In a decision that will have major implications on future Agent Orange litigation, the Supreme Court deadlocked Monday in a case brought by a Vietnam War veteran suffering from cancer due to exposure to the toxic substance. A $180 million 1984 class action settlement had foreclosed the possibility of individual lawsuits against more than a dozen companies that made the product, including Dow Chemical Co. and Monsanto Co. The settlement paid veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange and then died or became ill before 1994.
Plaintiff Daniel Stephenson, however, was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer after the 1994 deadline. He served as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam from 1965 to 1970. Before the case was presented to the Supreme Court, an appeals court ruled that the veteran was not "adequately represented" in the 1984 settlement and could file another suit. Due to the 4-4 split decision, the ruling from the previous court that heard the case, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, takes effect.
In a separate claim, the Supreme Court vacated the lawsuit of Joe Isaacson, ordering a lower court to review the case. Isaacson, who served on a military base in Vietnam that produced Agent Orange, developed non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 1998.