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

Mealey's Toxic Torts

June 03, 2024
Monsanto’s Bid To Strike Expert ‘Unavailing’ In Verdict Appeal, Judge Says

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that a trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied a motion by Monsanto Co. that sought to exclude a plaintiff’s expert in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit in which a jury awarded the plaintiff $175 million in combined damages. The judge said Monsanto’s allegation of error related to the admissibility of a plaintiffs’ expert was “unavailing.”
May 31, 2024
Flint Judge Refers Attorney To California State Bar For Possible Role In Stunt

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Michigan federal judge presiding over the litigation involving the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., on May 30 issued an order referring to the State Bar of California the attorney that represents an engineering firm that is a party to the $25 million class settlement in the Flint case, which has been embroiled in a dispute over allegations that the firm hired a public relations company to engage in verbal attacks against a plaintiff attorney.
May 30, 2024
Master Complaints In Hair Relaxer MDL Allege ‘Reckless Acts,’ Knowledge Of Risk

CHICAGO — The plaintiffs’ leadership counsel in litigation brought by individuals who allege wrongful death and other injuries from chemicals in hair relaxer products has filed multiple master long-form complaints in Illinois federal court against eight defendants, seeking punitive damages. In a master complaint against Advanced Beauty Inc., the counsel contend that the defendant is liable for “wanton, willful, fraudulent, reckless acts” related to its awareness that its products posed an increased risk of cancer.
May 30, 2024
9th Circuit Denies Objections To $23M Roundup Settlement, Says Deal Is ‘Fair’

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 29 affirmed a lower court’s decision that rejected the arguments of two individuals who objected to a $23 million settlement in a class action for false advertising related to Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, ruling that the district court did not abuse its discretion by rejecting the objectors’ argument that the nationwide class action settlement would extinguish higher-value claims in a separate class action.
May 30, 2024
BP: Magistrate’s Report Correct, Deepwater Horizon Case Should Be Dismissed

PENSACOLA, Fla. — BP Exploration & Production Inc. and BP America Production Co. (collectively, BP) filed a brief in Florida federal court arguing that it should overrule a plaintiff’s objection to a magistrate judge’s report that recommended that the court dismiss an injury lawsuit brought by a man who says he developed cancer as a result of working on a clean-up crew following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
May 30, 2024
Defendant In Quartz Countertop Case Denies Liability, Says Claims Barred By Law

SANTA ANA, Calif. — One of the defendants sued by a worker with silicosis who says he was injured by exposure to crystalline silica while cutting quartz countertops has filed an answer in California state court denying allegations that it fraudulently concealed the toxic hazards of the stone products and asserting 31 affirmative defenses, including that the claims are barred by the California Code of Civil Procedure.
May 29, 2024
In Roundup Appeal, Monsanto Supports Parties’ Move To Seal Herbicide Formula

SAN FRANCISCO — Despite opposing an appeal of a lower court’s ruling in a cancer case related to the herbicide Roundup, Monsanto Co. on May 28 filed a brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals supporting the appellants’ motion to file under seal excerpts of the record that contain a confidential statement of the formula for a specific glyphosate-based herbicide product, arguing that there are compelling reasons to continue to seal the document that contains the formula.
May 29, 2024
Man Says Monsanto’s ‘Tortious Misconduct’ Related To Roundup Caused His Cancer

BOSTON — A man sued Monsanto Co. in Massachusetts federal court on May 28 saying he developed cancer as a result of the company’s “tortious misconduct” related to the manufacture and marketing of the herbicide Roundup and contending that Monsanto “fraudulently withheld and concealed information about the risks of serious injury associated with” Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate.
May 29, 2024
Group Says EPA Report On PFAS Contains False Statements, Demands Retraction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a request for correction sent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on May 28, an environmental advocacy group demanded the retraction of a report the agency issued in 2023 regarding the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in pesticides on grounds it contains false statements.
May 24, 2024
Magistrate Will Not Reconsider Redacted Document Ruling, Says Privilege Inapplicable

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A federal magistrate judge on May 23 refused to reconsider a ruling in which she determined that an engineering firm that is a defendant in litigation stemming from the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., must provide 40 documents in response to a motion to compel compliance with a discovery order, saying that the firm did not show that the documents were protected by the attorney-client privilege.
May 24, 2024
Norfolk Southern To Pay $311M To Settle Federal Claims Over Ohio Tran Derailment

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The U.S. government on May 23 lodged a proposed consent decree in Ohio federal court under which Norfolk Southern Corp. and Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (collectively, Norfolk Southern) agree to pay $311,175,000 to settle claims related to the release of toxic chemicals from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The payment includes a $15 million civil penalty as well as money to improve rail safety and pay for health monitoring in the community.
May 23, 2024
Plaintiff: Monsanto Is Liable For Wrongful Death From Negligence Involving Roundup

SAN FRANCISCO — The executor of an estate filed an amended complaint in California federal court on May 22 arguing that Monsanto Co. is liable for the wrongful death of a man who had cancer as the result of “negligent, willful, reckless and wrongful conduct” in the manufacturing and selling of the herbicide Roundup, which contains the active ingredient glyphosate.
May 23, 2024
BASF Corp., Water Suppliers Reach $312.5M Deal To Settle AFFF Contamination Claims

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Plaintiffs’ attorneys and BASF Corp. have released statements confirming a $312.5 million settlement to resolve water contamination claims related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which is an ingredient in the firefighting agent known as aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), against BASF brought by public water service companies that have PFAS in their water supplies. The settlement resolves some claims in the multidistrict litigation for AFFF in South Carolina federal court.
May 22, 2024
Judge Preliminarily Approves $600M Settlement In Ohio Train Derailment Litigation

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio on May 21 granted preliminary approval to a $600 million settlement to resolve the class action against Norfolk Southern Railway Co. and Norfolk Southern Corp. (Norfolk Southern, collectively) pertaining to alleged injuries from the release of toxic chemicals at the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, ruling that the proposed agreement is “fair, reasonable, and adequate, entered into in good faith, and free from collusion.” A third-party lawsuit among Norfolk Southern and railcar companies continues.
May 22, 2024
Flint Bellwether Plaintiffs Insist Expert Is Qualified, Evidence Rule Satisfied

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Bellwether III plaintiffs in the Flint water crisis litigation filed a response brief in Michigan federal court on May 21 arguing that a pediatrician they intend to call as an expert witness is qualified to testify and that her opinions satisfy the requirements of Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
May 22, 2024
Pursuant To Consent Decree, EPA Proposes Plan To Clean Up PCBs In Spokane River

WASHINGTON, D.C. — To satisfy the terms of a consent decree it entered into with two environmental groups, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposed plan to reduce the amount of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the Spokane and Little Spokane rivers by setting new total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for PCBs.
May 21, 2024
Government: Flint FTCA Case Fails Under The Discretionary Function Exception

DETROIT — The U.S. government filed a reply brief on May 20 in Michigan federal court in support of its motion to dismiss a $722.4 million Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against it related to the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., arguing that the record demonstrates that policy makers at the highest level of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “balanced difficult and competing social, economic, environmental, public health, and federalism factors in responding to this crisis, which satisfies the second prong of the discretionary function exception.”
May 21, 2024
Operators Of Manufacturing Site Settle TCE Discharge Claims For $14 Million

HACKENSACK, N.J. — Several companies that operated a manufacturing site where trichloroethylene (TCE) and other hazardous substances were discharged into soil and groundwater agreed to settle state and federal environmental law claims brought against them by New Jersey officials for more than $14 million in a consent judgment entered in New Jersey state court.
May 20, 2024
Judge Bars Some Questions, Allows Others On Monsanto’s Knowledge Of PCBs Post-1977

BURLINGTON, Vt. — A federal judge in Vermont on May 17 ruled that Monsanto Co.’s motions to quash and for a protective order related to certain testimony in a lawsuit over polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) brought by a Vermont school were partially granted. The judge said that he would not bar questions pertaining to matters within the corporation’s knowledge after 1977 but that communication between Monsanto and affiliated companies about potential liability stemming from PCBs was privileged.
May 07, 2024
COMMENTARY: EPA Announces First Federal PFAS Drinking Water Standards

By Joo Cha Webb and Derek Smith
May 16, 2024
Seattle PCB Plaintiffs Object To Monsanto’s Bid For Relief From $857M Verdict

SEATTLE — The plaintiffs who won an $857 million in combined damages against Monsanto Co. for injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle area school filed a brief on May 15 in response to Monsanto’s motion for relief from the judgment, objecting to Monsanto’s attempt to obtain substantive relief by combining four distinct motions in one pleading.
May 16, 2024
Parties Say Their Roundup Case Was Wrongly Dismissed, Claims Were ‘Misunderstood’

SAN FRANCISCO — On May 15, four people who contend that the herbicide Roundup causes cancer filed an appeal brief in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that reversal of a lower court’s decision dismissing the case is needed because the lower court “misunderstood the claims,” which are “fundamentally different” from an exposure case.
May 15, 2024
Parties Debate Amount Of Penalty Owed In Glass Maker’s Water Pollution Case

PITTSBURGH — A glass manufacturer that is a defendant in a long-running groundwater contamination lawsuit has filed a trial brief in Pennsylvania federal court arguing that, on the record and under the law, it is not appropriate to impose any penalty on the company in excess of the $1.2 million penalty it has already paid. The same day, the environmental group bringing the case filed its trial brief contending that the court should impose a civil penalty of $50 million in excess of the economic benefit the glass maker has enjoyed as a result of its violations.
May 15, 2024
California City Sues Dow, Shell For TCP Pollution In Drinking Water Wells

LOS ANGELES — Pomona, Calif., has sued the Dow Chemical Co. and Shell USA Inc. in California federal court arguing that they are liable for groundwater contamination from 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP), which they “knowingly and willfully manufactured” when they knew or should have known that the toxic chemical pollutes drinking water supplies.
May 15, 2024
Judges Say Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs Not Entitled To Appeal Jury Trial Ruling

RALEIGH, N.C. — Four federal judges in North Carolina have issued a combined order and denied a bid by the plaintiffs in the Camp Lejeune water crisis litigation to certify an appeal of a decision of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina denying immediate appellate review on the issue of whether the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) authorizes jury trials for plaintiffs bringing claims under the statute.