The DuPont de Nemours, Inc. logo is seen on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) trading floor in Manhattan, New York City, United States, August 3, 2021. Portal/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Acquire License Rights
Nov 27 (Portal) – A U.S. appeals court on Monday handed a major victory to 3M (MMM.N), Corteva Inc (CTVA.N), subsidiary EI du Pont de Nemours and Co and other makers of toxic so-called “forever chemicals.” in their fight against legal liability for the substances and rejected a lower court ruling that would have allowed about 11.8 million Ohio residents to sue the companies as a group.
The Cincinnati, Ohio-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court’s approval of the massive class action lawsuit involving virtually all Ohio residents and which placed significant pressure on chemical manufacturers to settle plaintiffs’ claims.
The court concluded that lead plaintiff Kevin Hardwick had filed an overly broad lawsuit against the manufacturers and had failed to establish that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) found in his body could be directly traced back to the defendants, for example Units from 3M, DuPont and others.
The court said Hardwick’s complaint “rarely” targeted the actions of an individual company and instead accused the companies collectively of contaminating the environment with the chemicals.
“Rarely is such an ambitious case brought on such a trivial basis,” District Judge Raymond Kethledge wrote, noting that there are thousands of companies that have manufactured PFAS, but only 10 of them are listed as defendants in the case.
The appeals court ordered the lower court to dismiss Hardwick’s lawsuit, which sought to force the companies to pay for studies analyzing the health effects of PFAS. The chemicals are used in a variety of consumer products, including nonstick pans and clothing, and have been linked to cancer and other diseases.
The lawsuit also sought to establish a fund to monitor Ohio residents for health effects of PFAS exposure.
A 3M spokesman said the company was pleased with the decision.
Robert Bilott, a lawyer for Hardwick, said the court’s decision was “contradictory to what we know about the history of PFAS production in the United States” and said it was considering whether to appeal.
Representatives for the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The chemicals are often referred to as persistent chemicals because they are not easily broken down in nature or in the human body.
The lawsuit is among thousands filed in recent years against 3M, DuPont and others over alleged PFAS contamination.
3M agreed in June to pay $10.3 billion to settle hundreds of lawsuits that the company contaminated public drinking water with the chemicals, while Chemours Co (CC.N), DuPont de Nemours Inc ( DD.N) and Corteva reached a similar agreement with US water providers for $1.19 billion.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has called PFAS an “urgent public health and environmental concern” and has taken action to regulate PFAS, including in drinking water.
Reporting by Clark Mindock, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi, Lincoln Feast and Chris Reese
Our standards: The Trust Principles.
Acquire license rights, opens new tab