G&E represented residents and businesses harmed by the devastating November 2018 wildfire in Northern California, allegedly caused by the negligence of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). The fire was the deadliest and most devastating wildfire in California history, where 85 people died and more than 19,000 structures, including residences and commercial properties, were damaged or destroyed. G&E sought compensation on behalf of all victims that were injured or died in the fire or suffered property damage or other emotional distress, and in December 2019, settled the case for $13.5 billion.

In February 2023, a train owned by Norfolk Southern derailed in Ohio, near the Pennsylvania border. The train was carrying a carcinogen – vinyl chloride – and other toxins, which spewed into the air and leeched into the ground and water over a 30-mile radius. Residents were forced to evacuate their homes, and face the potential for organ damage and various cancers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It was soon uncovered that Norfolk Southern had an abysmal safety record and a history of prioritizing profits over safety. G&E’s nationally recognized environmental toxic tort litigators led a federal action against Norfolk Southern and others to hold the wrongdoers accountable for their negligent actions, resulting in an agreement-in-principle being reached with the company via a $600 million class action settlement.

G&E represented the City of Baltimore and Baltimore County in litigation against Monsanto Co. arising out of its production, marketing and sale of carcinogenic industrial chemicals (polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs), resulting in environmental contamination and contamination of certain of Baltimore and Baltimore County public water systems. Baltimore and Baltimore County asserted common law environmental claims seeking both monetary damages for injury to their public resources and an abatement plan to be funded by Monsanto; and elected to serve as class representatives in a proposed nationwide class action settlement on behalf of similar plaintiffs. Monsanto has agreed to a $550 million settlement.

G&E’s clients alleged that Teva and several of its executives misled investors about the pricing of Teva’s drugs and its participation in a generic drug price-fixing conspiracy. A securities class action was filed, and G&E filed multiple direct opt-out actions for clients asserting securities fraud claims under U.S. and Israeli laws. Teva is also facing antitrust litigation by U.S. State Attorneys General, criminal charges by the U.S. Department of Justice, and private antitrust lawsuits by insurance companies and pharmacies, among other entities. A $420 million settlement was announced in the class action in January 2022, and G&E resolved the opt-out actions favorably for its clients in 2023.

G&E, on behalf of an institutional investor client, initiated a books and records inspection of CBS based on allegations that certain directors and officers breached their fiduciary duties in connection with a years-long pervasive scheme of sexual harassment. G&E submitted a litigation demand that CBS’s Board investigate and prosecute breaches of fiduciary duty related to the wrongdoing, as well as claims that certain executives engaged in insider trading. A derivative action was filed, which was settled in 2023 for $167.5 million.

G&E served as co-lead counsel representing residents and businesses harmed by the catastrophic gas explosions in Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts, caused by the negligence of Columbia Gas and NiSource. In September 2018, a series of gas explosions and fires impacted as many as 80 homes and businesses, affected thousands of families, injured dozens of people, and killed one man. In July 2019, G&E achieved a settlement of $143 million.

G&E reached a $139 million settlement – one of the largest settlements of derivative shareholder litigation in the history of Delaware Chancery Court – in a shareholder lawsuit against News Corp’s Board of Directors alleging breach of fiduciary duties by putting the personal and political interests of Rupert Murdoch, founder and CEO of News Corp, above those of the company’s public stockholders. The complaint focused on, among other things the Board’s very public failure to adequately investigate and remedy a years-long cover-up by News International, a News Corp subsidiary, of illegal activity associated with hacking the phones of British journalists and celebrities and other privacy violations. 

G&E worked with the Delaware Attorney General to secure a landmark settlement of up to $75 million with chemical maker DuPont and related companies, in connection with their alleged use and disposal of toxic PFAS chemicals. A known carcinogen with other noxious health effects and unusually strong persistence, PFAS are widely used in industrial processes and consumer products from food packaging and cosmetics to waterproof fabrics and non-stick cookware. Referred to as ‘the most significant environmental settlement’ in state history by the Attorney General, the agreement capped a sweeping forensic investigation that included environmental sampling and analysis, economic modeling, and examination of corporate records.

G&E served as co-lead counsel for plaintiffs in a class action alleging that Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and other officers and directors, breached their fiduciary duties to the class by approving the reclassification of Facebook stock. The reclassification, if implemented, would have allowed Zuckerberg to maintain majority voting control while reducing his economic stake in the company by over 65%. Just days before trial was set to begin, the Board abandoned the reclassification, a complete win for the plaintiffs and the class.

BHP Billiton intentionally misrepresented to investors its mining safety practices for years, and failed to make appropriate disclosures about significant safety risks at its Brazilian operations. In early November 2015, the Fundão dam at the Germano iron ore mine in Brazil, co-owned by BHP, collapsed, causing a toxic mudslide that killed 19 people and caused permanent environmental damage. BHP’s stock price fell dramatically and continued to fall as additional news about the collapse came out until, by late November 2015, it had fallen 20%. In May 2018, a large group of institutional investors led by G&E filed an international securities class action in Australia. In July 2019, the Appellate Court approved class certification and appointed G&E’s group as co-lead, staying all other putative class actions. In June 2021, the Appellate Court found in our favor and dismissed BHP’s appeal in its entirety. BHP appealed once again, and in October 12022, the High Court of Australia affirmed the Appellate Court’s ruling. Having been unsuccessful before all three levels of Australia’s court system, BHP has exhausted its rights of appeal.

G&E’s environmental litigation team represents states and municipalities against a litany of specialty chemicals companies including 3M Company, BASF Corp., DuPont, and Chemours, who produced and/or used toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their products. PFAS are synthetic chemicals known as “forever chemicals” given their strong persistence in the environment, which are linked to a range of adverse health effects, including various cancers, liver enlargement, immune system dysfunction, adverse reproductive effects and birth defects. As a result of these companies’ commercial activities, PFAS compounds permeate natural resources including groundwater, surface waters, soils, sediments, fish and wildlife. G&E’s environmental litigation team is committed to holding these corporate behemoths accountable for their disregard of the environment and of public health, and continues the battle against these defendants and others with ongoing litigations on behalf of attorneys general, state departments, counties and public entities in: California, Delaware, Florida, Ohio, Maine, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

In July 2023, the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles exposing Verizon’s ownership of tens of thousands of lead-encased cable wire strewn across the United States. The cable wires were found to be leeching lead into the surrounding air, water and land, creating enormous environmental and human health concerns. In addition, it was revealed that Verizon’s cable line workers are frequently exposed to lead and are not provided adequate protection or training in the safe handling of lead. Lead has long been known to be highly toxic to human beings in even minute quantities, and Verizon thus faces potential liabilities of over $5 billion associated with the environmental clean-up of lead as well as personal injury lawsuits from its workers and others. The news caused Verizon’s stock price to drop precipitously. Shortly after the articles were published, a securities fraud class action was filed. G&E represents large Dutch pension funds in connection with the litigation. In October 2023, G&E was appointed as lead counsel, and its Dutch clients as Lead Plaintiff, to prosecute the class action and secure recovery for Verizon’s aggrieved investors.

Despite its prior denials, Vale operated several high-risk dams, putting at risk Vale’s workers, as well as the towns and local populations in which it operated. After the 2019 collapse of one of its dams in southeastern Brazil, and following additional negative news, Vale’s stock dropped significantly: roughly $14.7 billion in market cap on the common share float. G&E, with the assistance of Brazilian counsel, filed a Request for Arbitration in January 2022, asking the Market Arbitration Chamber of the Brazilian Stock Exchange to initiate an arbitration against Vale for their violations of Brazilian corporate, securities and tort laws in connection with the collapse of the dam.

G&E serves as co-counsel in a Title IX and Section 1983 putative class action against Brown University. The class representatives bring the action on behalf of approximately 4,000 current and former female Brown students. The complaint alleges that the Ivy League school systematically and repeatedly failed to adequately respond to and prevent incidents of sexual harassment and assault on campus, despite knowledge that sexual assault on its campus is endemic. In October 2022, G&E defeated Brown’s motion to dismiss.

G&E serves as co-counsel in this action alleging claims related to the wrongful death of Roxsana Hernandez, a 33-year-old Honduran transgender woman and asylum seeker. Roxsana arrived in the U.S. seeking asylum in California, where she was immediately detained and transported between several different private detention facilities. As she was HIV positive, she became increasingly ill, and she was repeatedly denied access to basic human necessities and urgently needed medical care. Roxsana ultimately died while in custody. G&E and its co-counsel brought claims pursuant to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, negligence, and other state law claims against the various private prison detention centers that detained and transported Roxsana. Following a motion to dismiss, G&E secured the second decision to permit a Section 504 Rehabilitation Act claim to proceed to discovery against a government contractor defendant.

G&E has uncovered rampant credible evidence that for many years Dutch shipping companies and shipowners have been illegally paying Indonesian and Filipino crew members much smaller wages (about 60-65% less) than Europeans working the same jobs on the same ships. This is against the law: EU and Dutch law specifically prohibit employment discrimination or unequal pay based on race and/or nationality. In July 2023, on behalf of representative Indonesian and Filipino seafarers who suffered from such wage discrimination, G&E – along with a consortium of lawyers in the Netherlands, Indonesia and the Philippines – filed complaints with the Netherlands Human Rights Commission against representative Dutch shipowners who we believe committed these human rights violations. G&E is signing up thousands of Indonesian and Filipino seafarers to join a back-pay compensation class action to be filed in Amsterdam District Court as soon as we have a favorable ruling by the Human Rights Commission against the Dutch shipowners.

G&E filed a complaint against Celgene alleging executives misled investors as to the efficacy of one late-stage developmental drug, subsequently abandoned by the company, requiring a $1.6 billion impairment charge. The stock declined nearly 11% on this news. The complaint also alleges that another of Celgene’s key drugs had missed profit expectations, contrary to Celgene’s multiple positive statements about the security of these drug revenues. When the truth was revealed, Celgene’s stock dropped another 9%, causing Celgene investors to suffer billions in damages from purchasing Celgene common stock at artificially inflated prices.

After media and regulatory investigations, Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest bank, reluctantly admitted to participation in a massive money laundering scandal involving its branch in Estonia. Its CEO, Chairman and Chief Legal Officer all promptly resigned. Danske disclosed that it had profited from this scheme to the tune of €234 billion. Its stock lost over $12.8 billion in value worldwide as a result. G&E and its co-counsel have filed claims in Denmark on behalf of 300 investors collectively seeking over $1 billion in damages. In April 2023, the High Court selected eight test cases to proceed on the merits while all other claims against Danske are stayed.

Beginning in February 2020, news came out that Brazilian reinsurance company IRB had engaged in fraudulent accounting and mismanagement for years, which sparked a 25% stock price drop. Further disclosures of the fraud in March 2020 led to another stock drop of 32% as well as resignations of the CEO and CFO. Cumulatively, the price drops amounted to 43% of IRB’s value and constituted a market cap loss of $3.6 billion. G&E filed a request in early 2023 on behalf investors who collectively suffered $685 million in securities losses, to initiate an arbitration against IRB for the violations of Brazilian corporate, securities, and tort laws. The Tribunal was constituted in December 2023 and the preliminary phase regarding the Claimants’ standing is underway.

G&E, together with other U.S. and international law firms, represents over 100 institutional investors in a case against Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (“Petrobras”), a Brazilian oil and gas company that is the country’s largest corporation in terms of revenue. Petrobras is involved in a major corruption and kickback scandal, which resulted in its common and preferred shares losing more than 60% of their value. The case is proceeding in an arbitration before the Market Arbitration Chamber of the Brazilian Stock Exchange.

In 2015, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. came under scrutiny from governments, investors and others regarding its business model and its relationships with specialty pharmacies, which allowed it to conduct an unsustainable price gouging scheme. In 2016, Valeant announced that it would restate its financials and disclosed that the SEC was conducting an investigation. When these events became public, the price of Valeant’s common stock plummeted. After a securities class action suit was filed, G&E filed direct opt-out actions on behalf of many clients. In 2022, it was announced that the securities class action settled for $1.21 billion. The opt-out actions have continued. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has set a trial date in September 2024 for a related opt-out action – the remaining opt-out actions, including G&E’s clients’ actions, are stayed pending this bellwether trial.