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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Case Status

Decided

Docket Number

10-35458, 10-35592, and 10-35611

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Case Updates

Outcome

September 08, 2011

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a decision not for publication, denied all of DuPont’s grounds for appeal in a failure-to-warn lawsuit brought by farmers whose crops were allegedly harmed by the company’s herbicide. NCLC had argued that the mere existence of DuPont’s ‘environmental stewardship program’ – which includes initiatives to improve environmental sustainability – did not create a legal duty to the farmers, and that the claims were expressly preempted by FIFRA.

U.S. Chamber files amicus brief regarding legal duty from product stewardship initiatives

October 04, 2010

NCLC urged the Ninth Circuit to hold that DuPont did not owe a legal duty to farmers whose crops were allegedly harmed by the company's herbicide, notwithstanding the existence of DuPont's product stewardship program. The district court ruled that in having a product stewardship program, DuPont necessarily had undertaken a legal duty. NCLC also argued that the plaintiffs' failure-to-warn claims are preempted by the EPA's approval of the product's label. NCLC warned that attaching a legal duty solely to the presence of a product stewardship initiative discourages voluntary business actions that benefit society.

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