Wis. Court Lets Teen Sue Lead Paint Makers

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Wis. Court Lets Teen Sue Lead Paint Makers

By JR ROSS

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A 15-year-old boy can sue the makers of lead paint for his injuries even though he can't prove which ones produced paint that may have made him sick, a split Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Friday.

One of the dissenting judges complained the decision would make it nearly impossibly for paint companies to defend themselves against similar complaints and would make Wisconsin ``the mecca for lead paint suits.''

Still, the court's 4-2 ruling allows 15-year-old to continue with his lawsuit against companies that manufactured lead paint. claims he ingested lead paint at two homes he lived in as a toddler that were built in 1900 and 1905, leading to mild but permanent retardation.

Defendants include the Sherwin- Co., ConAgra Grocery Products Co., American Cyanamid Co., Atlantic Richfield Co., E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Co., NL Industries Inc. and SCM Chemicals Inc.

Attorneys representing and the paint companies did not immediately return calls Friday.

The court extended the ``risk contribution theory'' to lead paint manufacturers. That principle holds that those who can't trace their injuries to a specific company can still collect damages if they can prove a product was dangerous, it created their injuries, the defendant marketed or produced it, and negligently produced or marketed it.

The majority ruled the paint manufacturers knew for decades that lead paint posed a threat to the public but continued to manufacture it anyway.

The court also ruled could sue the manufacturers even though he has already received more than $324,000 from the landlords of the two homes where he believed he was sickened.

07/15/05 11:56

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