Judge dismisses suit brought by Mountaire class members

A Delaware Superior Court judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a family that was part of a $65 million class-action settlement against Mountaire Farms, as the family sought damages from the attorneys who negotiated the settlement.

The family has appealed the ruling to Delaware Supreme Court.

In April 2021, Mountaire settled a class-action lawsuit brought by Millsboro residents whose groundwater was contaminated by failure of the wastewater treatment plant at Mountaire’s poultry processing plant. Between Delaware and federal court settlements, Mountaire was forced to pay $205 million. Of that, $65 million went to class members, $120 million went toward improvements to the wastewater treatment plant, and $20 million went toward operations and maintenance.

As part of the settlement, members had the option to opt out of the payments, but if they did not, they would not be able to bring future action against Mountaire. According to court documents, after the opt-out period expired, the family of a child only identified as L.H., who was part of the class, retained attorney Thomas Crumplar and sought to proceed with direct legal action against Mountaire. L.H. had been born preterm and has suffered health problems since being born. The family claimed that those health problems had been brought on by nitrate ingestion caused by the Mountaire treatment plant failure during L.H.'s mother's pregnancy. 

The family was originally due to receive $2,500 as part of the settlement, and first sought to appeal their award, which was twice denied by the claims administrator for the class. Crumplar filed a claims package alleging the family was due to suffer economic losses between $8.6 million and $21.7 million. 

The family then moved to amend final approval of the class settlement, which was denied by Judge Craig Karsnitz on the basis that it would have disrupted the whole class. However, Karsnitz asked the claims administrator to take another look at the family’s case. 

Despite additional physician and scientific evidence presented, the claims administrator, former Maryland Court of Appeals Judge Irma Raker, denied the appeal.

The family then moved to file a lawsuit alleging legal malpractice against the attorneys who negotiated the settlement: Chase Brockstedt, Phil Federico, Brent Ceryes and Stephen Spence. The family alleged the attorneys were negligent in failing to advise them to affirmatively opt out of the settlement and pursue an individual claim. The attorneys filed a motion to dismiss, stating that the family could not definitively prove L.H.’s injuries were caused by Mountaire, and that the family had a full and fair opportunity to appeal their award. 

Judge Frances Jones agreed with the attorneys, saying that the family had multiple opportunities to have their case heard and were given the opportunity to supplement their case after Karsnitz allowed them a third hearing. 

“This court concludes that plaintiffs were afforded a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue of the causation of plaintiff’s injuries to Mountaire’s actions,” Jones said. 

In a statement, Brockstedt said he sympathized with the family, but was also happy with the ruling.

“We successfully prosecuted this complex environmental case vigorously over four years, and we are proud of the result which has helped thousands of Millsboro residents and put an end to the pollution caused by Mountaire,” he said. “We are pleased with the court’s dismissal of what we believe to be a frivolous claim for legal malpractice. It is unfortunate that the court’s dismissal has been appealed, and we look forward to the appeal being decided.”