The Litigation Counsellor®

On Friday, October 21, 2022, a claim was filed in the United Stated District Court, Northern District of Illinois against L’Oreal and additional defendants (collectively, “Defendants”). The plaintiff claims her uterine cancer is a result of using Defendants’ haircare products.

On Wednesday, June 8, 2022, over 90 women filed an administrative complaint against the FBI seeking compensation for their failure to act on reports of abuse by Lawrence Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor. Nassar was later convicted on state sexual abuse charges.

On Wednesday, May 11, 2022, parties announced a $997 million settlement was reached in the Champlain Towers South litigation. The announcement was made in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of the State of Florida in front of presiding Judge Michael Hanzman. Defendants included a multitude of entities, including some parties who were yet to be named as defendants.

On Friday, March 25, 2022, federal juries awarded $58 million to two army veterans holding 3M liable for hearing loss from defective earplugs used in training and combat. In Pensacola, FL, U.S. Army veteran Luke Vilsmeyer was awarded $50 million. Several hours later, in Tallahassee, FL, U.S. Army National Guard veteran Steven Wilkerson was awarded $8 million in compensatory damages.

On Monday, March 21, 2022, U.S. District Judge Judith Levy ruled that former government officials involved in the Flint Water Crisis cannot quash subpoenas in an ongoing civil trial.

On January 18, 2022, parties reached a $490 million settlement in the University of Michigan sexual abuse litigation. The case is in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The plaintiffs’ claims stem from the allegations of abuse against university doctor Robert Anderson. Anderson worked at the University of Michigan for 35 years, from 1968-2003.

On December 13, 2021, parties announced a $380m settlement had been reached in the USA Gymnastics sexual abuse litigation. The settlement was reached in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

The plaintiffs’ claims stem from the allegations of abuse against team doctor Larry Nassar. Hundreds of gymnasts filed lawsuits against USA Gymnastics and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee citing negligence that allowed the abuse to go on for years.

On October 19, 2021, 3M announced a settlement of nearly $99 million with plaintiffs alleging contamination of the Tennessee River. The claims were filed in federal court in the Northern District of Alabama and state court in the Circuit Court of Morgan County, Alabama.

On August 25, 2021, class claims were filed in federal court in the Northern District of Indiana against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) and the University of Notre Dame Du Lac (“Notre Dame”) alleging that the defendants have a reckless disregard for the health and safety of generations of Notre Dame football student athletes.

On September 8, 2020, a Vermont restaurant filed suit in Massachusetts federal court against Wind River Environmental, after the company flooded the unnamed restaurant with countless gallons of human feces, urine and sewage.

On May 13, 2020, another coronavirus-related class action suit was filed against the cruise industry, this time in federal court in the Southern District of Florida against Celebrity Cruise Inc. The suit alleges that the cruise line was aware of the dangerous conditions presented by a COVID-19 outbreak aboard a vessel due to the virus’s ability to rapidly spread, and yet failed to reasonably protect passengers.

With the ongoing COIVD-19 pandemic continuing to put strains on an already over-burdened American healthcare system, some states have taken steps to ensure that the looming threat of a lawsuit does not stand in the way of medical professionals providing care to the onslaught of patients inundating hospitals. Situations that many healthcare providers are facing during this pandemic, such as a lack of ventilators, medical equipment and supplies, have triggered a need for ventilator triage policies at many hospitals located in the hardest hit areas of the county. The dire circumstances, in some cases, have forced doctors to make judgment calls as to which patient will get a life-saving ventilator, which many have feared will open up a slew of unwanted future lawsuits. The threat of potential lawsuits likely weighs heavily on the minds of healthcare workers, including recent medical school graduates who may not yet have malpractice insurance.

On April 14, 2020, another class action lawsuit was filed against the cruise industry for failure to respond in a timely manner to the threat of COVID-19. The most recent suit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida against Celebrity Cruises, Inc. (“Celebrity”).

On April 7, 2020, class claims were filed against Costa Cruise Lines (“Costa”), owned by Carnival Corporation, in Florida federal court alleging that Costa knowingly subjected over 2,000 passengers aboard the Costa Luminosa to the highly-contagious Coronavirus.