Toxic Tort Vapor Intrusion Case Highlights Difficulties In Class Action Certification

A recent Eight Circuit decision highlights the difficulties in obtaining class action status in toxic tort actions. In Ebert, et al. v. General Mills, Inc., Class Action Plaintiffs alleged that General Mills released TCE onto the ground and into the environment causing the TCE in soil vapors to threaten homes and businesses in the surrounding neighborhood.  The Plaintiffs sought class certification on two issues: (1) whether General Mills is liable to home owners of the properties in the defined neighborhood and (2) whether injunctive relief warranted comprehensive remediation.  The U.S. District Court of Minnesota granted the class certification by bifurcating the Plaintiffs claims and reasoning that individual issues do not predominate over the common issues in the claims for which class certification was sought.  In an opinion issued on May 20, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8^th Circuit held that the district court's grant of class certification was