Jury Awards $55.5 Million for Property Damage Claims
After deliberating for seven hours, the jury yesterday determined that DuPont must pay $55.5 million to clean up houses, trailers, and businesses that were contaminated by DuPont’s operation of a zinc smelting plant, according to this story from Bloomberg.com.
The jury’s verdict concludes the third phase of the trial. The final phase, in which the jury will determine whether the class members are entitled to punitive damages, begins today.
DuPont had set aside $15 million to resolve the plaintiffs’ claims, which obviously will not be enough, assuming that this verdict is affirmed on appeal. DuPont will have to come up with even more money to pay for the cost of medical monitoring, which the jury approved last week. Although the jury found that medical monitoring is necessary, Harrison County Circuit Court Judge Thomas A. Bedell will determine the specifics of the program, including its cost.
The estimated cost of the remediation program came from the plaintiffs. DuPont took the position that no remediation was necessary and did not present any alternative estimate to the jury. DuPont’s strategy is understandable, but still carries considerable risk. Does DuPont argue, as it did here, that no remediation is necessary, which means that if the jury disagrees, it will have only the plaintiffs’ estimated cost as the basis for its verdict? Or does DuPont present figures showing a lower cost for remediation, and take the chance that the jury will interpret the lower numbers as a tacit admission that some remediation is necessary? Not an easy decision.
In some good news for DuPont, the Department of Justice has decided not to pursue criminal charges against it for the use of perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as C8, used in the manufacture of Teflon at DuPont’s Washington Works plant near Parkersburg, West Virginia. Ken Ward, Jr. writes about the DOJ's decision in this morning’s Charleston Gazette.
