Settlement FAQs

how much did taft make on dupont settlement

by Ray Smitham Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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Hermes is among millions of Americans who might someday benefit from a class action lawsuit filed against manufacturers of forever chemicals by Rob Bilott, the Cincinnati lawyer made famous by the movie “Dark Waters.” The Taft Law partner won a $671 million settlement on behalf of 3,500 plaintiffs who alleged chemical ...Apr 2, 2020

How much did Dupont pay to settle C-8 lawsuit?

Today, DuPont publicly disclosed that it has reached a settlement in principle to resolve the C-8 personal injury multi-district litigation now pending in federal court in Columbus, Ohio for $670.7 million in cash.

How much did Dupont and Chemours pay to settle Teflon lawsuit?

(Reuters) - DuPont and Chemours Co have agreed to pay $671 million in cash to settle thousands of lawsuits involving a leak of a toxic chemical used to make Teflon, the companies said on Monday.

How much did William Taft’s lawyer get paid from the settlement?

For three years, Bilott had worked for nothing, costing his firm a fortune. But now Taft received a windfall: Bilott and his team of West Virginian plaintiff lawyers received $21.7 million in fees from the settlement. ‘‘I think they were thinking, This guy did O.K.,’’ Deitzler says. ‘‘I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a raise.’’

How much did Dupont pay for PFOA lawsuit?

DuPont, Chemours to pay $670 million over PFOA suits. The $670.7 million settlement DuPont and Chemours will pay plaintiffs to settle 3,550 lawsuits related to the release of PFOA, a toxic chemical, is good news for the companies and the plaintiffs, at least according to legal experts and Wall Street analysts.

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How much did rob Bilott make from DuPont settlement?

$671 million dollarsHis litigation efforts yielded more than $671 million dollars in damages for approximately 3,500 people. DuPont also settled with the EPA, agreeing to pay a mere $16.5 million fine for failure to disclose their findings about C8, a toxin that is now estimated to be present in 98 percent of the world's population.

How much did Taft law firm make from DuPont?

'' For three years, Bilott had worked for nothing, costing his firm a fortune. But now Taft received a windfall: Bilott and his team of West Virginian plaintiff lawyers received $21.7 million in fees from the settlement.

Does Robert Bilott still work for Taft?

It wouldn't surprise anyone that a lawyer dogged as Bilott is continuing the same work. He remains at the same law firm he began at, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, having become a partner back in 1998.

How much did DuPont pay out?

DuPont and Chemours each agreed in 2017 to pay $335.35 million in cash to resolve the thousands of claims that arose from the release of PFOA into the ground, air and water from the Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

How accurate is the movie Dark Waters?

"Dark Waters" is extremely accurate when compared to the true events, which makes it all the more upsetting. The script is based on the 2016 New York Times article "The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare," written by journalist Nathaniel Rich.

Can you still sue DuPont for C8?

If you or a loved one has been a victim of DuPont C8 / PFOA exposure, you may have grounds to file a lawsuit. Call (888) 492-4303 or complete an online form today to discuss your legal options.

Is C8 in my blood?

According to a 2007 study, C8 is in the blood of 99.7% of Americans. It's called a "forever chemical" because it never fully degrades.

Is Teflon still manufactured today?

Why is Teflon Still on the Market? Teflon is still around thanks mostly to the PFOA Stewardship Program. Because PFOA is no longer a component of Teflon, Teflon proponents say the compound is no longer harmful, and that cooking it is perfectly safe for your health.

Is DuPont still selling Teflon?

DuPont agreed to casually phase out C8 by 2015. But it still makes Teflon. DuPont replaced C8 with a new chemical called Gen-X, which is already turning up in waterways.

Why did no one from DuPont go to jail?

Though Robert H. Richards IV was convicted of rape, the wealthy heir to the du Pont family fortune was spared prison by a Delaware court in 2009 because he would “not fare well” behind bars, according to court documents CNN obtained Tuesday.

Is DuPont chemical company still in business?

In August 2017, the company merged with Dow Chemical, forming a new company called DowDuPont (DWDP). DuPont continues to operate as a subsidiary.

How much is the du Pont family worth?

The DuPont family is one of the richest American families. Roughly 3,500 family members share a $14.3 billion fortune stemming from the chemicals empire founded by one of their ancestors in 1802. Since then the company has evolved into everything from plastics to dynamite.

Did DuPont win the lawsuit?

USAT: The movie “Dark Waters” concludes with legal victories for your clients in Leach v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The court ordered DuPont to pay for studies to examine the toxic effects of PFOA, and the company settled for $671 million to pay for personal injuries to impacted residents in Ohio and West Virginia.

Is DuPont still making Teflon?

DuPont is still manufacturing Teflon The jury found DuPont guilty and awarded the plaintiff $1.6 million. In 2017, DuPont and Chemours, a company created by DuPont, agreed to pay $671 million to settle thousands of lawsuits. Many lawsuits are still pending to this day.

Is DuPont still using PFOA?

Pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency forced DuPont and other companies to phase out PFOA, and they agreed not to use it after 2015.

What were the Tennants worried about?

The Tennants were also worried about their own health, Bilott said. Neither state or federal regulatory agencies were willing to test the water, and local attorneys were unwilling to take a case against the community’s largest employer.

Where is PFOA made?

DuPont manufactured the chemical at its Washington Works plant located on the Ohio River near Parkersburg, West Virginia.

What diseases did PFOA cause?

A scientific panel formed as a result of the class action’s settlement revealed, after seven years of study, that PFOA had a probable link to six different diseases, including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, preeclampsia and high cholesterol.

When did PFOA stop being made?

Although PFOA manufacturing in the U.S. was phased out by 2015, concerns about its effects continue to rise. Bilott wants everyone informed.

Who praised Bilott for his commitment to chasing the Dupont case?

Hicks praised Bilott for his commitment to chasing the DuPont case, calling him a crusader of the cause.

Who was the attorney in the Parkersburg case?

Indianapolis Taft partner Bill Wagner worked alongside Bilott as a trial attorney in the Parkersburg class action case of William Rhodes, et al. v. DuPont and the Camden, New Jersey, class action case of Richard Rowe, et al. v. DuPont. Wagner said he worked on the cases every day for nearly two years, helping present expert testimony and cross-examining DuPont’s experts.

Who discovered that thousands of people for decades unknowingly drank water contaminated by a toxin dumped?

Taft attorney Robert Bilott discovered that thousands of people for decades unknowingly drank water contaminated by a toxin dumped by chemical manufacturing giant DuPont. (Photo courtesy of Simon & Schuster)

How many cows did Wilbur Tennant have?

Wilbur Tennant explained that he and his four siblings had run the cattle farm since their father abandoned them as children. They had seven cows then. Over the decades they steadily acquired land and cattle, until 200 cows roamed more than 600 hilly acres. The property would have been even larger had his brother Jim and Jim’s wife, Della, not sold 66 acres in the early ’80s to DuPont. The company wanted to use the plot for a landfill for waste from its factory near Parkersburg, called Washington Works, where Jim was employed as a laborer. Jim and Della did not want to sell, but Jim had been in poor health for years, mysterious ailments that doctors couldn’t diagnose, and they needed the money.

What did Dupont discover about PFOA?

By the ’90s, Bilott discovered, DuPont understood that PFOA caused cancerous testicular, pancreatic and liver tumors in lab animals. One laboratory study suggested possible DNA damage from PFOA exposure, and a study of workers linked exposure with prostate cancer.

What was the PFOA limit in 1991?

In 1991, DuPont scientists determined an internal safety limit for PFOA concentration in drinking water: one part per billion. The same year, DuPont found that water in one local district contained PFOA levels at three times that figure. Despite internal debate, it declined to make the information public.

What was the name of the substance that Dupont used in the landfill?

With the trial looming, Bilott stumbled upon a letter DuPont had sent to the E.P.A. that mentioned a substance at the landfill with a cryptic name: ‘‘PFOA.’’ In all his years working with chemical companies, Bilott had never heard of PFOA. It did not appear on any list of regulated materials, nor could he find it in Taft’s in-house library. The chemistry expert that he had retained for the case did, however, vaguely recall an article in a trade journal about a similar-sounding compound: PFOS, a soaplike agent used by the technology conglomerate 3M in the fabrication of Scotchgard.

Why was the dry run landfill named Dry Run Landfill?

DuPont rechristened the plot Dry Run Landfill, named after the creek that ran through it. The same creek flowed down to a pasture where the Tennants grazed their cows. Not long after the sale, Wilbur told Bilott, the cattle began to act deranged. They had always been like pets to the Tennants. At the sight of a Tennant they would amble over, nuzzle and let themselves be milked. No longer. Now when they saw the farmers, they charged.

What was the name of the chemical that was used in the PFOA?

Bilott hunted through his files for other references to PFOA, which he learned was short for perfluorooctanoic acid. But there was nothing. He asked DuPont to share all documentation related to the substance; DuPont refused. In the fall of 2000, Bilott requested a court order to force them. Against DuPont’s protests, the order was granted. Dozens of boxes containing thousands of unorganized documents began to arrive at Taft’s headquarters: private internal correspondence, medical and health reports and confidential studies conducted by DuPont scientists. There were more than 110,000 pages in all, some half a century old. Bilott spent the next few months on the floor of his office, poring over the documents and arranging them in chronological order. He stopped answering his office phone. When people called his secretary, she explained that he was in the office but had not been able to reach the phone in time, because he was trapped on all sides by boxes.

Did Dupont provide clean water to the communities named in the suit?

Not only had Taft recouped its losses, but DuPont was providing clean water to the communities named in the suit. Bilott had every reason to walk away.

What company is suing for leaking Teflon?

DuPont settles lawsuits over leak of chemical used to make Teflon. (Reuters) - DuPont and Chemours Co have agreed to pay $671 million in cash to settle thousands of lawsuits involving a leak of a toxic chemical used to make Teflon, the companies said on Monday.

What diseases did Dupont investigate?

The panel concluded that there was a probable link with six illnesses: kidney and testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, pregnancy-induced hypertension and high cholesterol.

How much did Dow Chemical settle with Dupont?

The settlement comes as DuPont and Dow Chemical Co expect to close their $130 billion merger later this year.

What is the case number for Du Pont de Nemours?

The case is In re E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company C-8 Personal Injury Litigation, U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio, No. 13-2433.

Where is PFOA found?

The companies settled about 3,550 personal injury claims arising from the leak of perfluorooctanoic acid, which is also known as PFOA or C-8, from its plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

Where is the Dupont logo?

FILE PHOTO -- The Dupont logo is displayed on a board above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S. on December 22, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

Did Chemours pay half of the settlement?

Shares of Chemours jumped 13 percent. The company said it would pay half of the settlement, although liability for litigation connected with the chemical was passed onto it when DuPont spun it off in 2015.

What is the fact in Judas and the Black Messiah?

Todd Haynes’ new film Dark Waters wades into some of the most complicated topics in public health, chemistry, and the law to dramatize the story of environmental attorney Robert Bilott and his nearly two decades of civil actions against DuPont.

What chemical was in Lubeck water?

The Kiger family, teacher Joseph Kiger and his wife, Darlene, really did receive a cagey and curiously worded letter from the local Lubeck water district in October 2000 notifying them that an unregulated chemical named PFOA was present in their drinking water at ‘‘low concentrations.”.

When did Bilott get shot?

As Bilott details in Exposure, the April 23, 2001, incident was eventually confirmed between his legal team and DuPont’s. According to the book, DuPont had commissioned a photographer to take aerial photos of the property as part of its defense.

What was Bilott's job after law school?

In real life as in the film, Bilott’s earliest professional experiences after law school were working on behalf of chemical companies for his employer, Taft Stettinius & Hollister, providing the firm’s corporate clients with guidance on how best to comply with the so-called Superfund law passed by Congress in 1980 to regulate sites tainted with hazardous substances. As in the movie, he at first had a cozy relationship with DuPont, though some of the details of the relationship in the movie are invented. For example, the DuPont executive played by Victor Garber, “Phil Donnelly,” seems to be a composite, and the scene where he turns on Bilott, hissing at him, “Fuck you, hick,” appears to be invented.

Is Rob Bilott understated?

As one of Bilott’s colleagues told the New York Times, ‘‘To say that Rob Bilott is understated is an understatement.’’ .

Did Wilbur Tennant shoot a helicopter?

Amazingly, the Pakula -esque paranoid thriller scene, in which Wilbur Tennant spots a low-level helicopter hovering ominously over his property, uses the scope of his hunting rifle to better examine the vehicle, and scares it off in the process, did in fact occur. As Bilott details in Exposure, the April 23, 2001, incident was eventually confirmed between his legal team and DuPont’s. According to the book, DuPont had commissioned a photographer to take aerial photos of the property as part of its defense. DuPont’s lawyers had a different perspective on the incident, however, writing in an email, “It is a federal offense to threaten violence against an aircraft carrying passengers” and “Please be advised that the helicopter pilot has indicated that he will pursue today’s incident with federal authorities.”

Who plays Sarah Bilott in the movie?

Anne Hathaway as Sarah Bilott and the real-life Sarah Bilott. Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Focus Features and EPK. Advertisement. Advertisement. The film’s portrayal of the physical toll that the excruciating, decadeslong legal battle against DuPont seems to have had on Bilott’s health is also accurate.

How much did Dupont pay to Kenneth Vigneron?

In January, a federal jury in Columbus, Ohio, ordered DuPont to pay $12.5 million to Kenneth Vigneron, an Ohio resident who lived a few miles from the Washington Works plant. The jury awarded Vigneron $10.5 million in punitive damages along with $2 million in compensatory damages. Vigneron had alleged PFOA exposure caused his kidney cancer.

How much did Dupont pay for PFOA?

DuPont and Chemours announced Monday they will each pay $335.35 million in cash to resolve the thousands of claims that arose from the release of PFOA into the ground, air and water from the Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. The plant was originally owned and operated by DuPont, but it was transferred to Chemours after ...

How much did Dupont settle?

The $670.7 million settlement DuPont and Chemours will pay plaintiffs to settle 3,550 lawsuits related to the release of PFOA, a toxic chemical, is good news for the companies and the plaintiffs, at least according to legal experts and Wall Street analysts. For the Wilmington-based companies, with a combined 7,500 workers in Delaware, ...

What is PFOA in Teflon?

PFOA is an acronym for perfluorooctanoic acid and sometimes referred to as C-8. Used in the production of Teflon — once one of DuPont's most profitable products — PFOA has been linked to kidney and testicular cancers, thyroid disease, hypertension and other illnesses. The News Journal last year documented DuPont's role in PFOA contamination in ...

Why is Arnold saying investors are reacting positively to the settlement?

Arnold said investors are reacting positively to the settlement because it resolves a lot of concerns Wall Street had about DuPont and Chemours. He added that given the size of both companies, a $335 million payment should be considered almost immaterial to their bottom lines.

How much money will the plaintiffs get if they get the $250 million?

If all of the $250 million is paid out, plaintiffs will receive roughly $259,000 per claim, including attorneys' fees.

How many lawsuits were filed in 2005?

The 3,550 lawsuits were filed by plaintiffs who opted out of the 2005 settlement in a separate class action. "As of this announcement, no checks have been written and compensation has not been paid," said Harold Bock, a group member.

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