Monsanto Employees Sue for $1.7 Million

Former employees of Monsanto's Nitro, West Virginia chemical plant filed a $1.7 million suit in late March charging the company with "unnecessarily and deliberately" exposing employees to chemical hazards and concealing the danger of such exposure. Seventy-two plaintiffs are listed in the suit, 19 of whom have filed "death claims on behalf of deceased Monsanto employees, alleging that their deaths were due to exposure to hazardous chemicals," said Stuart Caldwelt,attorney for the plaintiffs.

The major chemicals cited in the case are Paramobiphenyl (PAB) and 2.4,5, -T and its contaminent TCDD dioxin. PAB is used in the production of synthetic rubber. Monsanto spokesperson Dan Bishop says the company discontinued the use of PAB in 1955 "when it was confirmed as a carcinogen. Anyone exposed was put on a medical monitoring program and their families received death benefits. "The amount of these benefits was based on West Virginia's workmen's compensation provisions for deaths due to job-related accidents.

None of my clients have received death benefits.- says Caldwell. Several clients have been monitored for urinary tract disorders, but "no other monitoring has occurred, as far as I know," he added.