October 17, 2018—The U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected appeals from Sherwin-Williams and Conagra Brands, according to a report by the Insurance Journal.
The rejection from the court left intact a ruling that requires the companies to pay more than $400 million for lead-paint remediation in California.
Ten California cities and counties sued the companies for creating a “public nuisance” by promoting lead paint, according to the report. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the success of the lead-paint suit has spawned a string of similar cases against other industries, more than 80 filed in federal court in California and elsewhere in the last 12 months alone.
According to the Insurance Journal, public-nuisance lawsuits are designed to address conduct that broadly affects a community, like pollution or the storage of explosives. California has authorized government lawyers to press public-nuisance suits since 1872.