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Consumer Law

: ThePopTort

Out of the frying pan into oblivion

By Joe Consumer

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A few years ago, the American Tort Reform Assocation named West Virginia a so-called "judicial helllhole", in fact # 3 "hellhole" based on a flagrant error. ATRA said that two Florida law firms had filed class action lawsuits in West Virginia against DuPont over the chemical, Teflon. However, no such suits were filed there. When confronted with its error, ATRA reportedly dismissed the factual error as inconsequential, posted a correction on its web site, and did not adjust its ?rating? of West Virginia.

Well, now, the Teflon suits stand for yet another essential truth (besides untruths by ATRA, that is): without class actions, consumers can't gain access to the courts where a company profited by harming large numbers of people, each of whom have relatively small injuries. Without the class action mechanism, many important lawsuits can?t go forward. And that, sadly, is the end result of the Teflon litigation, which lawyers for the victims have now dismissed after being denied class action status. As Wilmington?s News-Journal reported,

The plaintiffs alleged that DuPont failed to warn buyers that Teflon-coated pots and pans, when heated, can emit toxic fumes. They argued that using Teflon cookware could release perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as C8, a chemical used in the production of Teflon that studies have shown may pose health risks. DuPont has denied that Teflon poses a hazard to consumers.

"The court determined that we did not meet the criteria to have it class-certified," said Kim Baer, a Des Moines attorney representing plaintiffs in Arizona, Nebraska, Iowa and New Mexico. "Given the fact that we cannot proceed as a class action, the cases will not be going forward."

Full post as published by ThePopTort on May 14, 2009 (boomark / email).