A federal judge in South Carolina has granted preliminary approval to a $750 million class action settlement between Tyco Fire Products and Chemguard Inc. This settlement aims to resolve allegations that the company produced fire fighting foam containing permanent chemicals, known as PFAS, that ended up contaminating public water systems.
The litigation is part of a multidistrict case that includes numerous lawsuits related to water pollution by fire fighting foams throughout the United States. These lawsuits allege that perfluoroalkylated substances present in aqueous film-forming foams have contaminated drinking water supplies in various communities.
The agreement, reached in April and reported by Law360, covers public water systems that have detected PFAS in their supplies since May 15, with certain exclusions. The judge considered that the settlement agreement is reasonable, without obvious deficiencies or preferential treatment towards the representatives of the affected group.
Similar Class Action Lawsuits Precedents
This settlement is in addition to other significant precedents in the same litigation. Last year, 3M Co. it reached a settlement of $12.5 billion, while DuPont, Corteva and Chemours agreed to a payment of $1.2 billion, and BASF Corp. it settled for $316.5 million earlier this year.
The multidistrict litigation at issue comprises more than 10,000 cases related to damages attributable to PFAS, including direct exposures, medical monitoring, remediation and cleanup costs for property owners, damage to natural resources, and costs of testing and remediation of drinking water by public suppliers.
Tyco’s specific case is known as “In re: Aqueous film forming foam products liability Litigation” and is filed under number 2:18-mn-02873 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. USA, for the District of South Carolina.
What is a Class Action Lawsuit? Can I Jump In?
A class action lawsuit is a type of legal proceeding in which a group of people with common interests come together to file a joint lawsuit against one or more accused parties. This judicial mechanism is particularly useful when the number of plaintiffs is so large that it would be impracticable for each to file an individual lawsuit.
In a class action lawsuit, one or more individuals, known as class representatives, act on behalf of all members of the affected class. These representatives must demonstrate that they have interests similar to those of the other members of the class and that they can adequately defend those interests.
Key Features of a Class Action Lawsuit
- Number of plaintiffs joined: The class should be large enough that individual lawsuits are impractical.
- Common Interests of the plaintiffs: Class members must have similar claims and damages, arising from the same fact or series of facts or incidents.
- Adequate legal representation: Class representatives must be able to protect the interests of the group fairly and in a sufficient manner.
Judicial Efficiency: The class action lawsuit should be a more efficient and fair way to resolve claims than filing multiple individual lawsuits.