Three companies hit with a $1.15 billion lead paint judgment in California are hoping on Thursday to reverse a judge’s finding that they created a public nuisance by promoting for decades a product that they knew was toxic.
Sherwin-Williams Co., NL Industries Inc. and ConAgra Grocery Products Co. will make their case before the California Sixth District Court of Appeal in San Jose, California. They face Danny Chou, assistant county counsel for Santa Clara County, one of 10 cities and counties in California hoping to uphold the 2014 judgment. If California wins, it would be the first government victory in a public nuisance case over lead paint. Other government cases in New Jersey, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin failed in their efforts to bring public nuisance claims over lead paint, which has been found to cause learning disabilities in children.
