Defense win in second Sterigenics ethylene oxide trial

Chuhak & Tecson’s Stephen Wood, principal and co-leader of the firm’s Litigation practice group and a member of the Sterigenics and Sotera Health defense team, helped achieve a defense verdict when a jury recently rejected a woman’s claims that exposure to ethylene oxide from Sterigenics’ Willowbrook, Illinois, facility contributed to her leukemia. The verdict, delivered on November 18, 2022, came after a six-week jury trial in the Circuit Court of Cook County.  

The case, Teresa Fornek v. Sterigenics US LLC, et al., No. 2018-L-10744, was the second case to go to trial this year arising out of alleged exposure to ethylene oxide from Sterigenics’ Willowbrook facility. Earlier this year, a Cook County jury awarded significant damages to another resident of Willowbrook. That verdict is currently undergoing post-trial review.

For additional information on this case or for assistance with a litigation matter, please contact Stephen Wood at swood@chuhak.com