Firefighting gear manufacturers seek dismissal of Montana PFAS suit

(CN) — A dozen chemical and firefighter equipment manufacturers on Thursday urged a federal judge to dismiss a class action claiming they concealed the dangers of PFAS chemicals in protective firefighting gear for decades.

“We respectfully urge the court to follow what really every circuit court has done that’s addressed this and dismiss the case because there’s no controversy about whether the plaintiffs were or were not indirect purchasers. They were indirect purchasers,” argued attorney Mark S. Cheffo of Dechert LLP, representing one of the defendants.

In April 2025, the city and county of Butte-Silver Bow in Montana sued manufacturers of firefighter “turnout gear” — the protective pants and jackets worn by firefighters — claiming the equipment contains PFAS chemicals linked to various cancers and diseases. By May of this year, 15 additional municipalities had joined the suit as plaintiffs.

The municipalities accused 3M and DuPont affiliates, including DuPont de Nemours, Chemours, EIDP and Corteva, of producing and distributing PFAS-infused gear and chemical products to turnout gear manufacturers Fire-Dex, Globe Manufacturing Company, W.L. Gore & Associates, Innotex Corp., the Lion Group and Morning Pride.

Some of the defendants — including Morning Pride, Fire-Dex, Innotex and Globe — argued the municipalities lacked standing because not every plaintiff had shown it purchased gear from every defendant.

“If you don’t buy our gear, that alleged injury cannot be traced to our conduct,” argued Morning Pride attorney Stephen Feldman of Robinson, Bradshaw and Hinson. “You can’t just group all the defendants together.”

The suit is one of several targeting manufacturers of firefighter turnout gear over claims of PFAS contamination.

In May, the city of Rochester, New York, asked a federal court to consolidate five firefighter turnout gear class actions pending across the country. Three of the cases are in the District of Minnesota and one is in the Northern District of Montana. Each case accuses the defendants of manufacturing, distributing and selling defective firefighter gear containing toxic PFAS.

That consolidation request became a central issue during Thursday’s hearing.

“I agree in a typical case we have serious issues regarding personal jurisdiction. As I understand this case, we’re looking here at a potential [multidistrict litigation] and we’re having consolidations in districts around the country. So do the normal rules apply here?” asked U.S. District Judge Brian Morris, a Barack Obama appointee.

The defendants argued the plaintiffs must still establish personal jurisdiction and failed to do so.

“Because the out-of-state plaintiffs don’t allege a connection between their claim to Montana, they flunk the test,” argued Adam Steene, an attorney with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher representing 3M, referring to the requirement that claims be tied to a defendant’s contacts with the forum state.

Other defendants argued the municipalities failed to adequately plead claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

“The plaintiffs don’t dispute that they do not allege purchase from chemical and component part manufacturers, 3M, DuPont and Gore. So that’s really undisputed in the case. But they’re essentially asking the court then and now to do something that essentially no other courts have done,” Cheffo argued.

The municipalities, however, contend their RICO claims can proceed because they claim a nationwide conspiracy.  They also argued there is no other district where the claims could have been brought.

“The ends of justice suggest that you should exercise jurisdiction, and we have pendant state law jurisdiction under the clear Ninth Circuit test,” said Steven Berman, an attorney with Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro representing the plaintiffs.

Jennifer Sclar, an attorney with Silver, Golub & Teitell representing the plaintiffs, argued the defendants belong in the case regardless of whether municipalities directly purchased their products because the products were available for purchase in Montana.

The municipalities claim the defendants worked together to conceal the presence and risks of PFAS contaminants in firefighter gear.

“All of these allegations taken together holistically and interpreted in the light most favorable to the plaintiff show you there is a very wide-ranging, yes, complicated, but wide-ranging scheme that is in play with respect to all of the plaintiffs,” said Kyle McGee, an attorney with Grant and Eisenhofer representing the plaintiffs.

The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will hold a hearing July 30 on whether to consolidate the multiple cases. Morris said he intends to issue an opinion on the defendants’ motions to dismiss before then.

In January, Morris declined the defendants’ first attempt to dismiss the case, finding the plaintiff — at the time only the Montana municipality — had sufficiently claimed civil violations under RICO and that the court had jurisdiction over the case.

According to the International Association of Fire Fighters, cancer accounted for 66% of career firefighter line-of-duty deaths between 2002 and 2019.

A study by the American Cancer Society last year found that firefighters showed an increased risk for most cancers, with the greatest risks observed for skin and kidney cancers.