Sherwin-Williams and Con Agra went to court recently to argue that marketing lead paint boiled down to free speech! The companies’ were aware of the health effects and long term damage and they marketed Lead Paint until 1978 when the Government banned the product. Studies conducted between 2007 and 2010 found at least 50,000 children in 10 cities had elevated levels of lead in their system.
The U. S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal by these companies and kept them on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars to remove potentially dangerous lead paint from older homes in 10 California Counties. In seeking Supreme Court review the paint companies argued they were being penalized for promoting a product when its use was legal. The deciding factor in this case was the companies’ speech and not just the product. The companies’ promoted a product that was legal at the time when available research showed it was hazardous. This opened the door to potentially unbounded suits targeting manufacturers of products sold decades ago.
These are leaders in the paint industry who knew early in the 20th century that lead paint was poisonous and shouldn’t be distributed. The ruling determined the companies could be held responsible for lead paint in homes built before the 1978 ban but instead the ruling applies only to homes built before 1951 when companies stopped advertising the product.
We represent people who are injured because of the careless and reckless acts of others. At the end of the day your case can only be settled one time and you need to know all of the facts beforehand. The reason that insurance companies have paid our clients in excess of $130,000,000.00 is that we get the facts and are not intimidated at the prospect of going to trial when they refuse to follow the law. We help with serious issues that require serious representation. We are the Law Offices of Guenard & Bozarth. We have over 80 years of experience in our plaintiff’s only law firm. Call GB Legal 24/7/365 at 888-809-1075 or visit www.gblegal.com We Can Help!
