Residents File Class Action Suit Against Rail Company

The Hill reports:

A Youngstown, Ohio-based law firm has announced a class-action lawsuit against Norfolk Southern Railroad over the derailment of a train in East Palestine, using a strategy it says echoes the state’s 1990s lawsuit against tobacco companies.

The firm, Johnson and Johnson, is partnering with class-action law firm Hagens Berman on behalf of all residents within 30 miles of the derailment site.

The lawsuit specifically invokes the legal doctrine of “public nuisance,” the backbone of both the landmark 1990s lawsuits against the tobacco industry and ongoing litigation against opioid manufacturers and fossil fuel companies. Hagens-Berman represented the state of Ohio in tobacco litigation as well as an ongoing opioid suit.

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