As an exclusive to the blog, Chuck Moellenberg, Jr., partner at Jones Day and a key player in defending Sherwin-Williams in lead paint litigation, says this regarding "Shermeker Pollard, et al. v. The Sherman-Williams Co. Inc. et al."
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Jones Day partner, product-liability expert - Chuck Moellenberg, Jr., on the record:
"Jane, this ian an one-off, aberrational lead paint product identification case that took years to travel through the Mississippi courts. Unfortunately, when the trial court denied Sherwin-Williams' change of venue motion, the case had to proceed in Jefferson County, Mississippi, where no out-of-state product manufacturer to our knowledge has been able to win a jury verdict.
"The overwhelming evidence of the case showed that it was impossible for plaintiff's family to buy lead-based paint made by Sherwin-Williams as they claimed in 1979 and after, because Sherwin-Williams had removed all lead ingredients from all of its residential paints by the end of 1972 at the latest. It had also issued a strong policy memo in 1977 instructing its stores to make certain not to sell any lead-containing paint to residential customers. Moreover, even the plaintiff's experts conceded that there is no scientific support for plaintiff's claim that his brief, one-time moderately elevated blood lead level could cause permanent brain damage.
"The jury award was based on an incredible argument by plaintiff's experts that the plaintiff, who was captain of his varsity basketball team and also played varsity football, and who has signed a letter of intent to play football at a junior college, needs 24/7 supervision and will never be able to work a day in his life.
"Sherwin-Williams has no more cases filed against it in Jefferson County. It will appeal the jury verdict.
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Readers of this blog thank Jones Day partner Chuck Moellenberg Jr. for this exclusive interview.
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