Large 3M, DuPont PFAS Class Push in Ohio Hits Skeptical Court

A Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday was leery of a push from a longtime firefighter suing “forever chemicals” manufacturers to maintain a class certification that could cover every Ohioan, with one judge saying it appeared the lawsuit was filed without proper due diligence.

Judge Raymond M. Kethledge, during oral arguments in a mostly full Cincinnati courtroom, repeatedly asked Aaron M. Herzig, a Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP lawyer for lead plaintiff Kevin Hardwick, where in the record it says that the 10 companies being sued are individually responsible for the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Hardwick’s bloodstream. ...