Walsh R. v. BASF et al

Reference :

359 WAL 2018 GD 10-018588

Complaint date :

October 30, 2015

Status :

Provisional judgment

Place of jurisdiction :

United States, Pennsylvania

Plaintiffs types :

Technicians and Professional users

Plaintiffs names :

Walsh family, Richard Thomas Walsh, executor of the Estate of Thomas J. Walsh, deceased

Defendants :

BASF, Bayer, Dow Chemical, Dupont De Nemours, Monsanto, Syngenta, Biosafe Systems, Chemtura, Clearly Chemical, E.H. Griffith, G.B. Biosciences Corporation, John Deere, Nufarm, Regal Chemical, Scotts-Sierra

Lawyers for Health and Environmental Justice :

Anthony D’Amico

Case nature :

Civil court

Type(s), Product(s), Active substance(s) :

, Herbicide, Fungicide

Requests :

To prove that Thomas Walsh died from chemical exposure.

Name of the Court :

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, United States

Jurisdiction level :

Decision date :

July 21, 2020

Decision nature :

Positive

Decision content :

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirms the Superior Court’s decision allowing the suit to proceed with the expert testimony.

Legal basis :

Court Ruling :

No description

Summary :

Walsh family wages a legal battle against a dozen major chemical companies, claiming that Thomas Walsh’s cancer (AcuteMyelogenous Leukemia - AML) was caused by the pesticides. He worked as a greenskeeper and golf course superintendent for 38 years, using more than two dozen different chemical pesticides over that time. He died of leukemia at the age of 56. On October 14, 2016, the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County Civil Division issues an order granting summary judgment in favor of Appellees. Walsh appeals the order. On May 22, 2018, a panel of state Superior Court judges rules that Walsh family’s medical experts will be allowed to testify at trial, against the decision of the trial court judge in 2017 that the family’s experts should not be allowed to. The companies take the issue to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which chooses to hear the case on March 5, 2019. On October 16, 2019, the state Supreme Court hears oral arguments from both sides on whether some common pesticides caused Thomas Walsh to die from cancer. On July 21, 2020, the state Supreme Court confirms the Superior Court’s decision that the lawsuit can proceed. On Aug. 19, 2020, the family reaches a confidential settlement with Dow AgroSciences LLC and drops the company from the wrongful death lawsuit.

Scientific references :

No scientifice reference for this case.