Keywords
Citation
(2003), "Judge dismisses Milwaukee lead-paint suit, says city offered "No Evidence" against companies", Pigment & Resin Technology, Vol. 32 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/prt.2003.12932fab.007
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2003, MCB UP Limited
Judge dismisses Milwaukee lead-paint suit, says city offered "No Evidence" against companies
Judge dismisses Milwaukee lead-paint suit, says city offered "No Evidence" against companies
Keywords: Paint, Environment, Lawsuit
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Timothy Dugan dismissed the city of Milwaukee's lawsuit against NL Industries Inc. and Mautz Paint Co., saying the city had offered no evidence that the companies' products poisoned Milwaukee children, the NPCA reported. Judge Dugan rejected the city's conspiracy claim that the companies marketed lead-based paint with knowledge of its hazards to children. The judge also dismissed public- nuisance and conspiracy allegations in the suit, which was filed in 2001. The NPCA said Milwaukee city officials are considering their legal options, including an appeal.
When announcing the sale of Mautz Paint Co. to The Sherwin-Williams Co. in 2001, former Mautz Chairman B.F. "Biff" Mautz cited the costs associated with the legal defense against the Milwaukee lawsuit as the key factor in the decision to sell the wellknown regional architectural-paint company. Mautz Paint, based in Madison, WI, was founded in 1922.
The suit, which sought $85 million to pay for the city's abatement program to remove lead paint from some 41,000 houses, is the latest failure for trial lawyers targeting the paint industry on behalf of cities and municipalities in search of large payouts, the NPCA said. In July, a Santa Clara County judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by several San Francisco Bay area government agencies that sought to hold paint manufacturers responsible for health problems related to lead-based paint.
Late last year, public nuisance-styled suits brought by the state of Rhode Island and two dozen New Jersey municipalities were unsuccessful. Rhode Island is planning to retry its case, and a new trial has been scheduled for April 2004.
Commenting on the dismissal of the Milwaukee suit, NPCA Vice President and General Counsel Tom Graves said the "disturbing fact that is emerging" from such lawsuits is that "the public policy problem continues to go unaddressed".