An Ohio federal jury on today awarded $5.1 million to a cancer survivor, David Freeman, who alleged DuPont’s chemical dumping into the river that separates Ohio and West Virginia caused his cancer. The jury found DuPont liable for actual malice, triggering a punitive damages phase in the second bellwether trial.
Freeman is represented by Gary Douglas of Douglas & London PC, David Butler and Robert Bilott of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP and Tim O’Brien and Mike Papantonio of Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Rafferty & Proctor PA.
This is the second bellwether case that Levin Papantonio has tried against DuPont in Columbus, Ohio. Last year, the firm won a $1.6 million verdict for their client, Carla Bartlett.
Because the jury found Dupont liable for actual malice, the trail would move into a punitive-damages phase, which starts tomorrow.
Earlier this year, I interviewed Mike Papantonio about the case and how Mass Torts lawsuits work. Read Giant Killers: Inside Mass Torts.