Santa Clara, CA: $10.5 million in punitive damages has been awarded to a man who alleges DuPont's C8 chemical dumping caused his cancer. This punitive award is the largest punitive to date in the multidistrict litigation (MDL).
The jury awarded the $10.5 million on top of $2 million in compensatory damages, to Kenneth Vigneron as well as his attorney’s fees. Vigneron claims that DuPont’s decades long practice of dumping Teflon ingredient C8 into the air and water from their factory on the Ohio river in West Virginia, has caused a cancer cluster in a number of Ohio water districts.
Verdicts from two earlier trial favoring the plaintiffs in the MDL are on appeal. The next trial is set to begin January 17, with 11 more trials set for later in the year in four different cities.
The cases are In re: E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. C-8 Personal Injury Litigation, case number 2:13-md-02433, and Vigneron v. DuPont, case number 2:13-cv-00136, both in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
