A company that formerly ran a medical equipment sterilizing plant in suburban Willowbrook, is telling a Cook County judge a jury went overboard in awarding more than $360 million — perhaps a state record — to a woman who claimed she contracted cancer from plant emissions.
"The jury's excessive damages award is unmoored from the record and plainly evinces an inflamed jury ruled by passion and not the evidence," attorneys for Sterigenics and its corporare parent, Sotera Health, said in a recent court filing.
On Sept. 19, a Cook County jury decided Sterigenics U.S. and Sotera, should pay $363 million in a lawsuit brought in 2018 by Susan Kamuda, who alleged the Sterigenics plant in Willowbrook emitted ethylene oxide (EtO) that caused her to contract breast cancer. Kamuda has lived in Willowbrook, according to court papers. Sterigenics is headquartered in suburban Oak Brook and Sotera Health is in Broadview Heights, Ohio.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency closed the Willowbrook plant in 2019. That action was driven by the state response to pressure from activists and trial lawyers, pointing to a 2018 federal report claiming a link between EtO exposure and cancer. Sterigenics used EtO to disinfect medical devices and instruments, saying EtO is essential to the process. The chemical compound is also ubiquitous, produced by automotive engines and gas barbecue grills, according to the company. In the wake of the 2018 report, hundreds of suits have been lodged against Sterigenics.
Sterigenics has filed a motion that requests Judge Marguerite Quinn, who presided over the case, to rectify her own alleged blunders and grant a new trial, or, in lieu of a new trial, to reduce the $363 million verdict.
Sterigenics argued Quinn should never have let the insubstantial case to reach a jury; and once before the jury, Quinn committed "critical" errors in her rulings, the defendants said. They assert Quinn should have thrown the case out during the trial, when it became clear the evidence did not support the allegation that low levels of EtO, such as claimed by Kamuda, was "more likely than not a cause of her cancer," according to Sterigenics.
Quinn should not have permitted Kamuda's "causation experts" to testify, Sterigenics added.
The company also said Kamuda admitted Sterigenics complied with regulatory requirements and standards. Sterigenics claimed it even went beyond requirements.
Of the $363 million verdict, $38 million was ordered as compensatory damages and $325 million more as punitive damages, which are primarily designed to punish a defendant. Sterigenics said it is believed this is the biggest single-plaintiff personal injury verdict in Illinois history.
Attacking the compensatory damages, Sterigenics pointed out Kamuda only asked for $21 million, but the jury gave her $17 million more.
"Plaintiff's closing argument, and evidence Plaintiff submitted throughout, stoked passion and prejudice by, among other things, flattering jurors, inflaming class prejudices, and appealing to sympathy," Sterigenics contended.
As an alleged example of class prejudice, Sterigenics said Kamuda's attorneys "dwelled upon" the high compensation collected by company executives.
Kamuda's attorneys also emphasized in the trial that former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner had a financial interest in Sterigenics, which Sterigenics contended was a ploy to tie the company to an "unpopular former Governor."
Sterigenics said that given Kamuda is now cancer-free and her life has essentially returned to normal, compensatory damages should be reduced to $500,000.
The punitive damages were wildly excessive, at least in part, because Kamuda's attorneys told the jury such a high verdict "was not just for Sue, but for everyone," according to Sterigenics. The company interpreted this to mean the attorneys wanted to set a precedent for future actions against Sterigenics. This suggested to Sterigenics the damages went beyond what, if any, damages Kamuda deserved. Sterigenics argued damages should apply to Kamuda, not for the sake of plaintiffs in other suits against the company.
Sterigenics cited a 1997 Illinois appellate decision that said punitive damages that amount to more than 2 percent of a corporation's net worth are "excessive in the extreme." Sterigenics noted the $325 million punitive award marked more than 10 percent of its net worth.
Sterigenics has been defended by Bruce Braun, Kara McCall, Eric Mattson and Elizabeth Chiarello of the Chicago firm of Sidley Austin. The company has also been defended by Joe Hollingsworth, Eric Lasker, Matthew Malinowski and Ann Marie Duffy, of the Washington, D.C. firm of Hollingsworth.
Kamuda has been represented by Lance D. Northcutt, Patrick A. Salvi II and others with the Chicago firm of Salvi Schostok & Pritchard, as well as by Schwartz & Kanyock, of Chicago.