Breaking News: R.I. High Court Reverses Landmark Lead Paint Verdict

[WSJ_law_blog]

This just in: The Rhode Island Supreme Court has overturned the landmark verdict against three former lead paint producers Tuesday. The decision, which was unanimous and reversed the lone victory to date against the lead paint industry, represents a major setback for communities that want the companies to decontaminate hundreds of thousands of homes and other buildings. Here’s an early story from the AP.

In 2006, a jury found Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries Inc. and Millennium Holdings LLC liable for creating a “public nuisance” by manufacturing and selling a toxic product.

But earlier today, the court said the state’s lawsuit should have been dismissed at the outset. It said that while lead paint was a public health problem in Rhode Island, it wasn’t the companies’ responsibility to clean it up because they had no control over how the paint was used.

“Our hearts go out to those children whose lives forever have been changed by the poisonous presence of lead,” Chief Justice Frank Williams wrote in the opinion. “But, however grave the problem of lead poisoning is in Rhode Island, public nuisance law simply does not provide a remedy for this harm.”
A lawyer for Sherwin-Williams called the ruling a “victory for common sense.”

Jack McConnell, a lawyer for the state, would not immediately comment.