in South Carolina federal court seeking to recover the costs of protecting and restoring its drinking water from PFAS contamination and arguing that the defendants knew that the chemicals are toxic.
September 15, 2023
PFAS Makers Assert Immunity As Government Contractors In Groundwater Case

NEW YORK — The makers of the firefighting agent called aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) who are being sued by two hotels in Vermont over contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have removed the case to New York federal court arguing that they are immune from the lawsuit because they are covered by the government contractor defense.
September 15, 2023
EPA: Nonprofit’s Ohio Train Derailment Case Should Be Dismissed Based On CERCLA

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its administrator have filed a reply brief in Ohio federal court arguing that it should dismiss a lawsuit brought by a nonprofit organization over the East Palestine train derailment and the subsequent toxic chemical spill because the court lacks jurisdiction on grounds that the suit interferes with a removal action under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
September 15, 2023
Insurer Seeks Dismissal Of Tyco’s AFFF Claims Under Brillhart-Wilton Doctrine

CHARLESTON, S.C. — An insurance company has filed a brief in South Carolina federal court arguing that it should dismiss an amended complaint by Tyco Fire Products LP that seeks insurance coverage for claims arising from injuries associated with the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), arguing that the court should abstain from deciding coverage issues pursuant to the Brillhart-Wilton doctrine.