A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a prospective class action alleging workers' exposure to toxic chemicals at a vinyl pipe and gutter manufacturer.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling rejecting the plaintiffs' argument that the statute of limitations should be tolled regarding their claims and request for medical monitoring because of the discovery of new evidence.
However, the lower court ruled that evidence data laying out their exposure to toxic chemicals at the Genova Products plant in Hazleton, which closed in 2012 had been available for decades before the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit.
"Appellants contend that the question of whether they were reasonably diligent in informing themselves of the facts and circumstances surrounding their claim should be left to the jury," Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie wrote in the Third Circuit's opinion. "While appellants correctly note that reasonableness in this context is a question of fact, a court may decide the issue as a matter of law when 'reasonable minds would not differ in finding that a party knew or should have known on the exercise of reasonable diligence of his injury and its cause.'"
He continued, "Given the substantial evidence documenting the dangers of their occupational exposure to the substances used at the Genova plant, we agree with the district court that reasonable minds would not differ in finding that the appellants did not exercise the reasonable diligence required for the discovery rule to toll the statute of limitations. And because the statute of limitations for a medical monitoring claim has clearly run, the district court properly dismissed appellants' complaint."
The evidence the plaintiffs claim was previously unavailable was a set of material safety data sheets, which allegedly show the toxicity of the PVC materials they worked with. They claim Genova violated Occupational Safety and Health Administration hazard communication law by failing to disclose the sheets.
While none of the prospective class members have gotten sick, according to Vanaskie's opinion, they argue they're entitled to medical monitoring.
The plaintiffs allege in their complaint that the Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization have classified vinyl chloride (the VC in PVC) as a known human carcinogen and that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognizes it as a "significant potential threat to human health."
Sol Weiss of Anapol Weiss represented the plaintiffs and did not respond to a request for comment. Nor did J. Benjamin Nevius of Fox Rothschild, who represented Genova.