Parties Exchange Briefing on Forum in Pa. Benzene Case; Defendants Say Plaintiff Has ‘No Connection’ with State

PHILADELPHIA –– Parties in a Philadelphia benzene case have exchanged briefing on forum challenges asserted by the defendants, who claim that the plaintiff has no connection to Pennsylvania.

In an opposition brief filed July 15 in the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas for Philadelphia County, however, the plaintiff contends that two of the defendants are based in Pennsylvania and that the state has a “substantial and important” interest in making sure that its corporations are “held accountable for tortious acts they commit.”

David Butler and his wife, Teri Rhodes, filed the lawsuit after David Butler developed Myelodysplastic Syndrome and Acute …