Legal News

Hurricane Victims Denied Class Status in Housing Suits

By Dan Slater

Jim ‘Hawk’ Herring in his FEMA trailer in the New Orleans area in February. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against the government and manufacturers over the past three years. (AP)

Judge Kurt Englehardt gave Rule 23 junkies a lot to chew on yesterday. In this thick 50-page opinion, the Eastern District of Louisiana judge denied class certification to thousands of victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They were seeking damages for alleged exposure to formaldehyde while living in emergency housing provided by FEMA.

Here’s a WSJ report.

Englehardt found that the number of plaintiffs and multiple defendants, as well as varying state laws and legal issues related to trailer types and differing formaldehyde levels, made it impossible for the cases to be consolidated, notes the WSJ.

The victims’ claims and the types of housing received “vary greatly on an individual basis and require an individualized assessment,” he wrote. “No class representative can be said to adequately represent the interests of all.”

“We’re looking forward to putting before a jury some good, instructive bellwether cases,” Gerald Meunier, a New Orleans attorney who was one of those seeking class-action status, told the WSJ. “We’ll see what they do with those, and we’ll know more about how to conclude all of the other litigation.”

At court hearings earlier this year, defense lawyers argued that many trailers came with instructions notifying occupants to ventilate their trailers frequently to reduce the buildup of chemicals within the units. Plaintiffs’ attorneys countered with assertions by toxicologists that formaldehyde wouldn’t be completely eliminated by simply airing out a trailer.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on December 30, 2008 (boomark / email).