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Mealey's Toxic Torts

  • July 23, 2025

    Monsanto: Glyphosate Case Is A ‘Clean Vehicle’ To Resolve FIFRA Preemption Split

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Monsanto Co. argues in a July 23 reply brief that “there is an open and acknowledged split” as to whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts state law failure-to-warn claims based on the content of pesticide product labels, related to the herbicide Roundup and, therefore, the U.S. Supreme Court should grant review to one of three separate but related petitions for certiorari Monsanto has filed that stem from a companion case in which a man was awarded $1.25 million in damages.

  • July 23, 2025

    Judge Issues Judgment Of More Than $1.54M In Camp Lejeune Phone Call Case

    WHEELING, W.Va. — A federal judge in West Virginia on July 22 granted in part and denied in part a motion for a default judgment award of $1,540,500 in a lawsuit over alleged illegal phone calls soliciting clients for mass tort cases relating to toxic waterexposure at Camp Lejeune, ruling that while there were violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), there is no evidence that notice was provided to the class members regarding the lead plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees and costs.

  • July 22, 2025

    150 Plaintiffs Sue Monsanto For Injury, Wrongful Death Related To Roundup

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A group of attorneys has filed two separate, largely identical complaints against Monsanto Co. in Delaware state court, representing a total of 150 plaintiffs who allege that exposure to the herbicide Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate caused them to develop cancer or that Roundup is responsible for the wrongful death of one of their loved ones.

  • July 21, 2025

    Workers Sue Chemical Plant Operator For Injuries From Exposure To Mercury

    ATLANTA — Workers at a chlor-alkali facility have filed a mass action lawsuit in Georgia federal court contending that the operators of the chemical plant knowingly exposed the workers, contractors and some family members to dangerous and harmful levels of mercury, resulting in a variety of bodily injuries.

  • July 21, 2025

    Trump Exempts Medical Sterilization Companies From Following EPA Emissions Rule

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order exempting medical sterilization facilities from having to comply with emissions standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for ethylene oxide (EtO), a chemical used in medical sterilization that has been the subject of litigation brought by individuals who contend that they developed cancer from living near sterilization facilities.

  • July 18, 2025

    Monsanto ‘Actively Suppressed’ Roundup’s Toxicity, Caused Cancer, Couple Says

    SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — A couple has sued Monsanto Co., its parent companies and other affiliated entities in California state court arguing that they are liable for causing the husband’s cancer by exposing him to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.  The couple says Monsanto “actively suppressed scientific information that confirmed Roundup’s toxicity and lied about its safety.”

  • July 18, 2025

    Judge Remands Agent Orange Benefits Case, Says Board Failed To Weigh Evidence

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has remanded a veteran’s claim for benefits from exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange and other chemicals, ruling that the Board of Veterans’ Appeals erred in multiple ways when it refused his benefits claim because the board failed to properly weigh the probative value of the evidence related to his exposure and its connection to his military service.

  • July 17, 2025

    Judge Suggests Partial Ban On Vapor Intrusion Evidence In Camp Lejeune Case

    RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal magistrate judge in North Carolina has issued a memorandum and recommendation in which he suggests that the district court should grant in part a motion filed by the government in the Camp Lejeune water crisis litigation and bar the plaintiffs from introducing any evidence or testimony related to vapor intrusion for the purpose of meeting the causation burden in the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA), but otherwise should deny the government’s attempt to exclude that evidence.

  • July 17, 2025

    Amici Ask Court To Apply Governmental Immunity When Ruling On Bid To Nix PFAS Case

    DALLAS — Fort Worth, Texas, and other entities filed a joint amicus curiae brief in Texas federal court asking the court to hold that political subdivisions’ biosolids operations are entitled to governmental immunity as it considers the defendants’ motions to dismiss a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination lawsuit brought by farmers against agriculture fertilizer companies.

  • July 17, 2025

    Government Says Requirements For Flint Water Crisis FTCA Appeal Have Been Met

    DETROIT — The U.S. government on July 16 filed a reply brief in Michigan federal court argu-ing that it has met the requirements for certification of an interlocutory appeal in the Flint water crisis Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) lawsuit, contending that the plaintiffs’ arguments that the government’s motion for certification is “too ‘fact-intensive’ and will not advance the termina-tion of the litigation” are not correct.

  • July 16, 2025

    5th Circuit: Causation Experts In Deepwater Horizon Case Properly Excluded

    NEW ORLEANS — A Mississippi federal court did not err in awarding summary judgment to BP Exploration & Production and its affiliate after finding that a man’s experts retained to opine on how his injuries were connected to exposure to chemicals during remediation activities following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill were inadmissible, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held.

  • July 16, 2025

    3M, DuPont, Others Hid Dangers Associated With PFAS Used In AFFF, Plaintiffs Say

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Plaintiffs who have cancer have sued the 3M Co., E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. and others in a Tennessee court, saying they fraudulently concealed the dangers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are an active ingredient in the firefighting agent aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), resulting in their injuries.

  • July 16, 2025

    Judge Nixes Glyphosate Cancer Case For Plaintiff’s Lack Of Causation Evidence

    KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee has dismissed an injury lawsuit brought by a man who contended that he developed cancer from exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, ruling that, based on the record, there is no genuine issue of material fact because the plaintiff did not provide any evidence to establish causation.

  • July 16, 2025

    Groups Sue EPA Over Water Contamination From CERCLA Cleanup At Tenn. Facility

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Several environmental nonprofit organizations representing recreational users of bodies of water in the area of a former U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons facility in east Tennessee are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for implementing cleanup activities that allegedly violate requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 and other federal directives.

  • July 16, 2025

    Judge Issues Sweeping Order On Expert Witnesses In Lead Smelter Litigation Saga

    ST. LOUIS — A federal judge in Missouri has issued an order on multiple motions to exclude filed by both the plaintiffs and the defendants, ruling that portions of expert testimony are excluded in a long-running lawsuit brought by Catholic clergywomen and Peruvian children who allege they have been injured by a lead smelter operated by an American company in Peru.

  • July 16, 2025

    Judge: Ohio Train Derailment Case Filed In Illinois Belongs In Ohio Federal Court

    EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A federal judge in Illinois has transferred an injury lawsuit related to the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, to Ohio federal court, ruling that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio is more familiar with the “factual predicate” of the matter, and there is a great risk of judicial inefficiency if the case were to proceed in a different federal court.

  • July 15, 2025

    Monsanto’s ‘Negligent’ Conduct Related To Roundup Caused Cancer, Plaintiffs Say

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Plaintiffs have sued Monsanto Co. and an affiliate in Delaware state court seeking damages for “negligent and wrongful conduct” related to the herbicide Roundup, which they argue has caused them to develop cancer.

  • July 15, 2025

    Monsanto Seeks Missouri High Court Review Of $549.9M Roundup Damages Award

    JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Monsanto Co. has filed a petition with the Missouri Supreme Court seeking review of an appellate decision that upheld a combined $549.9 million punitive damages award for three plaintiffs who argued that exposure to the herbicide Roundup caused their cancers.  Monsanto contends that review is warranted because there are “fundamental separation of powers concerns” with respect to a statute that is designed to ensure that a defendant is not forced to pay repeated punitive verdicts arising from the same alleged misconduct.

  • July 11, 2025

    Connecticut Says Federal Contractor Defense In PFAS Case Is Not Colorable

    NEW YORK — Connecticut has filed a response brief in the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arguing that the state’s per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination lawsuit against the 3M Co. and others belongs in state court because the state disclaims the only basis by which the defendants seek removal to federal court. The state argues that it does not assert claims related to the type of aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) that was made to adhere to military specifications for the U.S. government.

  • July 10, 2025

    Group Reasserts Standing To Challenge Decommissioning Of Offshore Oil Rigs

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An environmental group has filed a combined brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia arguing that it has standing and it has a claim that is justiciable under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) against Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and other federal energy officials for their failure to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) related to the decommissioning of offshore hydraulic fracturing rigs.

  • July 08, 2025

    Ga. Appeals Court Upholds Decision To Exclude Experts As Unreliable In Mold Case

    ATLANTA — A Georgia trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that an expert in a lawsuit alleging injuries caused by mold exposure could not testify because the proposed testimony was unreliable, a Georgia appeals court said.

  • July 03, 2025

    Plaintiffs Cross-Appeal As Monsanto Challenges $75M PCB Punitive Damages Award

    SEATTLE — Plaintiffs who 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 notice of a cross-appeal in Washington state court, seeking cross-review of the final judgment and other rulings, in response to Monsanto’s appeal of the verdict.

  • July 03, 2025

    Water Authority Says U.S. Government, Navy Liable For PFAS Pollution Of Aquifer

    HONOLULU — A municipal water authority has sued the U.S. government in Hawaii federal court, contending that the government and the U.S. Department of the Navy are liable for tortious conduct by allowing or causing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to be released into an aquifer that the water authority relies on to provide drinking water for residents.

  • July 02, 2025

    Judge Partly Dismisses Claims Over PFAS In ‘Natural Mouthwash’

    NEW YORK — A New York federal magistrate judge on July 1 ordered parties to meet and confer over the future schedule for litigation after a district court judge partly dismissed putative class action claims against two consumer products companies for allegedly deceiving consumers and violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by selling a “natural mouthwash” product that is alleged to contain PFAS.

  • July 02, 2025

    Procter & Gamble Says PFAS Dental Floss Case Fails For Lack Of Injury, Standing

    NEW YORK — Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G) on July 1 filed a reply brief in New York federal court arguing that a putative class action filed against it alleging that its dental floss contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) should be dismissed because the plaintiff’s brief opposing the motion to dismiss “does not seriously contest his lack of standing based on his regular purchases” of dental floss after commencing the lawsuit and, therefore, there is a “lack of any genuine injury upon which to premise his claims.”