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Sterigenics hit with massive damages award

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Sterigenics, its parent company and a corporate predecessor should pay $363 million in damages for exposing a Willowbrook woman and thousands of others to cancer-causing ethylene oxide pollution, a Cook County jury decided Monday.

After a five-week trial and a day of deliberations, the jury decided breast-cancer survivor Sue Kamuda should get $38 million from the companies. Jurors imposed another $325 million in punitive damages as punishment for decades of toxic air pollution that drifted into neighborhoods near a former Willowbrook sterilization facility.

Sterigenics should pay $220 million, parent company Sotera Health $100 million and Griffith Foods $5 million, the jury decided. […]

Sterigenics closed the plant in 2019 under pressure from community groups, local officials, state lawmakers, members of Congress and Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who at one point that year banned the company from using ethylene oxide.

* Sun-Times…

The company also neglected to install safeguards in the Willowbrook facility that could have captured the harmful gases, [plaintiff’s attorney Patrick Salvi II] said. He said the company had those safeguard controls in other facilities across the country but not in Willowbrook.

“If they wanted to protect the community, they would’ve acted on those warnings,” Salvi said. “They would’ve had those controls in place.”

Salvi shared documents dating to the 1980s that showed the defendant companies knew about the harms of ethylene oxide and their alleged attempts to hide those affects from regulators including the Illinois EPA.

He claimed Sterigenics released gas at levels thousands of times above the limits government scientists agreed were safe.

* ABC7…

Kamuda has said she does not have any history of cancer in her family and didn’t know Sterigenics was releasing the chemical.

Lawyers for the company argued that there is no scientific evidence to support that.

However, the facility was permanently closed in 2019.

The company is facing hundreds of lawsuits.

* But this is from a couple of years ago…

The plaintiffs and their attorneys said Sterigenics is trying to escape having to pay those alleged financial burdens.

They claim the company has funneled $1.3 billion to investors over the last three years. They say they then borrowed cash from banks using the company as collateral, which means if the plaintiffs win in court they would have to get in line behind the banks to get paid.

…Adding… Press release…

Below please find a statement from Sterigenics in response to the jury verdict in the Kamuda trial. This can be attributed to the company or a spokesperson for the company.

“We do not believe the jury verdict in this matter reflects the evidence presented in court. Sterigenics is evaluating the verdict and plans to challenge this decision through all appropriate process, including appeals. We will continue to vigorously defend against allegations about our ethylene oxide operations and emissions. We remain committed to our mission of Safeguarding Global Health. As we have consistently done throughout our history, we will continue to operate in compliance with applicable rules and regulations to ensure the safety of our employees, the communities in which we operate and patients around the world.”

…Adding… Sen. Curran…

Today a Cook County jury awarded a $363 million judgement to the first plaintiff who went to trial seeking damages from Sterigenics, its parent company, and corporate predecessor, for knowingly emitting lethal levels of ethylene oxide into the air near her home. In the ruling, jurors found that Sterigenics is responsible for the breast cancer developed by plaintiff Susan Kamuda, and the non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma developed by her child. In response to the large verdict, State Senator John Curran (R-Downers Grove) issued the following statement:

“This is just the first of 762 cases that are currently pending against Sterigenics, and the size of this verdict validates the belief that the cancer cluster in the Willowbrook area is a direct result of toxins released into the atmosphere by Sterigenics. What we suspected all along, and what has now been found by a jury, is that Sterigenics was a bad actor that turned a blind eye to the fact that they were slowly poisoning the residents who lived in the vicinity of their facility.

“This is an astounding verdict that puts facilities that deal with potentially harmful chemicals on notice. Environmental protections must be sufficient to protect nearby property owners, and regular testing and responses to testing data must be prioritized. While no amount of money can truly compensate the victims who have suffered greatly, I applaud and thank Ms. Kamuda for the courage she displays in fighting to hold Sterigenics accountable for their reckless conduct.”

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 12:09 pm

Comments

Andrea Thome was one of the big activists on this plant’s issues.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 12:17 pm
“They say they then borrowed cash from banks using the company as collateral, which means if the plaintiffs win in court they would have to get in line behind the banks to get paid.”

I’ve heard a person can’t gift assets to family members were before bankruptcy. I’ve heard an elderly person can’t gift family members her assets before she applies for Medicaid for her nursing home. How is this any different?

Comment by Da big bad wolf Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 12:28 pm
=and Griffith Foods $5 million, the jury decided.=

I can’t figure out why Griffiths Foods was included in the lawsuit. If someone can fill in this gap, I’d be grateful.

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 12:52 pm
“… In the meantime, we have reopened in Indiana where nobody cares about getting cancer… I mean, uh, where government is more business -friendly.”

Comment by Ok Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 12:58 pm
We recall the GOPies being a little slow on the uptake….they like to call it fighting unnecessary red tape or needless regulations…but Durkie finally woke up. We guess

Comment by Annonin' Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 1:02 pm
I wonder how florida resident and investor in sterigenics Bruce Rauner feels about all of this?

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 1:18 pm
My guess is Sterigenics won’t end up paying a dime. Whether it’s the fake bankruptcy or some other scam, they will find a way.

Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 1:23 pm
“Salvi shared documents dating to the 1980s that showed the defendant companies knew about the harms of ethylene oxide and their alleged attempts to hide those affects from regulators including the Illinois EPA.” It makes zero sense that they chose not to fix the poisonous chemical release problem when they knew there was a solution. They have know about it since 1980 and did nothing? The owner should be locked up willfully harming people.

Comment by Mama Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 1:55 pm
And you wonder why so many of our vital products are outsourced.

Comment by Blue Dog Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 2:09 pm
**I can’t figure out why Griffiths Foods was included in the lawsuit. If someone can fill in this gap, I’d be grateful.**

Basically because they were part of starting the plant:

https://cookcountyrecord.com/stories/613730913-judge-nixes-bid-from-griffith-foods-to-toss-willowbrook-eto-suits-hundreds-of-identical-lawsuits-filed-since

There’s more if you just google “griffith foods sterigenics”.

Comment by SaulGoodman Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 2:33 pm
=== And you wonder why so many of our vital products are outsourced.===
People in China get cancer too.

Comment by Da big bad wolf Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 2:53 pm
out sourcing cancer killers is fully welcomed. Why these companies go on the cheap is beyond us.

Comment by Annonin' Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 2:58 pm
Not likely a 10X punitive verdict will make it past the Appellate Court’s BMW proportionality analysis, much less the scrutiny of the evidence of harm.

Comment by FatBoySlimmer Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 4:02 pm
==and you wonder why so many of our vital products are outsourced.==

Google ‘Raduim Girls’, watch ‘Dark Waters’, and get back to me

Comment by Jocko Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 4:59 pm
=And you wonder why so many of our vital products are outsourced.=

No one should have to live or work near a business operating as recklessly as Sterigenics. That you would bemoan about the outsourcing of this type of work is beyond callous.

Comment by Pundent Monday, Sep 19, 22 @ 8:32 pm