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Vets Who Served In Korea File Suit Over Exposure To Defoliants
By Shannon P. Duffy
U.S. Courthouse Correspondent
Korean and American veterans who served in the late 1960s filed a class action suit in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Friday against the makers of three defoliants - Agent Orange, Agent Blue and Monuron - claiming the chemicals have delayed toxic effects on the soldiers exposed to them.
Attorneys Stewart J. Eisenberg of Eisenberg, Rothweiler, Winkler, Eisenberg & Jeck and Michael Choi of Choi & Associates filed the suit against six defendants - Dow Chemical Co., Occidental Electro-Chemical Corp., Hercules Inc., Monsanto Co., Uniroyal Inc. and Thompson Hayward Agriculture & Nutrition Inc.
The suit was filed by two individuals seeking to represent two related classes. Chang Ok-Lee is a citizen of Korea who seeks to represent a class of Koreans who served in that country's armed forces from 1967 to 1970 and who were unwittingly exposed to the defoliants during their service.
Thomas Wolfe of Dayton Ohio, is seeking to represent a similar group of American veterans who served near the Korean demilitarized zone - which separates North Korea from the Republic of South Korea.
During the three-year period, the suit says, thousands of gallons of Agent Orange and Agent Blue and thousands of pounds of Monuron were sprayed or applied in the DMZ.
Troops were unwittingly exposed to the chemicals whose toxic effects can remain hidden for years, the suit says.
The plaintiffs' lawyers say the class of Korean veterans is likely to number more than 9,000 and that their common legal questions whether the statue of limitations has run on their claim or if they should be excused as a group under the discovery rule since they only recently learned of their exposure and possible injury.
The proposed class of American veterans numbers more than 1,000, the suit says, and their legal issues are similar, including whether they can prove that the manufacturers were aware of the toxic effects of the defoliants at the time of their use.
The case, Ok-Lee v. Dow Chemical Co. et al., 99-cv-6127, has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jan E. DuBois.
Source: The Legal Intelligencer 12/6/99
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