Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • 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.

  • April 14, 2025

    3M: Rehearing En Banc Not Needed; Ruling ‘Correctly Concluded’ AFFF Remand Issue

    RICHMOND, Va. — The 3M Co. has filed a response brief in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that there is no reason for the court to grant rehearing en banc in response to a petition by Maryland and South Carolina, which are asking the full court to reconsider a divided panel’s decision that determined that two lower courts wrongly remanded two lawsuits related to injuries from exposure to the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF). 3M says the split decision “correctly concluded that 3M plausibly alleged a sufficient nexus between the conduct charged in these suits and 3M’s federal government-contractor defense for purposes of the federal-officer removal statute.”

  • April 14, 2025

    Monsanto Says $75M Punitive Damages Award In PCB Case Exceeds Due Process

    SEATTLE — Monsanto Co. has filed a supplemental brief in Washington state court arguing that a $75 million punitive damages award that was part of a combined verdict of $100 million for plaintiffs who were injured from exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) at a Seattle area school needs to be reduced because punitive damage awards in other cases related to PCB exposure at the same school “already greatly exceed the bounds of due process.”

  • April 11, 2025

    Monsanto Wants High Court Review Of Roundup Case With ‘Enormous’ Consequences

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Monsanto Co. has filed a petition for certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should review a $1.25 million damages award won by a man who sued the company for injuries from exposure to the herbicide Roundup because there is a circuit court split with “enormous” consequences on 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 11, 2025

    Residents Say Motion To Compel Discovery In Lead-Tainted Water Case Fails

    GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Residents who sued Benton Harbor, Mich., and its officials over lead contamination in the drinking water have filed a response brief in Michigan federal court arguing that the court should deny a motion to compel discovery on grounds the motion was filed before the parties reached an impasse, which the plaintiffs argue is a violation of local and federal rules.

  • April 11, 2025

    3M Insists Texas’ PFAS Case Against It, Others Fails For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    DALLAS — The 3M Co. has filed a reply brief in Texas federal court arguing that the state of Texas has failed to establish general or personal jurisdiction in the state’s case against 3M Co. and other makers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances(PFAS) and, therefore, the case should be dismissed.

  • April 11, 2025

    Georgia City Says 3M’s Framework For Removal Of PFAS Case Is ‘Incorrect’

    SAVANNAH, Ga. — Savannah has filed a reply brief in Georgia federal court insisting that it should remand the city’s lawsuit against 3M Co. and others alleging water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to state court on grounds that “3M’s entire framework for removal is incorrect” because 3M has not made the critical showing that its manufacture and sale of commercial PFAS products is “causally connected” to firefighting foam supplied to the federal government.

  • April 10, 2025

    DuPont Reiterates Need For Lone Pine Order In Coordinated PFAS Litigation

    NEW BERN, N.C. — E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. and its affiliates have filed a reply brief in North Carolina federal court arguing that in lawsuits alleging injury from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have been grouped together for pretrial coordination, the district court should issue a Lone Pine order that requires the plaintiffs to produce expert declarations confirming injury and causation.

  • April 10, 2025

    Jury Awards More Than $3B In Damages For Injuries From Bottled Water Product

    LAS VEGAS — A Nevada jury has awarded a group of plaintiffs $3,078,585,000 in combined compensatory and punitive damages against Real Water Inc. and its affiliates for injuries caused by a product called “Real Water.”  The bottled drink was claimed to be healthier than regular water because it was “alkalized water infused with negative ions,” but in fact it caused liver damage as a result of elevated levels of toxins that made the product unsafe for human consumption.

  • April 09, 2025

    3M Asks 2nd Circuit To Rule Connecticut’s PFAS Case Belongs In Federal Court

    NEW YORK — The 3M Co. has filed an opening appeal brief in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that it should rule that a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination lawsuit brought by Connecticut implicates the company’s government contractor defense and belongs in federal court.

  • April 09, 2025

    Plaintiffs Say Objections To Ore. Water Contamination Case Findings Lack Merit

    PENDLETON, Ore. — A group of residents who sued the port of Morrow and several agricultural companies pursuant to Oregon state law and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for alleged contamination of groundwater in the Lower Umatilla Basin say a federal magistrate judge’s findings of fact and recommendation stating they can pursue most of their claims for relief should be entirely adopted and that a litany of objections made by the defendants does not have merit.

  • April 09, 2025

    Vape Maker Says Plaintiffs’ PFAS Class Action Fails For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    SAN FRANCISCO — A maker of vapes has moved in California federal court to dismiss a putative class action alleging that its products contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that subject matter jurisdiction is lacking and that the plaintiffs have failed to plead fraud-based claims with particularity.

  • April 08, 2025

    Montana City Sues 3M, Others For Making Firefighting Gear With PFAS

    BUTTE, Mont. — A municipality in Montana has filed a class action against 3M Co., DuPont de Nemours Inc. and others in Montana federal court seeking compensatory and punitive damages because they made what is called “turnout gear” for firefighters that contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which the plaintiff says is causing firefighters to develop cancer “at an alarming rate higher than the general population.”

  • April 08, 2025

    Costco Says, Again, PFAS Baby Wipes Case Fails To State A Claim, Seeks Dismissal

    SAN FRANCISCO — Costco Wholesale Corp. has filed a reply brief in a class action alleging that Kirkland Signature Baby Wipes contain unsafe levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), arguing that “without the conclusory opinions of her mystery expert,” nothing in the plaintiff’s amended complaint or her brief opposing dismissal “would render plausible the toxicity of these substances at these levels, and on that basis she fails to state a claim.”

  • April 08, 2025

    Alabama High Court Nixes PFAS Case Against DuPont; Claims Against Landfills Stand

    MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court has ruled that claims against E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., its affiliates and other defendants in a lawsuit over the contamination of drinking water with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are precluded on statute of limitations grounds.  However, the Supreme Court ruled that claims against a group of landfills were not dismissed because they never sought dismissal of the claims against them based on the affirmative defense of statute of limitations.

  • April 04, 2025

    Judge Nixes Claims In Case Over Heavy Metals In Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate

    SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California has granted summary judgment to Trader Joe’s Co. on class claims that its dark chocolate products contain lead and other heavy metals, ruling that information on the presence of heavy metals in chocolate has been “reasonably obtainable, easily discoverable, and available” for many years; therefore, the judge was “not persuaded” that the plaintiffs had created a genuine issue of material fact.

  • March 31, 2025

    Calif. Panel Reverses Dismissal Of Claims In Dry-Cleaning PCE Pollution Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California appellate court panel granted a writ of mandate ordering a Superior Court judge to vacate a ruling that dismissed claims of liability and negligence brought by Modesto, Calif., and some of its municipal agencies over perchloroethylene (PCE) contamination at a former dry-cleaning site.

  • March 31, 2025

    Judge Reconsiders Prior Order, Refuses To Exclude Plaintiffs’ Roundup Expert

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California has ruled that a plaintiffs’ expert in an injury lawsuit alleging that the herbicide Roundup causes cancer can testify at trial, after reconsidering his prior order that excluded the expert. The judge said the court “clearly erred” when it excluded the opinion of Shalin Kothari on grounds that he failed to adequately account for random replication errors as a cause for cancer, which is a controversial theory advanced by Monsanto Co. expert Cristian Tomasetti.

  • March 31, 2025

    Government Says Flint FTCA Bellwether Plaintiffs Have Not Established Liability

    DETROIT — The U.S. government on March 28 filed a reply brief 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., contending that the bellwether plaintiffs have not established liability under Section 324A of the Restatement (Second) of Torts and have not established analogous private liability under Section 324A and, therefore, their claims should be dismissed.

  • March 28, 2025

    Judge Dismisses Class Suit Alleging Infant Formula Contained Heavy Metals

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on March 24 granted an infant formula company’s motion to dismiss a putative class action lawsuit against it for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by allegedly concealing the presence of heavy metals in its formula products, finding that the plaintiff failed to allege that the amounts of heavy metals in the products pose a safety.

  • March 28, 2025

    9th Circuit Reverses, Says Claims Valid In Roundup Mislabeling Lawsuit

    PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 27 issued an unpublished nonprecedential memorandum in which it reversed a lower court decision that dismissed claims against Monsanto Co. and its parents related to allegations that its herbicide Roundup was mislabeled, ruling that the plaintiffs alleged sufficient facts to plausibly state a claim for relief against Monsanto, but the panel affirmed the part of the lower court ruling that concluded that the claims against Scotts Co. LLC were properly dismissed.

  • March 28, 2025

    Judge Nixes PFAS Case Against Government, Says Jurisdiction Lacking, Claims Fail

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the U.S. government alleging contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which the plaintiffs said amounted to an illegal taking of their property, ruling that the court lacks jurisdiction and the plaintiffs fail to assert a proper takings claim.

  • March 27, 2025

    Judge Denies Norfolk Southern’s Motion To Dismiss Securities Fraud Class Action

    ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern Corp. and its principal’s motion to dismiss investors’ securities fraud class action relating to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was denied by a federal judge in Ohio, who found that the investors’ allegations raised an “overwhelming” inference of scienter.

  • March 27, 2025

    PCB Indemnification Defendants Say Monsanto’s Bid To Strike Case Agenda Fails

    ST. LOUIS — General Electric Co. and other companies that purchased polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have filed a brief in Missouri federal court arguing that it should deny a motion by Monsanto Co. to strike the defendants’ proposed agenda for Monsanto’s lawsuit seeking indemnification for litigation related to alleged PCB injuries, on grounds that Monsanto has not shown that the proposed agenda warrants striking under the “stringent standard required under” Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f).