Wis. Supreme Court Rejects Lead Paint ‘Defective Design’ Suit

In a victory for lead paint manufacturers, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that the presence of lead in paint is not a design defect.

The court affirmed dismissal of the defective design claim by Ruben Baez Godoy, a boy who contracted lead poisoning from the paint in his Milwaukee apartment. “A claim for defective design cannot be maintained here where the presence of lead is the alleged defect in design, and its very presence is a characteristic of the product itself,” the court said in an opinion (PDF) issued today.

The blog Law and More calls the decision a major victory for lead paint companies and a setback for plaintiffs lawyers pursuing personal injury lawsuits against them.

As a result of the ruling, about 30 pending lawsuits alleging design defects in lead paint won’t be allowed to proceed on design defect claims, the Associated Press reports. But the plaintiffs may still allege a failure to warn of the risk and the creation of a market for a dangerous product.

Charles Moellenberg Jr., a lawyer for The Sherwin-Williams Company, said in a statement that the court followed established law by rejecting the design defect claim. “Litigation alleging novel legal theories against former manufacturers of a lawful product is a distraction from the proven solution of enforcing the law against landlords who neglect their property and expose children to lead paint hazards," he said in a press release.