[CPEO-MEF] HEALTH, LITIGATION: "Court tosses lawsuit alleging George AFB [CA] toxic exposure, health issues"

[Lenny Siegel <LSiegel@cpeo.org>]

Court tosses lawsuit alleging George AFB toxic exposure, health issues
'We did not agree to be needlessly poisoned by the country we swore to protect,' says Frank Vera, a former airman and plaintiff in the lawsuit

By SCOTT SCHWEBKE 
Orange County Register (CA)
August 31, 2022

Fifty-one plaintiffs who contend they were exposed to toxic chemicals at the former George Air Force Base and later suffered an array of medical problems, from cancer and heart disease to miscarriages and infertility, have lost their bid to sue the government.

On Aug. 18, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips dismissed a 2021 negligence suit filed by the plaintiffs, who lived on or near the former base in Victorville, ruling the federal government has “sovereign immunity” and cannot be sued unless it waives that immunity.

The Federal Tort Claims Act, enacted in 1946, provides a legal means to compensate individuals who have suffered personal injury, death, property loss or damage caused by negligence, wrongful act or omission of federal workers acting within the scope of their employment.

It isn’t surprising that Phillips’ dismissed the suit, given the high bar for a federal claim, Paul Starita, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in an email.

…

For the entire article, see
https://www.sbsun.com/2022/08/31/court-tosses-lawsuit-alleging-george-afb-toxic-exposure-health-issues/

—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)

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