Dow Chemical Company v. Stephenson
Stephenson and others filed lawsuits against the manufacturers of Agent Orange, alleging that they were injured by exposure to Agent Orange while serving in the military in Vietnam. In 1984, however, some twelve years before these suits, virtually identical claims against these defendants, brought by a class of military personnel who were exposed to Agent Orange while in Vietnam, were globally settled. Judge Weinstein, who presided over the 1984 settlement, dismissed the claims, concluding that the prior settlement barred their suits. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, holding that plaintiffs were inadequately represented in the prior suit and that due process considerations prevent the earlier class action settlement from precluding their claims.
Questions Presented:
1. Whether absent class members are precluded from re-litigating the issue of adequacy of representation through a collateral attack on a class settlement, after class members had a full
opportunity to opt out, object, and appeal, and after both the trial court and the court of appeals, in the course of approving the settlement, expressly determined that the class representatives
adequately represented the entire class.
2. Whether, if collateral attack is permissible, the ”adequacy of representation” is an issue that is to be properly determined as of the time of the original litigation or in light of
events and changes in the law occurring years after the settlement has becomes final and all of the settlement proceeds have been disbursed.
