A Northern California judge Monday ordered three companies to pay $1.1 billion to remove lead-based paint from inside California homes, concluding a 13-year legal case. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James P. Kleinberg ruled that ConAgra, NL Industries and Sherwin-Williams created a “public nuisance” by selling lead-based paint for decades before it was banned in 1978, finding them liable for exposing children to a known poison. The opinion set aside $605 million, or 55% of the judgment, to pay for lead removal in Los Angeles County. The money will go into a fund administered by the state’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Branch and will pay for inspections and lead abatement on the inside walls of tens of thousands of homes.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2015 The decision rejected various arguments as unconvincing, including contentions that lead paint no longer presented a significant public health threat and that the defendants lacked knowledge about the hazards at the time of sale. A number of similar lawsuits have failed in other states. Procedural History The lawsuit was brought 15 years ago by Alameda County, Los Angeles County, Monterey County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Solano County, Ventura County and the cities of Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco. Claims against co-defendants Atlantic Richfield Company and DuPont were dismissed at the trial level. Motions for a new trial and to vacate the ruling were denied last March. The appeal to the verdict was filed in September 2014.
OAKLAND — After a 19-year legal struggle, three former makers of lead paint have agreed to a $305 million settlement with California county and city governments to mitigate poisoning dangers still present in old housing. Under the deal, disclosed in a filing in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Wednesday, defendants Sherwin-Williams , ConAgra Grocery Products Co. and NL Industries agreed to pay out the sum over six years, starting with a $75 million payment later this year.
Settlement Date: July 10, 2019 County Counsel finalized a global settlement of a lengthy public nuisance lawsuit by the County and nine other public entities against manufacturers of lead paint. The County received $133 million under the settlement to cleanup lead paint hazards at homes built before 1978. Under the settlement, defendants The Sherwin-Williams Company, ConAgra Grocery Products Company, and NL Industries, Inc., are required to pay a total of $305 million to the Counties of Santa Clara, Alameda, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Mateo, Solano, and Ventura; the City and County of San Francisco; and the Cities of Oakland and San Diego to address lead paint-related hazards, which are one of the most significant environmental hazards for children in California and around the country. The settlement came after years of litigation that included a trial verdict in favor of the County and other public entities, which was affirmed on appeal.
A $305 million settlement reached today in California resolves nearly 20 years of litigation that found three lead paint companies created a public nuisance by promoting the use of toxic lead pigment in homes. The settlement creates an abatement fund that will mitigate the harm caused to 10 plaintiff cities and counties by defendants Sherwin-Williams Company, NL Industries, Inc., and ConAgra Grocery Products Company. The 10 cities and counties on behalf of the People of the State of California are: Santa Clara County, Alameda County and the City of Oakland, the City and County of San Francisco, the City of San Diego, Los Angeles County, Monterey County, San Mateo County, Solano County and Ventura County. Motley Rice, with co-counsel, represents plaintiffs in the landmark case, People v. Conagra Grocery Products Company, Case No. S246102, and served as lead trial counsel for plaintiffs in the 2014 bench trial in which the defendant companies were found culpable for knowingly promoting hazardous products. The 10 cities and counties will divide the settlement funds based on the amount of homes with lead paint in their jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction will then create local clean-up programs designed to meet their specific needs.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The nation’s major suppliers of lead paint have agreed to pay California’s largest cities and counties $305 million to settle a nearly 20-year-old lawsuit, attorneys said Wednesday. The settlement comes after years of legal and legislative battling in California and other states. Lead paint suppliers tried to change California law last year with a ballot initiative that they later withdrew. A judge initially required Sherwin-Williams Co., ConAgra Grocery Products Co. and NL Industries Inc. to pay $1.15 billion to clean up lead paint. An appeals court in 2017 affirmed that lead paint is a public nuisance but ruled that the companies only would have to pay for cleaning up homes built before 1951, leading to the settlement.
