Cases / Chemical pollution · United States · 2023
Appeals court overturns PFAS blood-contamination class action against 3M
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
A US appeals court overturned a class action on behalf of about 11.8 million people with PFAS in their blood. According to the Washington Legal Foundation, the plaintiffs could not show which of ten companies, including 3M, had put the chemicals there.
What?
A federal appeals court overturned a class action on behalf of about 11.8 million people with PFAS in their blood, against ten companies including 3M. Washington Legal Foundation
Where?
Ohio, USA (appeal to the Sixth Circuit) Washington Legal Foundation
When?
Appeals decision on 27 November 2023. Washington Legal Foundation
Who?
Gained
- Ten defendant companies, including 3M — the class certification against them was overturned Washington Legal Foundation
Lost
- Class members with PFAS in their blood — the class of about 11.8 million people fell Washington Legal Foundation
Harmed
None on recordWhy?
The class was overturned because the plaintiffs could not show which company had put PFAS into each class member's blood. Washington Legal Foundation
How?
A class action in which the district court accepted a class and the appeals court reversed it on traceability grounds. Washington Legal Foundation
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
On 27 November 2023 the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit overturned a district court's acceptance of a class of about 11.8 million people with PFAS in their blood, the Washington Legal Foundation reported.
According to the Washington Legal Foundation, the plaintiffs could not show which of the ten defendant companies had put PFAS into the class members' blood.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
- 2023-11-27Overturned on appealPFAS blood-contamination class action against 3M and other companiesUS Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · Civil · Class of about 11.8 million people with PFAS in their blood → Ten companies, including 3M
The appeals court overturned the district court's acceptance of the class, because the plaintiffs could not show which of the ten companies had put PFAS into class members' blood. Washington Legal Foundation
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The sources reviewed do not report any settlement or damages in this class action.
- None on record The sources reviewed do not say whether the plaintiffs refiled or appealed further.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Communities and civil society
- Appeals court rejects PFAS-related class action without addressing unsettled Rule 23 issuesWashington Legal Foundation · 2024-02-23
Connected cases
Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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- 3M (Company) — here: defendant named in the case; there: company; settling party
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- 3M (Company) — here: defendant named in the case; there: defendant; recorded the settlement charge
- 3M PFOS: internal evidence, EPA penalty and Minnesota settlement United States · 1979–2026
- 3M (Company) — here: defendant named in the case; there: PFOS manufacturer and defendant
- Australian government settled PFAS claims at three defence bases and sued 3M Australia · 1988–2025
- 3M (Company) — here: defendant named in the case; there: defendant in the Commonwealth suit
- PFAS insurance disputes (3M, Chemours, DuPont) United States · 2020–2026
- 3M (Company) — here: defendant named in the case; there: Defendant in the AIG suit; policyholder
- PFAS water utility settlements by 3M, DuPont, Chemours and Corteva United States · 2023–2036
- 3M (Company) — here: defendant named in the case; there: Defendant and settling party; PFAS manufacturer
- US tax deductibility of environmental settlements (IRC 162(f)) United States · 2017
- 3M (Company) — here: defendant named in the case; there: Company that booked a PFAS settlement charge