Louisiana Benzene Plaintiffs Move for Partial Summary Judgment on Defendants’ Knowledge and Duty to Warn

NEW ORLEANS –– Plaintiffs asserting benzene claims in Louisiana federal court have filed a motion for partial summary judgment on the issues of whether Shell Oil Co. and Shell Chemical Co. knew that benzene could cause leukemia in humans prior to 1967.

In the April 30 motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, the motion also seeks a determination that the defendants, prior to the late 1970s, failed to warn users that their products contained benzene and that exposure to benzene could result in the development of leukemia.

Henry and Elizabeth Vicknair argued …