Other Toxic Substances

We represented nearly 4,000 individual Marshall Islanders with personal injury claims in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles and about 13,000 with 5th Amendment Property Taking claims in the U.S. Claims Court. Their losses were caused by the U.S. nuclear testing of 67 atomic and one Hydrogen bomb (Bravo in 1954) between 1946 and 1958. The U.S. argued citizens of the Trust Territory of the Pacific were not entitled to 5th Amendment protection because they were not Americans. The Claims Court disagreed, deciding the United States Bill of Rights applies where the U.S. acts. A treaty called the Compact of Free Association (§177) required the Marshallese to give up their court claims when they voted in favor of becoming an independent republic.

Our firm acted on behalf of 5 U.S. Air Force weathermen exposed to radiation during the 1954 Bravo test. They were stationed on Rongerik Atoll, 150 miles west and downwind of the Bravo detonation on Bikini Atoll. These cases highlighted governmental recklessness and a long-standing cover-up that continues.

We litigated against manufacturers of 1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP), a chemical originally designed as a nerve agent for use in war, then repurposed for agricultural application after University of Hawaii scientists discovered it sterilized nematodes. These are small hollow worms that eat at crops in sandy soils, like pineapples. The defendant chemical companies claimed I was falsely causing our clients to experience emotional distress unreasonably. The trial Court and Appellate Court of Appeals agreed. In a landmark decision, the California Supreme Court disagreed and reversed the prior opinions.

If you review the unanimous California Supreme Court decision in Mitchell v. Superior Court (1984) 37 Cal.3d 591, please pay special attention to the last two paragraphs of the opinion. This summarizes a pivotal part of what the fight was all about. Just click the Learn More tab immediately below.

We secured significant compensatory and punitive damages for families whose groundwater was contaminated by harmful chemicals emanating from the nearby Crazy Horse landfill in Prunedale, CA, where a former Firestone Tire factory unlawfully disposed of its toxic waste. This was, in essence, a fear of cancer case. The Superior Court Award was the highest in the nation at that point in time for such a matter. The damages were reduced and remanded by the California Supreme Court in the Landmark case of Potter v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 6 Cal 4th 965. Before the Appellate Court decided it, which could include a retrial, the case was resolved in a confidential settlement.

(Photo courtesy of the Monterey Herald)

In a pioneering effort, we collaborated with other law firms to hold the five major cigarette manufacturers responsible for healthcare costs incurred by the Republic of the Marshall Islands to treat smoking-related illnesses of its citizens. This is one of the first times these companies were required to defend in a jurisdiction outside the U.S. or the U.K.