Lynn L Bergeson, “PFAS Risk and the Role of the Corporate Fiduciary,” Corporate Disputes Magazine, October 2024.

Corporate entities are feeling the heat per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are generating. PFAS manufacturers are being sued in record numbers in the US based on novel legal theories involving personal injury tort claims, product liability, environmental damage and fraud among other things.

Heightened legal activity in other jurisdictions, including the UK and the European Union (EU), is expected. Manufacturers of products containing PFAS, and their downstream users, are also becoming embroiled in lawsuits, including restaurants that use PFAS-containing food wrappers, packagers of products and large retailers of products containing PFAS.

All this litigation, risk management and finger pointing begs the question: what is the role of corporate fiduciaries in PFAS risk management? This article explores this important question.