Class action lawsuit over lead paint reinstated

February 4, 2006
By Stephanie Zimmeramn
Consumer Reporter
The Chicago Sun-Times

A class action lawsuit brought by families of Chicago children exposed to toxic lead in paint has been reinstated by a panel of Illinois Appellate Court judges. The families had appealed a Cook County Circuit Court ruling that had tossed out their case. In an opinion released Wednesday, the appellate court gave the case new life, saying the plaintiffs do indeed have legal standing to sue. The families are suing the Lead Industries Association and seven lead-pigment producers.

Mary Lewis, Tashwan Banks and Jacqueline Nye contend that lead-based paint poses a danger to their children, and that the companies -- which the families say were aware of the hazard -- should now pay for screening at-risk children. Last month, the City of Chicago's attempt at a lead paint lawsuit was shot down by an Illinois appeals court. The city wanted to hold paint manufacturers liable for ongoing public health costs on the grounds that lead-based paint is a "public nuisance," but the court affirmed a lower court's decision that the companies could not be held liable because the paint was lawfully sold decades ago.