Key Decisions Expected in Case Against Lockheed
Lynnell Madrid wants her day in court.
The Burbank resident and about 3,000 of her former neighbors sued Lockheed Martin in 1996, blaming the aerospace giant for making them sick through decades of toxic emissions from the legendary defense plant known as the Skunk Works.
Earlier this month, Burbank Superior Court Judge Carl J. West dismissed 140 plaintiffs, including one of Madrid’s sisters, from the massive case without a trial, saying they had not sufficiently proved that Lockheed Martin had caused their ailments. Now, the remaining residents are worried that they too could lose their legal fight with the powerful defense contractor without ever telling a jury how they have suffered.
In a critical court conference today, West will consider the fate of their lawsuits.
He is not expected to immediately issue a public ruling. But today’s discussion among the parties, possibly behind closed doors in the judge’s chambers, is expected to result in pivotal decisions on how the litigation will proceed.
The residents hope the judge won’t make the same ruling he did earlier, and will give them more time to rebuild and strengthen their claims. But Lockheed Martin officials say the residents have had enough time to make their case and have been unable to do so because the aerospace company is not responsible for their ailments.
More than 3,000 Burbank residents sued Lockheed Martin and five smaller companies in 1996, alleging they suffer from cancer and other serious problems caused by toxic chemicals that have been discovered in the air and ground water near the company’s former B-1 plant.
Since the contamination was discovered in the early 1980s, Lockheed Martin officials have denied responsibility for any damage or injuries caused by the chemicals.
“We have never believed that we have caused harm to any of the residents of Burbank due to our operations,” Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Gail Rymer said.
Under state law, the residents must show that their illnesses were caused by Lockheed Martin’s conduct and by exposure to sufficiently high levels of the toxic substances.
Earlier this month, West did not allow the residents’ key scientific experts to testify, saying they were unable to show that chemicals released into the air and ground water by Lockheed Martin had caused ailments in the first plaintiffs. His dismissal will be appealed, said attorney Allan J. Sigel, who represents the residents.
In his 49-page ruling, West asked the residents’ lawyers to explain why he should not grant Lockheed Martin’s request to dismiss all of the remaining cases. But he later indicated in a private letter to the lawyers that he is inclined to give the residents more time to prove their case.
These make-or-break procedural decisions will be made by a 49-year-old Pasadena resident who has been a judge almost as long as the Lockheed Martin cases have been in the courts. West was appointed to the court in 1994 by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.
Sigel said he had urged West to give the remaining plaintiffs a chance because their injuries and chemical exposure are different from those in the test case.
“We successfully argued that it is a due-process issue,” Sigel said. “They are entitled to their day in court. But that doesn’t mean Lockheed won’t continue its assault.”
In fact, Lockheed Martin lawyers had asked the residents to drop their lawsuits, under a threat that, if the residents lose, they might have to repay Lockheed Martin, a multibillion-dollar company, all of their legal costs.
This so-called “offer” is permissible under state law, which allows the winning parties to seek reimbursement of all their defense costs.
“We have no intention of settling these claims,” Rymer pledged. “We plan to have our day in court.”
The residents have rejected a proposed settlement offer, in which no money would have changed hands. “We said, ‘No!’ ” Sigel said.
Despite Lockheed Martin’s threat, Sigel said courts rarely, if ever, require homeowners to repay the legal expenses of big companies in such cases.
“They believe we are running out of steam,” Sigel said, referring to Lockheed Martin. “But we are not.”
In the dismissed test case, the judge found the first 140 residents had not adequately shown a link between their ailments and three of the most toxic chemicals released from the plant, including hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen.
West cited epidemiology reports from Lockheed Martin showing that the cancer rates in Burbank are no higher than in all of Los Angeles County.
The test case, a common court-management tool, is designed to make the litigation more manageable by grouping together litigants based on common allegations. This test case was limited to claims against Lockheed Martin involving three of the most toxic of the 33 chemicals alleged to have caused injury to the residents.
Over the past four years, the judge has whittled down the residents’ case, having already dismissed their claims of property damage, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, caused by their fear of getting cancer.
Although Lockheed has vowed to fight this case in court, the company agreed in 1996 to pay $60 million to more than 1,300 other Burbank residents under the condition that they keep secret the monetary settlement. That settlement, which later became public, prompted other residents, like Madrid, to sue.
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Madrid said she doesn’t understand how Lockheed decided to settle claims with some Burbank residents but not others.
“How can that be right?” asked Madrid, who grew up on Pass Avenue, within a mile of the plant.
“We need our day in court,” she said. “And we might not get it. It’s just not fair.
“In my mind, if they paid out $60 million to residents in Burbank, they would not have done it if they weren’t guilty,” Madrid said.
But Lockheed Martin officials see it differently. “In our view, these are copycat lawsuits and without merit,” Rymer said.
Madrid wants a jury to decide. She said she has been diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, and suffers from a range of maladies, from pulmonary fibrosis to migraines.
Her three children--Blu Murray, 19, and twins Hailey and Kevin, 17--are not plaintiffs but were recently diagnosed with heart defects. She believes their problems are linked to her own exposure to chemicals from Lockheed Martin. One of her sisters, Erin Baker, who grew up in the same house, had her complaint dismissed along with the others in the test case.
That has made Madrid more determined to fight. “If, for some reason, they hear my case and I get money,” she said, “I’ll give it to her.”
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* WATER TREATMENT DEAL
Lockheed and other firms will pay millions to clean up ground water in Glendale. B8
