Class Action Lawsuit Filed by Former Florida State Fire College Employees
Former employees and two spouses of employees from the Florida State Fire College filed a class-action claim against the manufacturers of certain fire suppressants that were used at the college claiming that the suppressants led to diseases and cancer from exposure to the chemicals.
The lawsuit was filed alleging that the companies purposefully hid studies that showed the chemicals were dangerous for the environment and carcinogenic.
The lawsuit claims that the companies knew of the effects of their products since the 1970s but continued to sell the products anyway. The lawsuit includes ten manufacturers including Tyco Fire Products, L.P., and the 3M Company. The suppressants include the chemicals perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid. They are used to suppress fires involving flammable liquids such as petroleum.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include various employees and a firefighter instructor that claim to represent firefighters, administrative employees, and instructors that could have been exposed to the chemical. The plaintiffs filing the claim suffer from thyroid and kidney diseases, parathyroid cancer, and breast cancer. Plaintiffs may have been exposed through inhalation, skin absorption, or consumption through contaminated water and products.
Types of Class Action Claims
A class action lawsuit is a type of claim in which the rights of multiple people are settled in one case. This is done so that everyone that was injured doesn’t have to file their own separate claim. These types of claims may include the following:
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Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices – These claims typically involve a business engaging consumers through commerce or trade in a manner that is deceptive or unfair, such as false advertising and selling products and/or services that don’t perform the way that they were advertised.
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Product Liability – Personal injury and product liability actions are generally filed when a product is defective such as a medication with harmful side effects, or mass accidents such as toxic spills that harm a large number of people.
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Consumer Class Actions – These lawsuits are typically filed when consumers are injured as a result of a company’s illegal and systematic practices. This may include things such as illegal charges on bills, unlawful debt collection, illegal penalties for late payments, or failure to comply with laws for consumer protection.
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Employee Class Actions – These lawsuits are usually brought on by employees of a company for violating employee and labor laws including unpaid overtime, safety violations, systematic workplace discrimination, and failure to provide breaks.
Choosing a Class Action Attorney
There are a variety of class action attorneys in Florida, but because the law is fairly complex, you should be sure that the attorney you hire has significant experience with class action lawsuits. Class action lawsuits can also be filed in a variety of areas of the law, so you need to be certain that not only does your attorney have experience with class action lawsuits, but that they also have experience in the area of law that you are seeking to file a claim in.
The Florida attorneys at Leifer & Ramirez have years of experience helping their clients file a variety of class action lawsuits and can help you too. Contact us today to schedule a consultation to sit down with us and make sure we are a good fit for you.
Resource:
dailycommercial.com/news/20181225/ex-workers-at-florida-state-fire-college-file-suit
/the-top-3-most-popular-class-action-lawsuits-in-florida/
