Court Finds Jury Error in Rejecting Federal Contractor Defense, Grants Verizon Retrial

A federal trial court April 30 ordered the retrial of a toxic tort lawsuit against the successor to a company that made nuclear fuel rods and other components for the federal government in the 1950s and 1960s, finding that the jury failed to adequately consider the government contractor defense (Depascale v. Sylvania Electric Products).

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York held that Verizon Communications Inc., the successor to Sylvania Electric Products Inc., is entitled to reargue that the federal government so controlled the nuclear fuel-related work at a New York industrial site half ...