Evidence Falls Short for Commonality Finding for Ga. Property Contamination Class
Atlanta partner William Droze was quoted in a July 25 Bloomberg BNA Class Action Litigation Report article titled “Evidence Falls Short for Commonality Finding for Ga. Property Contamination Class.”
The article examines the recent Supreme Court of Georgia’s ruling in Georgia-Pacific Consumer Prods., LP v. Ratner, where the court found that a class of Georgia property owners who alleged hydrogen sulfide gas contamination from Georgia-Pacific sludge fields fell short on the evidence needed to establish the commonality requirement for class certification. The court thereby reversed a previous appeals court’s decision that had affirmed certification. Bill stated that the court plainly signaled the rigorous analysis required during class certification proceedings in a toxic tort case should rely on scientific evidence not anecdotal evidence.
“Although the court did not foreclose the possibility of certifiable toxic tort cases in Georgia,” he said, “the hurdles necessary to prove certificate are not insubstantial post-Ratner.”