Pa. Court Retains Jurisdiction over Chemical Exposure Personal Injury Case

PHILADELPHIA –– A Pennsylvania federal court has retained jurisdiction over a chemical exposure lawsuit, finding that general jurisdiction existed by virtue of its registration as a foreign corporation in Pennsylvania.

In the April 21 decision, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania did conclude that specific jurisdiction was not present in the case, however.

Plaintiff Keturah Winters filed the underlying claims, contending that exposure to the chemical Alcosphere Lavender Meadows, a “highly toxic, ultrahazardous, and abnormally dangerous chemical, in powder form,” caused her to develop respiratory distress, including Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS).

Winters alleged that …