Washington Supreme Court hears dispute over statute of repose and punitive damages in PCB litigation

The Washington Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Carrie L. Erickson v. Pharmacia LLC, a case over whether Washington's statute of repose and the Washington Product Liability Act (WPLA) can bar or shape claims by schoolteachers and students exposed to PCBs allegedly manufactured and distributed years ago. Plaintiffs' counsel Deepak Gupta told the court that the core question is "whether Monsanto may invoke Washington's statute of repose to close the courthouse doors and immunize conduct that took place years ago in Missouri before the Washington statute was even enacted."

Gupta said the law of the place where the manufacturer's conduct occurred should govern repose and noted "for decades, from its Missouri headquarters, Monsanto orchestrated an elaborate scheme to conceal that its PCBs not only last forever, but are extremely toxic." He argued that Washington has little legitimate interest in shielding conduct that occurred outside its borders and that, under…