Man Tentatively Settles Suit Alleging Chemical Caused Parkinson's Disease

TORRANCE (CNS) - A man who worked for 18 years as an electronic journeyman at Boeing Corp.'s Torrance plant has tentatively settled his lawsuit in which he alleged his longtime exposure to a Dow Chemical Co. cleaning solvent caused his Parkinson's disease.

Attorneys for plaintiffs Daniel O'Leary and his wife, Darla O'Leary, filed court papers on Aug. 16 with Torrance Superior Court Judge Gary Tanaka notifying him of a "conditional" settlement of the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by Oct. 31.

No terms were divulged.

The suit was filed in May 2018 against Dow and other entities. Daniel O'Leary's claims included strict liability and fraudulent concealment and his wife alleged loss of consortium.

Daniel O'Leary was employed at a machine shop at the Boeing plant from February 1982 until September 2000 and worked on electronic machine parts and used various solvents during that time, according to the complaint.

In the 1990s, Boeing began using a degreaser called NEU-TRI that contained trichloroethylene, also known as TCE, the suit stated. TCE, a chemical compound and halocarbon commonly used as an industrial solvent, has been the subject of numerous groundwater-contamination lawsuits.

Dow attorneys argued that Daniel O'Leary's evidence was speculative and noted that the company's own sworn declarant concluded based on her review that no records existed showing that Dow sold or shipped NEU-TRI to Boeing or its predecessor, the McDonnell Douglas Corp., at its Torrance, Long Beach, Huntington Beach or Seal Beach locations from 1979-98, including Daniel O'Leary's alleged exposure dates.

Throughout his time at Boeing, which was not sued, Daniel O'Leary was required to buy NEU-TRI from Dow so it could be used on Boeing electrical parts and motors, his suit stated. He was exposed to NEU-TRI daily from minutes to several hours daily, according to the complaint.

Daniel O'Leary developed Parkinson's disease in June 2011 as well as other illnesses due to the exposure for which he requires constant care, according to his lawsuit. He learned in June 2016 that his health problems could be related to his work at Boeing, the suit stated.

Daniel O'Leary alleged that Dow failed to disclose to him and to Boeing that NEU-TRI contained TCE, which was known to cause Parkinson's disease.