Lead paint ruling could lead to more lawsuits, experts say
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --A jury's decision to hold three former lead paint makers liable for creating a public nuisance could spark more lawsuits nationwide and force the companies to make hugely expensive repairs, advocates, analysts and lawyers said Thursday.
The tiniest state in the nation broke ground Wednesday by becoming the first state to win a lawsuit over the dangers of the companies' products. But some experts said the win doesn't necessarily guarantee spectacular lead paint verdicts in the future or a scenario like what happened after states sued tobacco companies and received billions of dollars.
Jurors said
"I would venture to say that the fact that a jury has sided with the state of Rhode Island, other municipalities and states would seriously take a look at pursuing a case like this," said Alan Mensh, a Baltimore attorney who has represented children poisoned by lead paint in lawsuits against landlords.
The sale of lead paint for homes was banned in the United States in 1978. In the past several years, other local governments have tried bringing similar lawsuits. While some, like one brought by the city of Milwaukee, are slowly winding their way through the courts, others are in limbo or -- as in Chicago -- have been dismissed at the trial court level.
States need substantial resources to sue the companies, and some have been watching from the sidelines to see whether Rhode Island could succeed, said Roberta Hazen Aaronson, executive director of the Childhood Lead Action Project, an advocacy organization in Rhode Island.
"You're going up against industries that have very deep pockets and unlimited resources to continue the battle," she said.
"I think it's a good indication to the plaintiffs that now, honestly, there is a chance that they could succeed," said Brian Gumm of the Alliance for Healthy Homes, an advocacy and policy development group in Washington, D.C.
Several key questions remain unanswered. The state never put a dollar value on its lawsuit, and estimates vary on how much it will cost to deal with the mess. The jury's ruling only says that lead paint companies must do something to clean up lead paint problems -- and a Superior Court judge will decide later what they must do.
The remedy could be as simple as funding education programs about the dangers of lead paint, or as costly as completely removing lead paint from all the affected homes in Rhode Island.
Liz Colon, director of training and outreach at the Childhood Lead Action Project, said the cost of cleaning lead paint can range between $9,000 to $15,000 per apartment. The state has said approximately 240,000 homes in Rhode Island are contaminated.
A JP Morgan analyst issued a note to clients after the verdict saying the cost of dealing with lead paint could range between $1.25 billion to $4.5 billion.
In addition to the clean-up, it's possible the companies would have to pay punitive damages determined by a jury. That question is expected to be decided next week.
It is also likely that the companies will appeal.
Shares of Sherwin-Williams and NL Industries have plummeted on the New York Stock Exchange since the verdict was announced Wednesday morning, slipping by 20 percent and 12 percent, respectively, as of the close of trading Thursday.
Legal experts say it's not clear what impact the state's victory will have on possible lawsuits in other states.
Rhode Island's law on public nuisance is unusually vague about how companies can be held liable for nuisance claims, said Don Gifford, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. Other state courts might not be as friendly to such a suit, he said.
Gifford said he was skeptical that former lead pigment makers would become a bulls-eye for plaintiffs' lawyers like tobacco companies were several years ago, saying the differences in the industries were significant.
"Tobacco companies are still selling their products. There hasn't been lead-based paint sold since 1978," said Gifford, who has consulted for DuPont Co., which was a defendant in Rhode Island's lawsuit before the company struck an agreement worth millions of dollars with the state last summer.
The verdict was welcomed by people like Srey Pen, 28, who moved out of her mother's home in Providence after it was found to be filled with lead contamination. She now lives with a friend, and her 5-year-old son, Christian, has tested positive for an elevated blood lead level.
"The good thing is we got him out of the environment -- not as quickly as we wanted to, but quick enough to stop anymore poisoning from entering his body," Pen said.
