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Mealey's Toxic Torts

March 25, 2025
Magistrate Judge Approves Joint Case Management Statement In PFAS Coverage Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — After finding that a pollution exclusion bars coverage for some, but not all, underlying lawsuits filed against an insured and alleging injuries related to exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) allegedly contained in aqueous film-forming foams (AFFF) that were manufactured and sold by the insured, a California federal magistrate judge approved a joint case management statement submitted by the parties regarding how to adjudicate the hundreds of lawsuits filed against the insured.
March 25, 2025
Jury Awards Nearly $2.1B To Man With Cancer In Georgia Glyphosate Trial

MARIETTA, Ga. — A Georgia state court jury has awarded a combined $2,065,000,000 in compensatory and punitive damages against Monsanto Co. for causing a man’s cancer from exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.
March 24, 2025
Texas Seeks To Hold 3M Accountable For ‘Persistent Misrepresentations’ About PFAS

DALLAS — The state of Texas has filed a brief in Texas federal court arguing that the court should deny a motion to dismiss its lawsuit against 3M Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) because “3M must be held accountable for its failure to meet its obligations to Texans, who — along with the legitimate business community operating in Texas — were negatively impacted by 3M’s persistent misrepresentations and omissions in marketing its products in the Texas economy.”
March 21, 2025
Amended Class Action Alleges Dental Floss Contains Multiple PFAS Chemicals

NEW YORK — A plaintiff has filed a second amended class complaint in New York federal court arguing that dental floss made by Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) contains multiple chemicals that fit under the classification of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) based on direct testing of the product, which renders P&G’s claim that its products are healthy “false and misleading.”
March 20, 2025
‘Down With The Sickness’ Metal Singer Sues Landlords Alleging Mold Exposure

MIAMI — The lead singer for nu metal rock band Disturbed has sued his landlords in Florida state court alleging that they neglected to maintain the roof of a multimillion-dollar rental property, resulting in water intrusion and damage from mold, which has affected the singer’s music career
March 20, 2025
Judge Dismisses PFAS Case Against Samsung Related To Smartwatch Wristbands

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California on March 19 dismissed a putative class action against Samsung Electronics America Inc. in California federal court contending that it is liable for fraud and the violation of various consumer laws because the bands for several of its smartwatches “contain excessive levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS),” ruling that the parties are preparing a written settlement agreement and stipulation of dismissal.
March 20, 2025
PFAS Plaintiffs Say DuPont Entities’ Bid For Lone Pine Order Is ‘Premature’

NEW BERN, N.C. — Plaintiffs who have had their lawsuits alleging injury from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) against E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. and its affiliates grouped together for pretrial coordination have filed a brief in North Carolina federal court arguing that the court should not grant a motion filed by the defendants seeking a Lone Pine order because the request is “premature and unwarranted.”
March 19, 2025
Judge Sanctions 4 Monsanto Attorneys For Violating Orders During Seattle PCB Trial

SEATTLE — A Washington state court judge ordered four attorneys for Monsanto Co. to pay $2,500 each in sanctions for violating court orders and formally reprimanded four others in relation to their conduct during a trial that led to a $100 million verdict for the plaintiffs, who were exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) at a Seattle area school. The judge said he was “faced with this disagreeable task” because Monsanto’s attorneys “violated several of the Court’s scheduling orders, which had the effect of disrupting these proceedings and prejudicing Plaintiffs’ trial preparation.”
March 18, 2025
Camp Lejeune Plaintiff Wants ‘Conspicuous Notice’ Posted On Defendant’s Website

WHEELING, W.Va. — A woman suing law firms alleging that they engaged in illegal phone calls soliciting clients for mass tort cases relating to toxic water exposure at Camp Lejeune has moved in a West Virginia federal court for approval of a class notice plan and an order from the district court requiring one of the firms to post “conspicuous notice of the lawsuit and a copy of the Class Certification order” in a banner at the top of each page of its website.
March 18, 2025
Costco: Baby Wipes Case Fails Because Studies Do Not Show Harmful Effects Of PFAS

SAN FRANCISCO — Costco Wholesale Corp. has moved in California to dismiss a class action alleging that Kirkland Signature Baby Wipes contain unsafe levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that the plaintiffs do not cite “any state or federal regulations prohibiting or restricting the specific substances” at issue and do not point to a single study that purports to find harmful effects from those substances in humans.
March 18, 2025
City Wants PFAS Case Remanded, Says 3M Is Trying ‘To Create A Judicial Logjam’

SAVANNAH, Ga. — Savannah, Ga., on March 17 moved in Georgia federal court to remand its lawsuit against 3M Co. and others alleging water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to state court on grounds that 3M’s removal of the case to federal court is “part of a nationwide strategy to create a judicial logjam for PFAS cases like these.”
March 17, 2025
Jury Says Sterilization Plant Not Liable For Cancer In Ethylene Oxide Case

GOLDEN, Colo. — A jury in Colorado state court on March 14 ruled in favor of a medical sterilization plant in an ethylene oxide (EtO) injury case brought by four women who contended that the company was liable for their cancers.
March 17, 2025
N.J. PFAS Cleanup Decision Prompts Judge To Hit ‘Reset Button’ On Eve Of Trial

TRENTON, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey has issued a memorandum order in which she states that she has hit the “reset button” on a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) groundwater contamination case brought by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) against EIDP Inc., formerly E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and its affiliates because she “struggles to see a path forward to try this case as currently scheduled” in light of NJDEP’s decision to place DuPont’s Chambers Works site under Discretionary Direct Oversight on the eve of trial.
March 17, 2025
Magistrate Judge: Radioactive Materials Injury Case Not Filed In Timely Manner

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A federal magistrate judge has issued a report in which he recommends that a federal judge in New York dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit brought by a husband who contends that his wife’s terminal cancer was caused by radioactive waste buried on their property. The magistrate judge ruled that the complaint was filed in an untimely manner.
March 14, 2025
Monsanto Says Evidence For $100M PCB Verdict Not ‘Clear And Convincing’

SEATTLE — Monsanto Co. has filed two reply briefs in Washington state court, one seeking a new trial and another seeking judgment as a matter of law (JMOL), in response to a $100 million verdict for exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at a Seattle-area school, arguing that the plaintiffs cannot show that PCBs contain a design defect and contending that the plaintiffs “lack clear and convincing evidence to support punitive damages.”
March 14, 2025
Associations Urge High Court Reversal Of Ruling Finding Nondelegation Violation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Telecom provider petitioners and broadband association petitioners filed reply briefs on March 13 in the U.S. Supreme Court, urging reversal of an en banc Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that a subsidy program violates the “private nondelegation doctrine” after the high court granted two petitions for a writ of certiorari and consolidated cases concerning whether Congress violated the nondelegation doctrine by authorizing the Federal Communications Commission to delegate to a private entity.
March 14, 2025
Panel: Tenant’s Mold Claim Precluded By Release Clause In Rental Contract

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Court of Appeals has affirmed a decision in favor of a landlord and a property management company in a lawsuit in which a tenant had contended that they were liable for injuries related to toxic mold exposure, ruling that the contract the parties signed released the defendants from liability.
March 14, 2025
Judge Says Environmental Group Lacks Standing In PFAS Water Contamination Case

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee has dismissed a lawsuit brought by an environmental advocacy group against a landfill operator related to water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), concluding that the allegations for violations of federal laws governing clean water are “wholly past violations” and that the plaintiffs lack standing to bring their claims.
March 13, 2025
EPA Announces Long List Of Actions To Review, Overhaul Environmental Regulations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Administrator Lee Zeldin on March 12 announced more than 20 federal actions to reconsider, terminate, overhaul and restructure a laundry list of environmental regulations in a stated effort to lower living costs, revitalize the auto industry and return regulatory powers to the states.
March 13, 2025
Putative Class Says Girl Scout Cookies Contain Toxic Heavy Metals, Glyphosate

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Two women have filed a putative class action in New York federal court against the Girl Scouts of the United States of America alleging that the cookies sold by the organization contain heavy metals, including aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, as well as glyphosate, which is the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.
March 13, 2025
Texas Says PFAS Case Belongs In State Court Due To Lack Of Diversity Jurisdiction

DALLAS — Texas filed a reply brief in Texas federal court on March 12 in support of its motion to remand a lawsuit against 3M Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on grounds that diversity jurisdiction does not exist because the state is the real party in interest in the case.
March 13, 2025
New Jersey High Court Ponders Designating Roundup Litigation As A Mass Tort

TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court has issued a notice to the bar that it has received a second application to designate for multicounty litigation (MCL) lawsuits against Monsanto Co. and its affiliates related to claims alleging injuries from the herbicide Roundup. MCL designation would make Roundup litigation a mass tort in the state.
March 13, 2025
U.S. Supreme Court Gives Monsanto More Time To File Roundup Preemption Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on March 11 granted an application for an extension of time sought by Monsanto Co. to file a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a lower court’s decision in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit that implicates the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and has ramifications for the extent to which FIFRA expressly or impliedly preempts state law failure-to-warn claims.
March 12, 2025
Split Panel Says Maryland, South Carolina AFFF Cases Belong In Federal Court

RICHMOND, Va. — A split panel of the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that two lower courts wrongly remanded separate lawsuits related to injuries from exposure to the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which contains the active ingredient per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), because defendant 3M Co. established that federal removal was warranted in light of the fact that the product’s design was dictated by specifications provided by the U.S. government.
March 12, 2025
Monsanto Seeks More Time To File Supreme Court Petition In Roundup Preemption Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a case docketed on March 11, Monsanto Co. applied to the U.S. Supreme Court for an extension to file a petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a lower court’s decision in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit that implicates the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and has ramifications for the extent to which FIFRA expressly or impliedly preempts state law failure-to-warn claims.