Ashcraft & Gerel LLP The Victims' Rights Law Firm Washington, D.C. Maryland (Baltimore Landover Rockville) Virginia

TOXIC TORT LITIGATION   Introduction Examples of Toxic Tort Litigation Specific Well Known Toxic Tort Cases Legal Bases for Toxic Tort Claims: Negligence Breach of Warranty Strict Products Liability

Introduction:

Over the last thirty years the law has witnessed an explosion in the field of toxic tort litigation, spawned by, among other things, rising awareness and activism over environmental and personal injuries caused by corporate excesses. Corporations, unwilling to police themselves and intent upon increasing profits at the expense of the public, have been targeted for civil liability by their victims. Toxic tort litigation encompasses the gamut of product liability claims for chemical and other substance poisonings. Due to the very nature of chemical and substance mishaps as well as the long latency periods associated with many poisonings, large populations are often affected before the nature and cause has been discovered. As a result, the law has been forced to develop methods for dealing with mass tort litigation, including class action suits and multi-district litigation.

Examples of toxic tort claims include, but are not limited to, the following:

• lead paint claims : These claims generally involve brain damage sustained by infants as a result of ingestion of the lead in paint chips and flaking. Ashcraft & Gerel, LLP is heavily involved in lead paint litigation.
 
• asbestos litigation : These claims most often involve mesothelioma, lung cancer, restrictive lung disease and asbestosis sustained by workers (or members of their families exposed to the dust on clothing) in trades or in the military in which they were exposed to products containing asbestos.
 
• dry cleaning solvents : These claims involve brain damage and major organ damage caused by these chemicals used in the dry cleaning industry.
 
• pesticides such as dioxin and DDT : These claims involve birth injuries and birth defects.
 
• electro-magnetic fields generated by utility wires or major appliances : Claims based upon cancer from exposure to electro-magnetic fields have been asserted.
 
• toxic landfill waste : Claims for leukemia and other chemically caused conditions have resulted from irresponsible disposal of toxic wastes, sometimes poisoning entire towns.
 
• fire-retardent building materials, furniture and fire extinguishers : These claims involve exposure to toxic chemicals used as fire retarding agents.
 
• Miscellaneous common industrial chemicals, including benzene, and PCBs
 
• heavy metal and other chemical poisoning : These claims involve poisoning by mercury and arsenic, among other substances.

Specific examples of well known toxic tort litigation witnessed in recent generations include:

• Agent Orange: Used in massive quantities in Viet Nam as a defoliant, causing injury to countless soldiers and civilians.
 
• Toxic Waste Disposal Litigation: Examples include the Love Canal case in Niagara Falls, New York, the Times Beach case in Missouri and the W.R. Grace case in Woburn, Massachusetts (featured in the book and movie, "A Civil Action").
 
• Radiation Exposure: Atomic testing during the 1940's has resulted in litigation over cancers caused by atomic fallout. In addition, class action litigation resulted from the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident.
 
• The 1984 Union Carbide Disaster in Bhopal India: Litigation resulted from the massive leakage of a cloud of methyl isocyanate, estimated to have caused 2,000 immediate deaths, 8,000 subsequent deaths and 300,000 injuries.

As in all product liability claims, three grounds for suit may be utilized in toxic tort litigation:

• negligence
 
• breach of warranty
 
• strict product liability

Regardless of which ground is used, the issue to be resolved by the fact finder at trial, whether it be a judge or a jury, is whether the conduct of the defendant in the way it used a chemical, mineral or other harmful product was unreasonably dangerous and thereby caused injury to the plaintiff or a group of plaintiffs. The primary issues in such cases will be the conduct of the defendant, the dangers known to exist at the time the defendant engaged in the conduct of which it is accused and the causal relationship of the offending agent to the plaintiff's injuries. Toxic tort claims rely heavily upon the use of expert witnesses on all of these issues.

Ashcraft & Gerel had been involved in most of the modern toxic tort litigation, including, but not limited to asbestos litigation, Agent Orange litigation, the Bhopal litigation, atomic radiation litigation, and heavy metal litigation. These claims involve not only expertise, but an enormous expenditure of economic resources and manpower, all of which are necessary to confront the corporations responsible for the injuries sustained by toxic tort victims. If you believe you have been victimized by exposure to a toxic tort, we are available to answer your questions. Please feel free to submit an inquiry by completing the form at our help page or email us.