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IN RE: E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY C-8
PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION.
___________________________________________
KEVIN D. HARDWICK,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
3M COMPANY; E. I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND
COMPANY; CHEMOURS COMPANY; ARCHROMA
MANAGEMENT, LLC; ARKEMA, INC.; ARKEMA
FRANCE, S.A.; AGC CHEMICALS AMERICAS, INC.;
DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD.; DAIKIN AMERICA, INC.;
SOLVAY SPECIALTY POLYMERS, USA, LLC,
Defendants-Appellants. |
No. 22-3765 |
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio at Columbus.
No. 2:18-cv-01185—Edmund A. Sargus, Jr., District Judge.
Argued: October 19, 2023
Decided and Filed: November 27, 2023
Before: KETHLEDGE, THAPAR, and MATHIS, Circuit Judges.
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OPINION
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KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge. Seldom is so ambitious a case filed on so slight a basis.
The gravamen of Kevin Hardwick’s complaint is that his bloodstream contains trace quantities of
five chemicals—which are themselves part of a family of thousands of chemicals whose usage is
nearly ubiquitous in modern life. Hardwick does not know what companies manufactured the
particular chemicals in his bloodstream; nor does he know, or indeed have much idea, whether
those chemicals might someday make him sick; nor, as a result of those chemicals, does he have
any sickness or symptoms now. Yet, of the thousands of companies that have manufactured
chemicals of this general type over the past half-century, Hardwick has chosen to sue the ten
defendants present here. His allegations regarding those defendants are both collective—rarely
does he allege an action by a specific defendant—and conclusory. Yet Hardwick sought to
represent a class comprising nearly every person “residing in the United States”—a class from
which, under Civil Rule 23(c), nobody could choose to opt out. And as relief for his claims,
Hardwick asked the district court to appoint a “Science Panel”—whose conclusions, he said,
“shall be deemed definitive and binding on all the parties[.]”
The district court, for its part, certified a class comprising every person residing in the
State of Ohio—some 11.8 million people. The defendants now appeal that order, arguing
(among many other things) that Hardwick lacks standing to bring this case. We agree with that
argument, and remand with instructions to dismiss the case. |
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