how local attorney robert bilott wound up taking on chemical giant dupont.

by Cassandre Beier 10 min read

What is the Bilott lawsuit against DuPont?

Mar 01, 2016 · Local attorney Robert Bilott has made national headlines, from The New York Times to The Intercept, ... How Local Attorney Robert Bilott Wound Up Taking On Chemical Giant DuPont 91.7 WVXU

What led a lawyer to sue DuPont?

Dec 09, 2019 · How Local Attorney Robert Bilott Wound Up Taking On Chemical Giant DuPont. Local attorney Robert Bilott has made national headlines, from The New York Times to The Intercept, with his high-profile ...

What happened to Michael Bilott's water Defense Foundation?

Apr 02, 2020 · The Taft Law partner won a $671 million settlement on behalf of 3,500 plaintiffs who alleged chemical giant DuPont contaminated their drinking water with PFOA, a forever chemical used to make Teflon.

What did Taft Law win in the DuPont case?

Nov 01, 2019 · by Robert Bilott, on November 1, 2019. Editor’s note: In 1999, Robert Bilott sued E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co, better known as DuPont, on behalf of a West Virginia farmer whose cows were dying. Over the course of that lawsuit, Bilott discovered that DuPont had been using a chemical called PFOA in the production of Teflon for decades, while quietly studying its …

How much did rob Bilott make from DuPont settlement?

Thus, as co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in the Ohio MDL, Taft partner Rob Bilott has been successfully able to recover over $753 million in individual damages compensation for those injured by that drinking water contamination, in addition to earlier class-wide benefits, such as medical monitoring, valued at over ...Jan 26, 2021

What happened to Robert Bilott?

Bilott serves on the board of directors for Less Cancer, the board of trustees for Green Umbrella, and served on the alumni board for New College of Florida from 2018-2021.

What happened to DuPont in West Virginia?

For decades, DuPont dumped PFAS into the Ohio River in West Virginia, killing farm animals and poisoning the water of surrounding communities. The contamination in Parkersburg and subsequent lawsuit were the subject of an acclaimed feature film released last year.Oct 26, 2020

Does Robert Bilott still work for Taft?

It wouldn't surprise anyone that a lawyer dogged as Bilott is continuing the same work. He remains at the same law firm he began at, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, having become a partner back in 1998.Nov 22, 2019

Is Rob Bilott still fighting?

Despite his legal victories and newfound fame, Bilott believes there is much more to be done. He is currently pursuing a new lawsuit against chemical manufacturers 3M, DuPont and DuPont spinoff Chemours.Dec 27, 2019

How true is the movie Dark Waters?

How accurate is the film's version of events? Both the events of the movie and the characters represented in it are all very closely based on the real story. The film originated from a 2016 New York Times article about the case. Mark Ruffalo read the story and immediately bought the rights for the film.Mar 5, 2020

Do I have C8 in my blood?

According to a 2007 study, C8 is in the blood of 99.7% of Americans. It's called a "forever chemical" because it never fully degrades. DuPont had been aware since at least the 1960s that C8 was toxic in animals and since the 1970s that there were high concentrations of it in the blood of its factory workers.Jan 7, 2020

Was DuPont sued Teflon?

In February 2018, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine filed a lawsuit in Washington County against beleaguered DuPont Co. and its spin off Chemours Co. for allegedly dumping a cancer-causing chemical used in the manufacture of Teflon into the Ohio River near its plant in West Virginia.Jun 21, 2021

Why are PFAS chemicals called "forever"?

They’re called forever chemicals because they don’t break down in nature and they accumulate in the bloodstream.

What did Jeff Hermes do?

CINCINNATI — Jeff Hermes worked for two decades as an airport fireman, spraying acres of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) to suffocate flames from jet engine fuel. He is convinced that exposure led to his 2016 diagnosis for prostate cancer. “You were drenched in foam,” Hermes said.

What is the biggest risk of contamination?

For most people, the biggest risk of contamination is from water pollution , said David Andrews, senior scientist for Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. In January, EWG found PFAS contamination in the tap water of all but one of the 44 water utilities it tested in 2019.

Buy The Book

Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle against DuPont

Donate To Science Friday

Invest in quality science journalism by making a donation to Science Friday.

Meet the Writer

Robert Bilott is a partner at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Where did Joe Bilott go to high school?

Because the family moved frequently, Bilott attended eight different schools before graduating from Fairborn High School in Fairborn, Ohio. He then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and urban studies from ...

Who is Robert Bilott?

Robert Bilott is the author of the acclaimed memoir Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer's Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont, published in 2019 by Atria Books. The audio book version (also available through Atria Books) is narrated by Jeremy Bobb with the first chapter narrated by Mark Ruffalo.

Where did Bilott start his law practice?

Bilott was admitted to the Bar in 1990 and began his law practice at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio For eight years he worked almost exclusively for large corporate clients and his specialty was defending chemical companies. He became a partner at the firm in 1998.

Who plays Bilott's wife in Dark Waters?

Bilott's story also became the basis for Dark Waters, a 2019 film starring Mark Ruffalo as Bilott, and Anne Hathaway as Bilott's wife, Sarah Barlage.

What is the name of the chemical used in Teflon?

He works, at first, on Tennant’s behalf, then pursues a class action suit representing around 70,000 people living near a chemical plant that allegedly contaminated drinking water with PFOA, a toxic chemical used in the production of Teflon.

Who is R.O.B. Bilott?

R ob Bilott, a corporate lawyer-turned-environmental crusader, doesn’t much care if he’s made enemies over the years. “I’ve been dealing with this for almost three decades,” he says. “I can’t really worry about if the people on the other side like me or not.”

Is PFOA in the blood?

According to Bilott’s complaint, studies currently suggest that PFAS is present in the blood of around 99% of Americans. The class of chemicals has broadly been linked to immune system disruption, while PFOA specifically has been found to be associated with cancers and other diseases.

What is PFAS used for?

PFAS chemicals are used in products ranging from waterproof jackets to shaving cream, and they can leach into water supplies in areas where they are disposed of or used in fire suppression (in particular on military bases, where they have been used for years ).

Who played the lawyer in Dark Waters?

The Todd Haynes-directed movie Dark Waters, now playing in theaters, tells the story of how the lawyer, played by Mark Ruffalo, switched allegiances. As happened in real life, the movie depicts Ruffalo’s Bilott as a lawyer who defends large chemical companies before he is approached for help in 1998 by Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp), ...

Is PFOA harmful to the environment?

government regulators that P FAS exposures were harmless.

Who is Philippe Grandjean?

Philippe Grandjean, a professor of environmental health at Harvard, conducted a study that appeared to suggest that babies exposed to PFAS could suffer impaired immune-system development. “I fell off the chair,” says Dr. Grandjean. “When I looked at those data it was mind-boggling.”.

Who is the lawyer who became Dupont's worst nightmare?

In 2016, the New York Times published an article about Bilott's work, The Lawyer Who Became DuPont's Worst Nightmare. Of those who read the article, actor Mark Ruffalo, who was curious enough to reach out to Bilott directly about turning his story into a movie. Speaking to Variety, Ruffalo said, "I felt like the article probably couldn’t get ...

Who is Robert Bilott?

November 22, 2019. Robert Bilott always specialized in environmental law , but before 1998 he worked with large corporate clients, helping them understand and obey legislation relating to toxic materials and their release.

What is a legal settlement?

Generally, a legal settlement marks the end of a case, when attorneys and clients divvy up the cash and move on. Because the burden of proving that exposure to an unregulated chemical causes health problems is so onerous, plaintiffs who get any money in such cases may be especially inclined to let the matter drop.

Where is Darling now?

Now 43 and living in Parkersburg, West Virginia, just a few miles from where he grew up in Belpre, Ohio, Darling has other theories about his cancer. Both towns are within “the Chemical Valley,” which encompasses the hilly area of western West Virginia and eastern Ohio and is home to many big chemical companies.

Who sued Dupont?

It may have been luck too — good or bad, depending on what side of the case you're on — that led the attorney Robert Bilott to sue the DuPont company. In any case, he was an unlikely person to take on one of the world's largest chemical companies.

Does C8 cause cancer?

The studies also indicated that C8 encouraged the growth of testicular tumors in rats, that exposed workers suffered more frequently from endocrine disorders, and that the company had also documented elevated rates of certain cancers, including kidney cancer, in workers.

Did Dupont know about C8?

Reilly, or “The Bernard,” as he signs off on occasion, apparently wasn't privy to much of what DuPont knew about C8's effects on humans — and, at least in 1998, didn't think it harmed them. But he did know there was plenty of evidence that the chemical made lab animals sick.

What happened to Jeromy Darling?

One day, as he was pedaling from one place to another, his foot slipped and he bumped his groin on the crossbar. The initial pain was no surprise. What was odd, though, was that the spot he hit continued to hurt for days. Darling was athletic and hearty and, like many young people, hadn't seriously entertained the possibility of illness. But when the pain persisted, he went to a doctor, who diagnosed him with testicular cancer.

Where is Joe Kiger?

Joe Kiger stands at Fort Boreman Park in Parkersburg, WV on Wednesday, August 5, 2015. C8 might simply have remained a problem for cows if not for another unlikely environmentalist, a Parkersburg elementary school gym teacher and former field coordinator for the AFL-CIO named Joe Kiger.