Jonathan Harr A Civil Action Summary

A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr is about a nonfiction civil law case that takes place in Woburn, Massachusetts. It is centered around numerous kids who were diagnosed with leukemia and no one knew why. When Anne Anderson’s child, Jimmy was diagnosed, in the summer of 1772, she wanted to figure out the cause. She finds a childhood leukemia cluster in Woburn, “Of the twelve cases, eight were located in east Woburn, and six of those were clustered in the Pine Street neighborhood, where perhaps two hundred families lived” (Harr 40). She thought the cause was their water source. Their water came from Wells G and H, two sources that have been shut down and examined by the health department due to the water’s foul taste, odor and different color.
Grace and Beatrice Foods. The companies allegedly dumped TCE on their land. Since the plaintiffs all had leukemia, from the same transaction, the wells, they all were grouped together: The Anderson family, the Gamache family, the Kane family, the Robbins family, the Toomey family, the Zona family, and the Aufiero family. The two defendants, W.R. Grace and Beatrice Foods were brought into the same lawsuit since they are being accused of TCE contamination. There’s groups because of Collaberal Estoppel and Res Judicata; the issue and lawsuit are only to be tried once. Some of the plaintiffs’ attorneys are Jan Schlichtmann, Kevin Conway, and Charlie Nesson. The defendant’s attorneys are William Cheeseman, Jerome Facher, and Michael Keating. This is a negligence case and is entitled to federal jurisdiction and sent to Judge Walter Jay Skinner. Schlichtmann tries to prove that the companies breached the standard of care. The summons and petition were given to the companies in May of 1982, eight days before the statute of limitations. When the case first started, Cheeseman filed a Rule 11 motion against Schlichtmann to end the case. It had Schlichtmann take the stand and Cheeseman cross examine him about the case. Judge Skinner realized the charges against Schlichtmann were ridiculous and the motion was
Schlichtmann started his depositions: first was a worker at Grace named Paul Shalline, head of safety and maintenance. Shalline denies everything, “The man claimed to know nothing about the six barrels of toxic waste that had been buried behind the plant and exhumed by order of the EPA” (Harr 157). He lied to protect himself and his company. Though, during depositions, he was sworn under oath to tell the truth. Next was Grace’s painter, Thomas Barbas, he was not helpful. After those two did not go his way, Al Love was questioned, he’s worker at Grace and lived on Pine Street in east Woburn. Cheeseman was objecting to all questions Schlichtmann was asking about the health of Love’s family, Love found that odd. He tells Schlichtmann about a rumor of fifty or more drums being buried at Grace. Schlichtmann believes he has a strong case. Beatrice was not as promising, the land owned by Beatrice was majorly contaminated with TCE, John Riley, the owner says they destroyed their files; there was no proof. During deposition, Schlichtmann collected medical records from the family members. An expert pointed out, “the pattern of chronic solvent poisoning was unmistakable” (Harr 201). Symptoms were: rashes, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, a lot of the families experienced these. Other experts were also brought in the case to prove the health effects of TCE, like Harvard