|
|
An
outbreak of a severe lung disease has occurred
among workers exposed to artificial butter flavoring at factories producing microwave
popcorn.
Click
here to contact attorneys and lawyers for
microwave popcorn and other snack industry workers
with lung injuries. |
|
|
|
|
|
| Below is a partial list of factories in the U.S. that reportedly produce microwave popcorn and other snack foods using butter flavoring agents. This list is not meant to imply that any workers at these plants have been injured by exposure to artificial butter flavoring. |
California
Carmi Flavors and Fragrances, Commerce; Conagra Grocery Products, Irvine; Gaslamp Popcorn
Company, San Diego; Mastertaste, Commerce; Mission Flavors and Fragrances, Foothill Ranch; Western Flavors and Fragrances, Livermore;
Connecticut
Lincoln Snacks Company, Stamford; Newman's Own,
Westport
Florida
Barnard Nut Company, Miami; Mastertaste, Lakeland & Planet City.
Illinois
Cornfields, Gurnee; Gilster-Mary Lee Corp.,
Chester; Lee Gilster-Mary Corp., Momence; Tee
Lee Popcorn, Shannon
Indiana
Amish Country Popcorn, Berne; Ellis Popcorn
Co., West Terre Haute; Family Time Popcorn,
Inc., Valparaiso; Gettelfinger Popcorn, Palmyra;
Jones Popcorn, New Albany; Kirk's Popcorn Co.,
Topeka; Vogel Popcorn, Corydon; Weaver Popcorn
Co., Markle, Crawfordsville, Huntingburg, Van
Buren, Indianapolis & New Richmond; Yoder
Popcorn Inc., Topeka
Iowa
American Pop Corn Co., Sioux City; Conagra Foods,
Hamburg; Manson Industries, Manson; Noble Distributor,
Sac City
Kentucky
Ellis Popcorn Company, Murray
Minnesota
Conagra Foods, Minneapolis
Missouri
Mary Lee Packaging Corp., Perryville; Mastertaste, Fenton & Greenville.
Nebraska
Lincoln Snacks Company, Lincoln
New Jersey
Mastertaste, Clark & Teterboro.
Pennsylvania
Reist Popcorn Company, Mount Joy
South
Carolina
International Cup Corp., Bennettsville; Soller,
Bennettsville
Tennessee
Mastertaste, Crossville.
Wisconsin
Mastertaste, Waunakee.
Canada
Mastertaste, Granby
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Our
Firm
|
|
|
|
| Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP is a fifty-plus
attorney law firm that has represented plaintiffs nationwide
since 1972. We have offices in San Francisco, New York and Nashville. |
|
|
| We have also represented clients worldwide
in cases filed in the United States. For Canadian cases, we are associated
with the Toronto, Ontario law firm of Rochon
Genova, which represents plaintiffs in a wide range
of civil cases. |
| Our
Practice |
| Lieff
Cabraser has a comprehensive and diverse practice that is
unique among law firms that represent only plaintiffs. Our
cases typically involve dangerous or defective products,
securities and investment fraud, consumer fraud and false
advertising, employment discrimination and unlawful employment
practices, aviation disasters, environmental damage and
toxic exposures, antitrust and ERISA violations and the
abuse of human and civil rights. |
| We represent plaintiffs in class and group
actions and in individual lawsuits in cases of serious personal injury
or death. For example, we have represented thousands of
persons nationwide who received defective medical devices or were injured after
ingesting prescription drugs with dangerous, undisclosed side effects. Our practice
also includes the representation of individuals, private corporations
and public institutions in public health and securities
matters. |
| Lieff Cabraser is among the largest law firms
in the United States that represents only plaintiffs. Our firm enjoys
a national reputation for professional integrity and the
efficient and responsible prosecution of our clients' claims. |
| We possess sophisticated legal skills and
the financial resources necessary for the handling of large, complex cases.
We take great pride in our innovative approach to the practice
of law and our firm's leadership role in cases resulting in landmark decisions
and precedent-setting rulings. |
| For the last five
years, the National Law Journal has selected
Lieff Cabraser as one of the top plaintiffs' law firms
in the nation. In compiling the list, the National
Law Journal examined recent verdicts and settlements
in addition to overall track records. As noted by U.S.
District Court Judge William H. Alsup, our firm is "one
of the foremost law firms in the country in both securities
law and class actions." |
| Successful
Trials and Settlements |
| Lieff Cabraser has participated in some of
the most important civil trials in the United States over the last ten years.
We served as co-counsel in the litigation arising out of the Exxon Valdez oil
disaster. The case has been on appeal by Exxon for years. The Court of Appeals
is now reviewing an award of $6.75 billion against Exxon for devastating
the area ecosystem and local fishing industry. |
| We represented Massachusetts, the Attorneys
General of several states and 18 California cities and counties in the landmark
anti-tobacco litigation against Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and other cigarette
manufacturers. This litigation resulted in a $206 billion settlement in 1998. As part of the
settlement, the tobacco industry was required to undertake
extensive modifications of its marketing
and promotion activities in order to reduce teenage
smoking. |
| We played a leading role in the litigation
to recover assets taken from, and insurance benefits never paid to, Holocaust
victims and survivors. As part of this effort, we served
as one of ten members of a Plaintiffs' Executive Committee
that prosecuted and settled the case against Swiss banks. We
were also instrumental in prosecuting Holocaust-era cases
against German private enterprise for using slave and forced
labor, and against German (and other) banks and financial
institutions for "aryanizing" the property of
victims of Nazi persecution. The settlements in these
cases totaled over $6.3 billion. In the Swiss banks case,
we donated our attorneys' fees, in the amount of $1.5 million,
to Columbia Law School to endow a chair in support of the
school's human rights legal training programs. |
| In
2002, partner Richard M. Heimann conducted the trial for
plaintiffs in Claghorn v. Edsaco, Ltd., a federal
securities fraud class action lawsuit. Plaintiffs, former
shareholders in Scorpion Technologies, Inc., alleged that
Edsaco aided Scorpion in setting up phony European companies
as part of a scheme in which Scorpion reported fictitious
sales of its software to these companies, thereby inflating
its earnings. The jury found for the plaintiffs and returned
a $171 million verdict, one of the largest jury verdicts
in the U.S. in 2002. Subsequently, the parties reached a
settlement of the action on favorable monetary terms to
the class, which included Edsaco's relinquishment of its
right to appeal and plaintiffs' agreement to vacate the
jury verdict. |
| We
spearheaded the effort by California consumers and businesses
to seek restitution from El Paso Natural Gas Corporation.
The plaintiffs charged that during the California energy
crisis in 2000-2001, El Paso rigged bids and otherwise manipulated
the market for natural gas pipeline transmission capacity
into California so that its energy trading subsidiary would
acquire the capacity, and then used the capacity to drive
up gas prices on the spot market. In December 2003, the
California Court granted final approval to an almost $1.5
billion settlement. |
| Our
firm is also committed to protecting the rights of employees
nationwide to equitable treatment and fair wages. Last year,
we had a series of notable successes in the field of employment
law. In February, the court approved a $36.5 million settlement
with United Airlines in a gender discrimination class action.
The court had previously held that plaintiffs, a class of
female flight attendants who were required to weigh less
than comparable male flight attendants, were discriminated
against on the basis of gender. |
| In September, we secured approval of a settlement
with Allied Group and Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company that provided
the plaintiffs, insurance claims representatives, a 100%
recovery on their claims. Plaintiffs alleged that they were misclassified as
exempt employees and deprived of overtime wages. One month later, the court finalized
a settlement with Longs Drugs Stores for over $11 million on behalf of
store managers and assistant store managers in California
who were classified as exempt from overtime wages. Class participation in the
settlement was especially strong, with over 98% of class members submitting claims. |
| In
November 2004, the court granted preliminary approval to
a settlement in a class action suit against Abercrombie & Fitch.
The settlement requires the retail clothing giant to pay
$40 million to Latino, African-American, Asian-American
and female applicants and employees who charged the company
with discrimination. The settlement also requires the company
to institute a range of policies and programs to promote
diversity among its workforce and to prevent discrimination
based on race or gender. |
| Our
most recent trial was a wrongful death action brought
by the family of a young father killed due to a defect
in his Dodge Dakota pickup truck. Lieff Cabraser served
as lead trial counsel in the action and obtained a $54.4
million verdict for the family. |
| Litigation
with a Social Purpose |
| Since our founding thirty years ago, we have
been committed to redress corporate misconduct, to achieve justice for
investors, consumers, employees, to promote safe products --
including drugs and medical devices -- and to protect
our environment and the human rights of citizens worldwide.
We have participated in the trial or settlement of over
250 complex and class actions and thousands of individual
cases. |
| As
part of our long standing objective of advancing consumer
rights, we are spearheading litigation intended to halt
alleged illegal and deceptive business practices -- often
targeted at persons of low income or having poor credit
histories -- by several of the nation's top credit card
and mortgage loan servicing companies. |
| In
the field of antitrust and intellectual property, we are
at the forefront of litigation challenging the high prices
of dozens of prescription
drugs, alleging that the manufacturers engaged in anticompetitive
practices designed to artificially inflate the drug prices. |
| We
continue to advance the rights of employees in a wide range
of cases, including class action lawsuits against Wal-Mart.
Plaintiffs, current and former Wall Mart employees, allege
that Wal-Mart forces employees to work through breaks and
to work without pay after they have clocked out in violation
of state wage and hour laws. In October 2004, in the Wal-Mart
action in Washington state, the court certified a class
of approximately 40,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees. |
| Many of our cases start as the result of
a complaint by one or a handful of persons. If you have been harmed
by a fraud or deceptive practice, please feel free to contact
us. |
| Our
Commitment to the Community |
| Lieff
Cabraser proudly supports the goals of civil rights, human
rights, increased access to legal services, and initiatives
by the legal community to improve civil justice. |
| Among the recent awards Lieff Cabraser has
received was the 1998 Navigator of Civil Rights Award presented by the
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. We sponsor
the Bay Area Minority Law Student Scholarship Program conducted
by the Bar
Association of San Francisco (BASF). We also support
the National Association for Public Interest Law fellowship
program. Fellowships made possible by Lieff Cabraser's
sponsorship have included work at the East Bay Community
Law Center in Oakland, California, the Employment Law Center
in San Francisco, California, and the NOW Legal Defense
in New York, New York. |
| In
addition to BASF, Lieff Cabraser supports the following
groups: |
|
|
| Finally,
since 1991, we have underwritten the radio
series, "Perspectives," airing on the public broadcasting
station KQED-FM
in the San Francisco Bay Area. The series offers listeners
social and political opinion on a broad spectrum of contemporary
issues. |
|
|
San
Francisco
Embarcadero Center West
275 Battery St., Ste 3000
San Francisco, CA 94111-3339
Tel. (415) 956-1000
Fax. (415) 956-1008
|
New
York
250 Hudson Street
8th Floor
New York, NY 10013-1413
Tel. (212) 355-9500
Fax. (212) 355-9592
|
|
Nashville
One Nashville Place
150 4th Ave. N., Ste 1650
Nashville, TN 37219
Tel. (615) 313-9000
Fax. (615) 313-9965 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Lieff
Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP
|
|
|
| |
|
|
Copyright
© 2010 Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
LLP
|
| |
|
|
"More workers file lawsuits over popcorn flavoring"
April 17, 2009, Associated Press
Dozens of plant workers who claim their health was damaged by exposure to a chemical used to give a buttery flavor to microwave popcorn have filed lawsuits in Cincinnati against makers of the flavoring. At least 43 workers filed lawsuits claiming their lungs were irreversibly damaged by inhaling fumes from the chemical diacetyl, which provides the buttery taste. More...
To read more press articles on the Popcorn
Lung litigation, click here.
|
| |
|
|
|
| In 2007, Lieff Cabraser
attorneys, with local co-counsel, obtained a $50
million verdict against Daimler Chrysler in
a wrongful death action. Our firm has participated
in over thirty-five $100 million-plus settlements
and verdicts, including ten
cases in excess of $1 billion. |
|
|
|
|
