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Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • May 09, 2025

    RFK Jr.: Coal Miner’s Class Action Over Cuts To NIOSH Black Lung Program Fails

    CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moved in West Virginia federal court to dismiss a putative class action filed by a coal miner with black lung who says Kennedy violated federal law when he terminated the majority of staff at the Respiratory Health Division of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Morgantown, W.Va., arguing that the plaintiff lacks standing under the U.S. Constitution and the claims are barred by sovereign immunity.

  • May 07, 2025

    Judge Declares Mistrial, Calls For Retrial Of Punitives In Ethylene Oxide Case

    LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — A state court judge in Georgia on May 6 declared a mistrial in the punitive damages phase of a trial but let stand a compensatory damages verdict of $20 million in a lawsuit brought by a man who contends that a medical sterilization plant is liable for causing his cancer because it emitted ethylene oxide (EtO) into the environment.

  • May 05, 2025

    Family Can’t Secure New Trial In Rhode Island Asbestos Case

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — While the evidence could have supported a verdict in favor of a mesothelioma sufferer's family and there were some anomalies at trial, the plaintiffs largely failed to object, and the jury was not improperly influenced into finding for the a fiber supplier, a Rhode Island justice said in denying a new trial and judgment as a matter of law.

  • May 05, 2025

    Supreme Court Refuses Case About Jury Trial Sought in Camp Lejeune Water Crisis

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 5 refused to hear an appeal in which two individuals challenged a lower court’s decision that they are not entitled to a jury trial in their case against the U.S. government related to water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

  • May 05, 2025

    Plaintiffs Say Ethylene Oxide Defendant Engaged In ‘Misconduct,’ Seek New Trial

    GOLDEN, Colo. — The plaintiffs who contend that they developed cancer from exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO) from a medical sterilization plant have moved in Colorado state court for a new trial, arguing that the defendant “engaged in a systematic pattern of misconduct that prevented the jury from deciding this case on its merits,” which resulted in a defense verdict.

  • May 05, 2025

    Man Says Paraquat Makers Concealed Information About Link With Parkinson’s Disease

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A man with Parkinson’s disease has sued the makers of the pesticide paraquat in Illinois federal court alleging that they are liable for his injury because they had knowledge of epidemiological studies that link paraquat exposure with Parkinson’s disease and “actively and fraudulently concealed” that information from the public.

  • May 02, 2025

    Amicus Asks Supreme Court To Review Monsanto’s Roundup Preemption Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A public interest law firm on May 1 filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting Monsanto Co.’s petition for review of a $1.25 million damages award won by a man who sued the company for injuries from exposure to the herbicide Roundup, arguing that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) expressly prohibits a state from imposing pesticide labeling requirements that are ‘“in addition to or different from’” those imposed under FIFRA.

  • May 01, 2025

    Government: Evidence Of Vapor Intrusion Should Be Excluded In Camp Lejeune Case

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The U.S. government has filed a brief in North Carolina federal court arguing that it should exclude evidence related to water contamination from vapor intrusion and emissions in the litigation over water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune on grounds that that evidence is “irrelevant” because those claims are not permitted under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022.

  • April 29, 2025

    EPA Unveils Plans To Address PFAS In Drinking Water, Ensure Polluters Pay

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin on April 28 announced that the agency will take a series of measures to prevent per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from contaminating drinking water, including the “designation of an agency lead for PFAS,” and the creation of effluent limitations guidelines (ELGs). The announcement also said that the EPA will “engage with Congress and industry to establish a clear liability framework that ensures the polluter pays and passive receivers are protected.”

  • April 29, 2025

    $53M Flint Settlement Gets Final Approval, Resolving Claims Involving Minors

    ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan on April 28 issued a final order approving a $53 million settlement with Bellwether III plaintiffs in the litigation over the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint, Mich., that resolves all claims brought by minors or plaintiffs designated as “legally incompetent or incapacitated individuals.”

  • April 29, 2025

    Supreme Court To Hear Case Over Federal Jurisdiction In Tainted Baby Food Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 28 agreed to hear a case in which a baby food manufacturer says a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that a district court improperly denied remand to plaintiffs who had sued the company alleging that it contaminated its products with heavy metals “directly conflicts with decisions of other courts of appeals,” ignores Supreme Court precedent concerning federal jurisdiction and “egregiously wastes judicial and party resources with no apparent benefit.”

  • April 28, 2025

    Ga. Federal Judge Approves Company’s Class Settlement For PFAS In Drinking Water

    ROME, Ga. —  A specialty chemical manufacturer with admitted involvement in contaminating groundwater in northwest Georgia with toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) will pay $1 million in class benefits, establish a temporary drinking water fund and pay attorney fees and costs to a group of water subscribers and ratepayers through a partial class action settlement that was granted final approval by a federal judge.

  • April 28, 2025

    Judge: Exxon Is Not Liable For Strict Liability In MTBE Saga With Pennsylvania

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York has ruled that Exxon Mobil Corp. and its affiliates are not liable for strict product liability claims brought by the state of Pennsylvania in a long-running case alleging groundwater contamination from the presence of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).

  • April 25, 2025

    Plaintiffs Oppose Monsanto’s Bid For Reconsideration Of Order On Expert Witnesses

    SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation for injuries related to exposure to the herbicide Roundup on April 24 filed multiple briefs in California federal court opposing Monsanto’s request for reconsideration of several pretrial orders that denied Monsanto’s motions to exclude five of the plaintiffs’ experts.  In one of the briefs, plaintiff Douglas Harris argues that Monsanto’s motion for reconsideration is based on the argument that the district court “fundamentally misunderstands” Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals.

  • April 25, 2025

    Company Seeks Reversal Of Class Certification Order In PFAS Groundwater Case

    BOSTON — Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. has filed a reply brief in the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that a district court’s order granting class certification in a long-running lawsuit over drinking water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) should be reversed because the district court did not define the scope of, and plan for, bifurcated class proceedings.

  • April 24, 2025

    Jury Finds Norfolk Southern Completely At Fault For Ohio Train Derailment

    YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — A federal jury in Ohio on April 23 ruled in favor of a railcar company and determined that Norfolk Southern Railway Corp. is completely at fault for the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that exposed residents to toxic chemicals.  The jury also found that Norfolk Southern did not prove that it has paid more than its proportionate share of any common liability for harm to members of the class that sued it.

  • April 24, 2025

    PCB Plaintiffs Say Monsanto Lacks Support For Bid To Reduce Punitive Damages Award

    SEATTLE — The plaintiffs that won a $75 million punitive damages award that was part of a combined verdict of $100 million for injuries from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) at a Seattle area school have filed a supplemental brief in Washington state court opposing Monsanto Co.’s call for a reduction in the punitive damages award, arguing that the company’s inability to find a supportive case for its argument “emphasizes that there is no mathematical cap or formula that limits punitive damages as a matter of due process.”

  • April 23, 2025

    Monsanto Files 2 More Supreme Court Petitions Over Preemption For Roundup Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Monsanto Co. has filed two separate-but-related petitions for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, which it says present the same question as a third petition, referred to as the Durnell case, that Monsanto previously filed with the high court seeking review of a $1.25 million damages award won by a man who sued the company for injuries from exposure to the herbicide Roundup.  In the recently filed petitions, Monsanto asks the Supreme Court to grant review in Durnell and hold each of the two additional cases pending resolution of Durnell, which deals with the question of whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) expressly preempts state requirements for labeling and packaging with regard to health warnings.

  • April 22, 2025

    Monsanto Says GE’s Proposed Agenda In PCB Indemnification Case Is ‘Improper’

    ST. LOUIS — Monsanto Co. has filed a reply brief in Missouri federal court arguing that General Electric Co.’s proposed agenda in litigation brought by Monsanto seeking indemnification for litigation related to alleged PCB injuries is “an improper supplemental brief in opposition to Monsanto’s motion to remand that defendants filed without prior court approval in violation of Local Rule 4.01(C).”

  • April 22, 2025

    Government Says Flint Tort Claims Act Cases Are Barred By Statute Of Limitations

    DETROIT — The U.S. government on April 21 filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court arguing that claims by nine of the 11 bellwether plaintiffs in the $722.4 million Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit against the government related to the lead-contaminated watercrisis in Flint, Mich., should be dismissed on summary judgment because the claims are barred by the FTCA’s two-year statute of limitations period.

  • April 18, 2025

    Executive, Companies Plead Guilty To Negligent Conduct That Caused Worker’s Death

    AUSTIN, Texas — The U.S. Department of Justice announced that an oilfield company executive, his company and another company have pleaded guilty to violations of multiple federal laws in relation to the release of hazardous gas from hydraulic fracturing drilling operations that resulted in the deaths of an employee and his wife. The executive will serve five months in prison and the companies will pay a total $1.4 million in fines.

  • April 17, 2025

    Groups Say Iron Works Has Polluted Groundwater With Stormwater Discharges

    SAN DIEGO — Environmental groups have sued an ironworking company in California federal court arguing that it is liable for contamination of local groundwater because it has discharged, and continues to discharge, polluted stormwater from its facility to downstream waters and groundwater in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

  • April 17, 2025

    Petitioners: Supreme Court Must Hear Camp Lejeune Case To Resolve Pending Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two individuals who are challenging a lower court’s decision that they are not entitled to a jury trial in their case against the U.S. government related to water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina have filed a reply brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should grant review of the ruling because the lead question in the matter is “central to resolving hundreds of thousands of pending claims under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA).”

  • April 16, 2025

    Thoracic Society, Mine Workers Seek To Intervene In Cases Challenging Silica Rule

    ST. LOUIS — The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and United Mine Workers of America International Union, along with United Steel, moved separately in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for leave to intervene in a dispute over the implementation of the “silica rule” issued by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) related to miners’ exposure to crystalline silica. The ATS argues that the rule should be enforced “as soon as possible,” and the United Mine Workers parties say they seek to protect the silica rule for “the benefit of their members and the nation’s miners generally.”

  • April 16, 2025

    Apple Says Smartwatch PFAS Plaintiffs Fail To State Injury In Fact, Seeks Dismissal

    SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Inc. has filed a motion to dismiss a putative class action in California federal court for lack of standing, arguing that the plaintiffs who sued the company claiming that Apple’s smartwatch bands contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) do not allege an injury in fact.