Rubanick v. Witco Chemical Corp.
New Jersey Supreme Court
593 A.2d 733 (1991)
- Written by Lauren Petersen, JD
Facts
Ronald Rubanick and Anthony Demaio (plaintiffs) worked at a chemical plant operated by Witco Chemical Corporation (defendant). Both Rubanick and Demaio were exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a toxin. Within four years of each other, both Rubanick and Demaio developed colon cancer and died. Their survivors sued Witco and Monsanto Company (defendant), Witco’s supplier for PCB fluids, for wrongful death. At trial, Dr. Balis testified on behalf of the plaintiffs. Dr. Balis testified that he believed that Rubanick’s colon cancer was caused by exposure to PCBs. He reached this conclusion in part because of his review of 39 scientific articles. Thirteen of these articles supported the theory that PCBs cause cancer. The trial court held that Dr. Balis’s testimony was inadmissible, because his conclusions were not generally accepted by the scientific community, and granted summary judgment to Witco and Monsanto. On appeal, the court reversed and remanded, holding that the general acceptance test of reliability for theories of causation was inadequate for toxic-tort cases. The survivors of Rubanick and Demaio appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Handler, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
