Ferebee v. Chevron Chemical Co.

Ferebee (plaintiff) regularly sprayed the herbicide paraquat, made by Chevron (defendant), as part of his job, and was directly exposed to it twice. His health declined starting in 1977, and he later died of pulmonary fibrosis. Chevron's warnings covered paraquat's known acute skin-irritation risks and, by 1979, its risk of lung disease, but not chronic injury from skin exposure or injury that could develop after exposure ended. Ferebee's estate sued Chevron for failure to adequately warn; his doctors testified paraquat caused his illness, while Chevron's experts said there was no evidence paraquat caused chronic injury at all. The jury awarded $60,000, and Chevron appealed.