Columbus drops lead paint lawsuit

By mlfonemailmw  |  July 9, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio --The city has dropped a lawsuit against Sherwin-Williams Co. and other companies that once made lead paint.

Last week's decision by the Rhode Island Supreme Court overturning a landmark jury verdict that found three former lead paint companies responsible for creating a public nuisance took away the basis for suing, Assistant City Attorney Glenn Redick said Wednesday.

The city withdrew its lawsuit Tuesday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Rhode Island was the first state to successfully sue former makers of lead pigment and paint, which can cause learning disabilities, brain damage and other health problems in children. A jury in 2006 found Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries Inc. and Millennium Holdings LLC liable for creating a public nuisance by manufacturing a toxic product.

The state Supreme Court, however, said the lawsuit should have been dismissed at the outset.

Columbus had been the last Ohio city with a case pending against paint companies. Other cities, including Akron and Canton, dropped their lawsuits.

"The lawsuit was legally and factually wrong in suing companies that lawfully made products that the city, painters and consumers demanded historically as the best on the market," said Charles H. Moellenberg Jr., an attorney who represents Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams.

The state of Ohio, the only other state that sued, still plans to continue with its lawsuit, said Jim Gravelle, a spokesman for the attorney general's office.