Toxic PFAS & Fire Fighter Turnout Gear Lawsuit

Motley Rice is proud to co-counsel with Simmons Hanly Conroy LLP headquartered in Alton, Ill., and Sullivan Papain Block McManus Coffinas & Cannavo, P.C. in New York (known collectively as the PFAS Law Firms) to lead IAFF’s fight to spur industry-wide changes. Our firms also jointly represent individual fire fighters who are battling occupational diseases, and the survivors of fire fighters who lost their lives.

PFAS health effects

PFAS, known as forever chemicals, are highly toxic, slow to break down, and build up in people repeatedly exposed to them. PFAS have been around since the 1950s and are found in firefighting foams and fire fighter turnout gear.

American and European environmental regulatory agencies, as well as organizations concerned with human health and safety, have determined that PFAS are highly toxic and hazardous to humans and the environment. Fire fighters regularly exposed to PFAS chemicals in their turnout gear seem to have been hit especially hard. Nearly 75% of the people added to the IAFF’s Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial Wall in 2022 died from an occupational cancer.

Exposure to toxic PFAS is linked to several forms of cancer including:

• Kidney
• Colon
• Liver
• Thyroid

Additional diseases of concern include:

• Thyroid disease
• Ulcerative colitis

A months-long investigation spearheaded by IAFF and its legal team, the PFAS Law Firms, culminated in a lawsuit March 15, 2023 filed in Massachusetts Superior Court, Norfolk County, against the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

The lawsuit alleges regulations enforced by NFPA are so strict that they essentially require fire fighters to use protective bunker gear containing toxic PFAS chemicals. Specifically, NFPA’s Standard 1971 requires a barrier layer within protective gear that can withstand a 40-hour ultraviolet light degradation test. While a longer time frame means it is more difficult for water and potentially dangerous materials to breach the barrier, toxic PFAS-containing products are the only available gear that have passed the 40-hour test.

The IAFF’s lawsuit seeks to hold NFPA accountable for effectively requiring fire fighters to wear allegedly toxic gear at a detriment to their long-term health.

“The NFPA has a unique role in promulgating standards that eliminate fire-related deaths and personal injuries while also protecting fire firefighters. Our client alleges NFPA conspired with the PFAS industry and abdicated its solemn obligation to North American fire fighters and it seeks to stop this alleged conduct,” said toxic exposure attorney David Hoyle.

Read more on the lawsuit.

Our experience representing people in toxic exposure and other litigation

Our roots fighting for workers’ safety and health run deep. Our attorneys have represented fire fighters in cases involving cancer, wrongful death, and personal injury as well as in lawsuits involving pension fund securities fraud, data privacy and the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Headquartered in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., Motley Rice had a role in the investigation of and led the litigation efforts over the 2007 Sofa Super Store fire that took the lives of nine fire fighters.

Our attorneys are known for suing asbestos companies, the tobacco industry, September 11, 2001 financiers, and the entire opioid supply chain. We represent individuals, families, workers, communities, governmental entities, and investors in a variety of areas, including plaintiffs in class actions and individual lawsuits that allege PFAS contamination, and in other toxic injury, mesothelioma, wrongful death, workplace injuries, environmental contamination, and securities cases.

The PFAS Law Firms maintain joint responsibility but operate independently. No legal affiliation, association, or partnership is implied. The IAFF logo is a registered trademark of the International Association of Fire Fighters.

About the Authors

Anne McGinness Kearse

Member

With more than two decades of experience in complex litigation, Anne brings a passion for justice to each case, working for her clients and seeking to bring those responsible to account.

T. David Hoyle

Member

David Hoyle is a trial lawyer who works to bring about change through the civil justice system, representing victims of corporate wrongdoing and negligence in complex litigation ranging from toxic torts to environmental contamination and catastrophic incidents.