Product Liability Cases Clause Samples

Product Liability Cases. Koppers Inc., along with other defendants, is currently a defendant in lawsuits filed in a variety of states in which the plaintiffs claim they suffered a variety of illnesses (including cancer) as a result of exposure to coal tar pitch sold by the defendants. There are 96 plaintiffs in 53 cases pending as of September 30, 2008 as compared to 97 plaintiffs in 52 cases at December 31, 2007. As of September 30, 2008, there are a total of 47 cases pending in state court in Pennsylvania, one case each pending in state courts in Tennessee, and Texas, two cases each pending in an Indiana state court and one case pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and one case pending in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. The plaintiffs in all 53 pending cases seek to recover compensatory damages, while plaintiffs in 43 cases also seek to recover punitive damages. The plaintiffs in the 47 cases filed in Pennsylvania state court seek unspecified damages in excess of the court’s minimum arbitration jurisdictional limit. The plaintiffs in the two cases filed in Indiana state court and the one case filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee also seek unspecified damages. The plaintiff in the Oregon case seeks damages in excess of $1.8 million. The plaintiffs in the Tennessee state court case each seek damages of $15.0 million. The plaintiffs in the one Texas state court case have agreed to dismiss their claims against Koppers Inc. pending execution of final settlement and release documents. The other defendants in these lawsuits vary from case to case and include companies such as Beazer East, Inc., United States Steel Corporation, Honeywell International Inc., Vertellus Specialties Inc., Dow Chemical Company, Rust-Oleum Corporation, UCAR Carbon Company, Inc., Exxon Mobil Corporation, Chemtura Corporation, SGL Carbon Corporation, Alcoa, Inc., and PPG Industries, Inc. Discovery is proceeding in these cases. A reserve has not been provided for these lawsuits because, at this time, Koppers Inc. cannot reasonably determine the probability of a loss, and the amount of loss, if any, cannot be reasonably estimated. Although Koppers Inc. is vigorously defending these cases, an unfavorable resolution of these matters may have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. Koppers Inc. is currently a defendant in several products l...