Barber's family to settle in U.S. District Court with hairspray

Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press, Oct 7, 2008 by Charles Emerick

A federal lawsuit claiming a barber's death was the result of a chemical found in hair products has nearly settled, according to court records.

Loren Bates, of Raytown, had cut hair for about 50 years when he died from liver cancer nearly five years ago.

His family, which includes his wife, Judy, and their two children, claimed the cancer was caused by vinyl chloride -- a chemical formerly found in aerosols such as hairspray. They are seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

A court filing from Friday showed the family reached a deal with the remaining defendants in the case. A settlement conference is scheduled for Oct. 21 with U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner.

Terms of the settlement were not included in the filing. Attorneys for the plaintiffs from the firm Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Gorny did not return messages seeking comment.

Keith Cutler, an attorney for E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., one of four remaining defendants, declined to comment on the terms and said negotiations are still ongoing.

Attorneys for other defendants in the case either would not comment or did not return messages.

According to the lawsuit, Bates began cutting hair in the 1950s, when he worked at Chuck's Barber Shop in Lee's Summit.

Bates eventually started Loren's Hair Design on Bannister Road in Kansas City in the 1960s. He worked there up until his death in November 2003.

During his career as a barber, Bates was exposed to large amounts of vinyl chloride, the petition states. It is often inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

He learned in October 2003 that he had angiosarcoma of the liver, a disease allegedly caused by his exposure to vinyl chloride. He died about one month later.

The original petition, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court in October 2006, included more than 30 defendants, all of which were accused of manufacturing, selling or distributing vinyl chloride.

And among the plaintiffs' claims in the original complaint was one for conspiracy -- a charge that was quickly excluded from an amended petition filed after the case was moved to federal court.

That claim asserted all of the defendants conspired in the early 1970s to commit fraud by concealing the dangers of being exposed to vinyl chloride. Evidence allegedly destroyed by the defendants included preliminary reports of toxicology and epidemiology studies, records of meetings between employees of the conspirators and other records detailing the hazards of vinyl chloride.

Amended petitions filed in the case made similar allegations, but did not include the conspiracy count.

"Defendants have known since the late 1950s and 1960s that vinyl chloride monomer was an unreasonably dangerous chemical compound that caused many diseases in lab animals and in humans, as well as liver abnormalities," an amended petition claimed. "Defendants knew back in the 1960s that vinyl chloride monomer caused cancer in many organs in humans, especially cancer of the liver and central nervous system."

Throughout the course of litigation, most of the defendants were dismissed.

Cutler said it was likely that nearly all of the companies were dismissed from the case without paying a settlement.

In a third amended complaint filed in August, only six defendants remained.

Two others have since been dismissed, leaving only DuPont, Union Carbide Corp., Clairol Inc. and Dow Chemical involved in settlement talks.

The three counts against them are strict liability, negligence and willful and wanton misconduct.