Dark Waters (2019) - full transcript
A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.
I'll give you a boost
if you want.
I don't need your help.
Ooh. Hell,
she got you, buddy.
- Toss them beers.
- Here you go.
- You got it?
- Okay, let's go!
All right. All right.
Hold up, hold up!
The beer.
Take this. Take this.
Come on.
These damn shoes!
- Whoo! Come on in, it's warm!
- Come on, buddy!
Look, you can even wash your hair!
I washed mine last month.
Whoo!
Laura, Keith, come here!
Look what I found.
- Holy shit.
- What the hell's that?
- What is it?
- The hell you doing?
Get out of here, now!
- Geez!
- Come on!
Goddamn kids.
Turn off the beam, fool!
Steve from Dow,
Ted from Union Carbide...
Jerry from Exxon
and Andy from Allied.
Welcome to Taft Law,
gentlemen.
Before we get started,
a little housekeeping.
Um, all of you know
this young man
as the dedicated
Taft associate
who for the past
eight years has
buried himself
in the Superfund law.
I'm not paying
for that cleanup.
Still it is my pleasure
to share with you
that just last week,
Rob Bilott was welcomed as a partner
here at Taft,
Stettinius & Hollister.
Good morning. Taft Law.
One moment. I'll connect you.
Good morning. Taft Law.
One moment, please.
It's the Governor's office
calling for uh,
calling for Mr. Burke.
May I help you?
Wilbur Tennant
calling on Robbie Bilott.
EPA has saddled them
with the whole bill
and given your client's
history at that site,
that's a real possibility.
- I'll take it back to them.
- Good. Tab 12, Middletown...
I know. I'm sorry.
- But they won't leave.
- Who's they?
I don't know.
They say they know you.
- Um...
- Robert Bilott?
Um, yes.
They call it a landfill.
A dump's what it is.
They told my brother and me
no chemicals, just trash.
But we ain't stupid.
I made them videotapes myself.
All the proof you need.
They're poisonin' the creek,
killing my animals.
- I'm in the middle of a meeting.
- So, I want a lawyer.
Every damn one in Parkersburg's
too yella to take my case.
Rob. He wants you
back in there.
They all scared shitless
at DuPont.
Well, I ain't scared
of nobody.
Okay.
Kathleen is my paralegal.
She's gonna give you
a directory of lawyers.
That's why
I called your grandma.
- What?
- My neighbor who tells me,
call Alma White.
Her grandson's some fancy environment
lawyer down in Cincinnati.
Sir, I am a corporate
defense attorney.
- So?
- I defend chemical companies.
- Well, now you can defend me.
- Rob!
Uh, 30 seconds, Tom.
- Uh, I'm sorry, Mr...
- Tennant.
I can offer you
a referral.
But I just don't see how I
can be of any help to you.
You can start by watching
them tapes for one thing.
Oh, let's go, Earl.
I'm sorry.
I... I wish you all the luck.
I don't need
your damn luck, boy!
- I need your help!
- Rob!
Come on.
I'm not arguing
with the overall analysis.
My only point is that
whatever we decide upon...
Thank you, gentlemen.
Do you know
where we're going?
There's a place
right around the corner.
- Yeah?
- What the hell was that all about?
- He knows my grandmother.
- Really?
Well, my mom's from
West Virginia.
Uh, from a town,
Parkersburg.
Not us. My...
my father was Air Force.
We...
We moved around a lot,
but we spent
the summers there.
- Come on, Terp. You're buying.
- Of course I am.
You can be
from West Virginia, Rob.
I won't tell anyone.
All right, gentlemen.
Morton's it is.
Still deigned to eat
with us lowly associates?
You can't drive
an American car.
Taft-Hartley,
union busting?
We practically invented it.
"We?"
Besides, I know
a highly esteemed partner
who still drives American.
- Some real clunkers too.
- Okay,
yeah, but he
collects them.
That's different.
Like his
no-name college
and law school.
- No offense.
- Are you listening to this?
Hey, you guys go ahead,
all right?
- Look, I didn't mean anything by it.
- No. I gotta make a call.
It's all right.
I'll see you there.
Okay, we'll save you
a fish log.
- You can be such an asshole.
- Karla, it was a joke.
- Yeah.
- We always joke.
Oh, yeah. You guys are
a couple of jokesters.
You've
reached the residence of Alma White.
I can't come to the phone
right now...
He's good. He's home
early tonight actually.
Tell him I
said, howdy, partner.
She says,
"Howdy, partner."
Are we ever gonna
see him again on Sundays?
Yes, he can still come
to Sunday dinners, Mom.
He's a partner,
not the President of the United States.
I wanna make...
Do you have my Bundt pan?
Returned it.
Where?
I looked under the counter.
It's the right hand cupboard,
in the plastic. Yeah.
Okay, well,
we just sat down.
All right, dear.
So, I gotta go.
Love to Rob and Teddy.
All right, see you Sunday.
Love to Dad.
Talk to you later.
Can you pretend to be
surprised about the cake?
She wants it
to be very special.
Oh, and the granite samples
came in.
Can you pick them up
on your way home tomorrow?
- Mmm.
- Rob?
Hmm? Uh, sure.
You okay?
Yes.
Bless us, our Lord
and thy gifts
which we are about to receive
from thy bounty
through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Thank you, God.
Thank you for our family.
Thank you.
- Hi, Grammers.
- What on earth!
I tried to call,
but you weren't picking up.
Oh, well, you know me.
My two fake knees.
What are you doing here?
A farmer came to see me.
Wilbur Tennant?
You do know him.
I don't socialize with him,
if that's what you mean.
Inez Graham owned the farm
next to his.
I used to take you and Beth
over there when you were little.
That's the place?
Hmm.
- You rode that pony.
- Ah!
I loved that place.
Saw a cow
for the first time.
Learned to milk it.
I remember
you sittin' there for hours
making sure you got
every last drop.
Just like you.
There.
Hmm.
So you gonna help him?
Huh?
You come up the holler,
dump's up the hill.
Since I started
complaining about my creek,
fence goes up.
All blocked off.
Hi, I'm Rob.
Sandra.
The State, any veterinarian
I've called in Parkersburg,
they will not
return my phone calls.
Like I bite the hand
that feeds.
- No, it's all right. I've already...
- This here's a gall.
Look at the size of it.
Ain't never seen
no gall that big.
Bigger than the heart.
That your cows'?
Look at them teeth.
Black as night. Here.
Hoof, all turned in
on itself.
Half my calves born
with hooves like that.
Tumor, I done
cut off the back a heifer.
How'd ya like
that on your table?
What am I looking for?
You blind, boy?
Stones as white
as the hairs on my head.
Bleached! That's chemicals,
I'm telling ya.
My animals drink this water.
Cool off in 'er.
Get them bloody welts,
them dead eyes.
Charge at me, crazy-like.
Animals that used to eat
out of my own hand.
Where are
the rest of them?
Come on.
Beginnin', I'd bury 'em.
Each one. They're family.
It got to be so many,
pile 'em up, set fire to...
How many did you lose?
190.
190 cows?
You tell me
nothing's wrong here.
And this landfill
wasn't always here?
No. My brother Jim used to dig
ditches over at the DuPont plant.
Got sick, couldn't
do it no more.
One day they come to him, offering
to buy his land right up that holler.
They promised no chemicals.
And I assume you
reached out to DuPont?
DuPont, the State,
the Feds.
I called everybody
there is dozens of times.
- EPA finally comes out here.
- Oh, they did.
- All for some report.
- What did it say?
You think they're
gonna show me?
Okay.
He's been like this all day.
Okay. Go on.
Of course, you're
a perfect angel for Daddy.
- Did you get the tile?
- Um, I'm sorry. No.
Rob.
I didn't drive into town today.
I'm sorry.
What do you mean
you didn't drive into town?
I had to go
to Parkersburg.
Parkersburg? Why'd you
have to go to Parkersburg?
I may have a client there.
In West Virginia? What kind
of a case would you have?
He's a farmer. He knows
my Grammer. Not well, but...
So, you saw her?
Was your mother there?
Oh, come on, Sarah. I didn't
sneak off to see my mother.
- So, why did you sneak off?
- I didn't.
Our speaker tonight's no
Stranger to the Taft family.
Phillip Donnelly,
Phil to us,
serves as in-house
Corporate Counsel at DuPont.
Not only one of America's most
revered chemical companies,
but one of the few
giants of the industry
- that Taft doesn't represent.
- Not yet anyway!
That's the spirit, James.
We asked Phil here tonight,
not just to show him what he's missing,
but to hear how a renowned
leader of our industry
stays that way.
Please welcome Phil Donnelly.
- Wish me luck.
- Go get 'em, Phil!
Thank you.
At DuPont, we're not producing
chemicals for chemical's sake.
We're producing them
for people's sake.
To make folks' lives easier.
Happier, longer.
That's why better living
through chemistry
is not just
a slogan at DuPont.
It's our DNA.
- Hey, Rob.
- Hello, Phil.
- Is it true what Tom tells me?
- Yeah, it's true.
- Well, good on them. They're lucky to have you.
- Thanks, Phil.
Like I always tell
my younger associates,
just keep your head down
and do the work.
Thanks. Uh, Phil, can I ask
you sort of an odd question?
Shoot.
Does the name
Wilbur Tennant ring a bell?
- Tennet, did you say?
- Tennant.
No. Not that I recall.
Mr. Tennant's a farmer
from West Virginia.
His property abuts one of
your landfills, Dry Run.
And his cows
have been getting sick.
He thinks possibly because of the
runoff from the landfill into his creek.
You're kidding me.
How did this come to you?
- Hey, Phil!
- He's a farmer. He's...
My grandmother's
from Parkersburg.
Really? Washington Works.
Great plant.
- Right. She knows the Tennants.
- So Grandma's on your back?
Something like that.
Anyway, uh...
The farmer said the EPA came out,
took a look around. I wondered...
- The name of the landfill again?
- Dry Run.
Dry Run. Dry...
You know, that does ring a
bell, now that you mention it.
We may have even sent
some folks out there.
If I remember correctly,
help EPA check it out.
That's gotta be it.
So, I'd love to share whatever came of that
with Mr. Tennant.
Help settle his nerves.
Absolutely. Soon as I'm back in
Wilmington, I'll take a look.
- Thanks, Phil. I really appreciate it.
- Happy to do it.
Now, let's get a drink and
toast you, my friend. You.
Okay.
Mr. Tennant!
Mr. Tennant,
I have the report.
Sons of bitches!
Who the hell they think they are?
- Who gives them the right?
- It's an evaluation.
Evalu, Hatchet
job's what it is.
I been farming my
entire life. Entire life!
You read that. You tell me
you recognize my farm.
- Mr. Tennant...
- Read it!
"The herd health
investigation revealed
"deficiency
in herd management.
"Including poor nutrition,
"inadequate veterinary care
and lack of fly control."
You see any flies here?
It's snowing.
Can't stop making excuses
for 'em, can you?
It could be pests.
They consulted a vet.
Whose vet? DuPont?
Look at yourself. Swallowin' whole,
whatever they been feeding ya.
Can't tell truth from lie.
You even watch them tapes
I gave you?
- Sir, I am trying to help!
- Quiet.
- Trying to help.
- Stop movin'.
Easy, now. Easy.
Get in. Slow.
Forgive me, girl.
Jesus.
Need something to
warm you up right about now?
Well, how about this?
Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains,
Shenandoah River
Life is old there,
older than the trees
Younger than the mountains
Blowing like the breeze
Country roads, take me home
To the place...
I belong
West Virginia...
mountain mama
Take me home...
...this cow's eyes are cloudy
with pink eyes is what they'll call it.
Anyway, her eyes are sunk
way back in her head.
She's poor as a whippoorwill.
And I'm gonna cut her open and
find out what caused her to die.
Because I was feeding
her enough feed...
that she should've gained
weight instead of losin' weight.
This is what
her teeth looks like.
That's the upper one.
But this one here, I've never seen
anything like it in my lifetime.
Even the veterinarian,
he admitted...
he never saw anything like
this before in his life either.
So, what are you
proposing we do?
File a claim, trigger discovery and
find out what's in that landfill.
- You wanna sue DuPont?
- Targeted.
- Property dispute. Routine stuff.
- Not routine. Not around here.
I know, but, Tom,
if you'd actually seen it.
His farm is like a graveyard.
There's something very wrong.
So, he should
hire a local lawyer.
None of them will do it.
They're all terrified of DuPont.
- Well, what does that tell you?
- We know DuPont.
They're gonna wanna hear
if some of their local guys
are screwing something up.
Oh, so they're gonna
thank us for suing.
Better us than the EPA.
I mean, new partners are supposed
to bring in business, right?
So, your farmer
can swing 275 an hour?
It'd be on contingency.
Jesus. What are we,
coupon chasers now?
It's a small matter for a family friend.
I'll get in and I'll get out.
- Help a guy that needs it.
- Who? The farmer or you?
Surgical. You hear me?
Absolutely. Thank you.
Come on, Rob.
Of course, I'm gonna take your call.
Even though, I was,
I admit, a little surprised.
I mean, getting
sued by Taft Law.
It's not every day.
Or any day, frankly.
I know. I'm sorry.
Look, you and I are friends.
This is a minor issue.
No reason it
should get messy.
Thank you. I totally agree.
Yeah, I'm putting you on speaker phone.
So, you wanna know
if we violated our permits.
Pretty much, yeah.
Okay, then. I'll have our
guys send over anything...
related to hazardous wastes
at Dry Run.
And I'll tell them to hurry
it up this time. How's that?
- Thank you. That sounds great.
- And don't stress. I forgive you.
Thanks, Phil.
You took your baby
into the office?
- I needed a bigger trunk.
- Why?
Discovery for the Tennant
case came in today.
Oh. Oh, you started before me.
You're so fast! Whoa.
Good boy.
Rob's missing
such a lovely day.
Law's a jealous mistress, Mom.
Means it comes with the territory.
Let's go over here!
Nice! Thank you!
That's what I'm talking about right there.
All right. Let's go. One more.
One more. All right.
Poly...
Is that...
No.
- How's my favorite plaintiff's attorney?
- Hey, help me out, will ya?
You're a run of a mill
dump, nothing but trash.
You sound like
my first girlfriend.
Why a requisition order
for 55-gallon containers?
Conspiracy.
Standard size drums.
Ash, ash-byproduct, glass tubing,
plastic, paper waste. It's just trash.
You pile it onto a truck, drive it away.
You don't pack it into drums.
- So, they've got liquid waste.
- Not hazardous.
Or they'd have to disclose it.
So, what is killing these cows?
- It's not paper and ash.
- Well, maybe it's human error.
They're dumping something in
there they don't know is toxic.
Kim, it's DuPont. They know
more than the EPA does.
Everyone knows more
than the EPA does.
Why else would they
let us regulate ourselves?
- What?
- Do we?
Do we what?
The EPA only started
regulating chemicals in '76.
Yeah?
They grandfather in every
existing chemical, non-hazardous,
unless they knew it was hazardous
or a company told them it was.
- We're saying the same thing.
- No, we're not. I'm saying
what if
a company didn't tell?
What if
the reason Phil Donnelly agreed
to discovery on hazardous
is because he knows
whatever's in that landfill
isn't even regulated?
Okay, now you are sounding
like a plaintiff's attorney.
- I've got a meeting.
- Hey, oh, wait, one second.
Have you heard of this,
um, PFOA?
No.
You know, it's mentioned here,
but I can't find anything about it
in any of the literature.
I don't even know if it's a chemical.
- Ask Phil.
- Well, thank you.
As I said,
Mr. Donnelly is still out of town.
I called last week and left two messages
and haven't heard back from him.
I'll be sure to tell him
that you called again.
Okay. Damn it.
- Your tickets to the Chemical Alliance dinner.
- Argh...
And, no, dark suit is not
the same as black tie.
Wouldn't he be going?
I don't know if Rob told you,
but I was a receptionist at Taft
- before law school.
- Is that right?
But well, I think the
right Bilott ended up there.
Harold, you're not
getting away from me.
- Would you excuse me?
- Sure, it was...
- It's great to see you.
- When is the...
That's funny.
Right away, I saw a little
of myself in Rob.
- Oh!
- One black sheep to another.
- My dad was a steel worker, you know.
- Was he?
Have you seen Phil?
No.
- So, you're an attorney?
- Oh, recovering.
I represented employers
in workmen's comp disputes.
But now, I stay at home
with our baby.
Well, that's the thing
with lady lawyers.
I wanna say hi to the Dow folks.
Have you seen them?
No, I've been looking
for Phil.
Did I tell you they
sent me some work?
- Dow? That's great!
- Just a small project. Like a try-out.
But if I impress them,
can you imagine if I brought on Dow?
None for me, thank you.
You're not...
I'm, uh...
You're... She's...
I'm...
I'm gonna wait as long as I can
to tell the firm. Obviously.
Would you excuse
us for a moment?
These lady lawyers
need a quick sidebar.
- Of course.
- No. No.
- He signs your paycheck. Be nice to him.
- Don't leave me.
- Congratulations.
- I know. I can't believe it.
Excuse me.
Rob, how are you?
Phil, I've been
trying to reach you.
So sorry, all this traveling.
How about I give you a shout tomorrow?
We're gonna need to broaden
discovery to everything
in that landfill,
hazardous or not.
Excuse me.
You kidding me?
No.
I think whatever's causing
the problems in there
isn't something the EPA
regulates or knows to regulate.
Sorry?
I'm seeing things in your
documents I don't understand.
You're seeing ghosts,
is what you're seeing, and frankly,
you're making an
ass of yourself.
Okay, then,
help me out.
I mean, like this.
I mean, what is
this PFOA?
What's that stand for?
Jesus.
You're on a goddamn
fishing expedition.
You wanna flush your
career down the toilet
for some cowhand?
Be my guest. I'm
done helping you.
Phil, I need to insist
on broadening discovery.
- Sue me!
- Uh...
I'm already suing you.
Welcome, everyone,
to the 14th Annual Ohio
Chemical Alliance...
- Fuck you!
- ...awards dinner.
Hick!
So, let's
get the fun started!
I'm sorry.
You're not the only
one who's sacrificed.
I just hope you know what you're doing.
You know the difference between
business and pleasure, right?
So, why on earth would you
engage in business conversations
- at a public function?
- Tom!
He's hiding something.
You saw his reaction.
Yeah, me and everyone
in that room.
Taft in a pissing
match with DuPont.
I am gonna get a court
order and force them
to tell me everything
that's in that landfill.
Jesus Christ! Now you wanna
actually take them to court.
And I'm gonna need local
counsel in West Virginia.
What happened
to routine stuff?
- Ask Phil Donnelly.
- God!
Of course,
I remember you.
Yeah, last time I saw you,
I think Phil Donnelly was
trying to get you to go
out on the links with us.
Yeah.
You what?
- Sir.
- Thank you.
Good morning.
- Good morning, Larry.
- Morning.
Morning, Miss Claire.
Don't you look nice.
Save it for the
judge, Mr. Winter.
You're suing DuPont.
Yes, ma'am.
You represent DuPont.
My old firm did.
I've been out on
my own for a while.
Good luck with that.
Just wanted to
let you know personally
that your court-ordered
discovery is on the way.
Thanks, Phil.
No, it's my pleasure.
Discovery.
Son of a bitch.
No admission
of liability.
And non...
Non-disclosure of
any and all terms.
Pardon me a moment.
Thanks.
Holy Jesus!
- What in the...
- Thanks.
...world?
I guess the
joke's on me.
Yeah.
No one can go through all this crap.
Not in a million years.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's
what they're banking on.
- Oh, God! Damn it!
- Oh, God, Rob!
- Here, let me...
- No, no, no, you shouldn't be around this stuff.
- You sure?
- I'm positive. Thank you, though.
Yeah.
Good luck.
1957.
Hey, Sally,
what is the hold up back here?
- Hey, Bobby. How you...
- What're you having?
Usual.
Eggs over bacon
and grits.
Same.
I need two over,
grits, fried.
Wilbur Tennant.
He's not in his office.
Can I take a message?
- I been leaving messages.
- I know, Mr. Tennant,
but he really can't get
to the phone right now.
I want service!
I'll let him know that you called again.
For Christ's sakes.
Is she getting accustomed
to being at Mom and Dad's?
You know Grammer.
She misses her own house.
- What?
- She misses her own house.
I have a bad cell.
I said Grammer
misses her own house.
Okay, can you...
Can I talk to her?
She and Mom
are at the doctor's.
- Will you tell Grammers I called?
- Rob, you're breaking up.
And Mom too?
- Let's try again on Sunday.
- All right.
"C-8."
You know you look like
a crazy person, right?
What was the name of that guy
that you brought by the...
- What guy?
- The chemistry expert.
- The guy who does the models.
- Gillespie.
Here you go.
Thank you.
Kim Burke
had an expense account.
Oh, sorry. It's not
that kind of case.
Are you familiar
with something called PFOA?
No.
- No.
- No.
I did read something recently
about a PFOS, I think it was.
- That sounds related.
- And what was that?
Long-chain fluorocarbon,
synthetic.
I'm sorry. Chemistry was
my worst class in high school.
Boy, you in the wrong
line of work.
Tell me about it. So?
So, synthetic. All right?
Man-made.
Frankenstein.
And?
Long-chain fluorocarbon is a sequence
of carbon atoms, add a fluoride.
- All right. In the lab you take a carbon atom...
- Mmm-hmm.
...and then you add
another carbon atom.
And then another
and another... Look.
You're making a chain. Right?
- Right?
- Could it be...
Eight? Eight carbons?
Well, sure. Yeah, In the lab
you can do almost anything.
And why would you want to?
Make this, I mean.
Well, a chain like that's pretty much
unbreakable, biochemically speaking.
So, uh, industrial uses,
I imagine.
3M made it.
They don't anymore.
That's what I read.
- Why did they stop?
- Didn't say.
What if...
What if you drank it?
Drank it?
- You don't.
- Well, what if you did?
- Ready to order?
- Yeah, I think I'd like a...
But what if you did?
That's like saying,
"What if I swallowed a tire?"
I don't know. You wanna be
the guy that finds out?
Tuna melt.
Let us all begin with
hymn number 452 in our hymnal books.
"Here I Am, Lord."
Please rise.
I, the Lord of sea and sky
I have heard my people cry
All who dwell in deepest sin
My hand will save
Does it makes sounds?
Asteroid ahead.
You hold like that.
Are you ready to blast off?
I'm taking off that.
You said it had fluoride?
What?
Mr. Bilott, it's Sunday.
That chemical, you said
it had a fluoride atom.
It's a fluorocarbon, so, yes.
Somewhere along the chain...
What would it do to your
teeth if you drank it?
Don't tell me if you
shouldn't, if you did.
If you drank a lot of it,
what would it do to your teeth?
Well, in trace amounts
fluoride hardens teeth.
But too much, it's gonna stain 'em.
I mean, even turn 'em black.
So, can I get back
to my family now?
What? Where are you going?
- It's in their water.
- What? What is?
How long's
the coughing been?
Couple...
Couple of months.
A year.
- You a smoker?
- No.
Roll up your sleeve.
We're gonna take some blood.
- Thought you left him inside.
- I did.
Oh, baby.
You move this?
What?
- Did you go through this?
- No!
They been here.
They been here!
What happened?
Wash up.
Dad?
- What is it?
- Quiet.
This is my land,
damn you! You get out of here!
Go on!
Go on!
Sandra, girls, get on!
Go on, get in! Get in!
I know youl!
Rob?
- Holy crap, Rob!
- What?
I thought someone was breaking
in, for God's sakes!
No, it's just me.
Rob, you need to tell me
what in the hell's going on.
We're being poisoned.
- Rob.
- What?
I mean it.
DuPont is knowingly poisoning us.
You mean the farmer.
His land.
All of us.
Please don't look at me
like that.
They're already poisoning
the baby.
- No. I'm not listening to this.
- Sarah.
Stop it!
Just stop it, okay?
Do you hear yourself?
You are acting like a crazy person.
Tearing up our floor.
Scaring me half to death.
I know it's my job to support
you, but that does not mean
you get to come into our
home, to our family
and tell me that our unborn
child is being poisoned. No!
I'm sorry.
Can I please explain?
- Explain what?
- All of it.
And if you still think I'm crazy,
I'll drop it. I swear to God.
I swear to you.
There is a man-made
chemical
that was invented
during the Manhattan project.
It repelled the elements,
especially water.
So they used it to make the first
ever waterproof coating for tanks.
It was indestructible.
Then some companies thought,
"Hey, why just the battlefield?
"Why not bring this chemical
into American homes?"
- Rob's here.
- All right. Good.
He'll see you now.
DuPont was one
of those companies.
So they took
this chemical, PFOA.
They renamed it C-8.
And they made their own
impenetrable coating,
but not for tanks. For pans.
They called it Teflon.
A shining symbol
of American ingenuity,
made right here in the USA,
in Parkersburg, West Virginia.
But right from the start,
something wasn't right.
The men, and workers
who made Teflon
were coming down
with nausea, fevers.
DuPont wanted to know why.
So they laced cigarettes
with Teflon.
They told a group of their
workers, "Hey, smoke these."
DuPonters did
as they were told.
Almost all of those men
were hospitalized.
That's 1962.
One year after Teflon launched
and already DuPont knew.
The dust, they just sent right up the
smoke stacks, released into the air.
The sludge,
tossed it into the Ohio.
Or, uh, packed into drums and
chucked it into the Chesapeake.
But then their drums
started washing up.
So, DuPont starts
digging ditches
on the grounds
of the Washington Works plant.
And in those pits,
they dumped
thousands of tons
of toxic C-8 sludge and dust.
One of the men that they hired
to dig those ditches
was Wilbur Tennant's
brother Jim.
But they weren't the only ones
covering their tracks.
3M who pioneered these
chemicals for Scotchgard,
they were testing them
on monkeys.
Most of the monkeys died.
It wasn't like DuPont
didn't know that because
they were doing
their own tests on rats.
Watched their organs balloon.
Now the rats
are getting cancers.
Tested them on pregnant rats
and watched them give birth
to pups
with deformed eyes.
So, they yanked all the young
women off the Teflon line
and never told them why.
Sue Bailey's job was scrubbing
these huge steel vats
where they held the liquid C-8.
She was pregnant.
- I love you!
- Would you stop?
She gave birth to a baby with
one nostril and a deformed eye.
Remember how DuPont had seen
those deformities in the rats?
Oh, God.
What about his eyes?
Blue. Just like all newborns.
But they're normal,
the lids, the pupils?
Mr. Bilott, relax.
He's perfect.
Hey. Hi, Charlie.
So Sue goes to DuPont.
She says, "Why did you pull me
off the Teflon line?
"Did C-8 make my baby this
way?" "No," they tell her.
Then all of her records from
her time at Teflon disappear.
One year later,
they put all of the women back on Teflon
and never say a thing.
He's here.
DuPont knew everything.
They knew that the C-8
they put into the air
and buried into the
ground for decades
was causing cancers.
They knew that their own workers
were getting these cancers.
They knew that the consumers
too were being exposed
and not just in Teflon.
In paints,
in fabrics, in,
uh, raincoats, boots.
To this day...
For 40 years you knew
C-8 was poison.
You knew the "Happy Pan"
was a ticking time bomb.
And you knew exactly why.
Because C-8,
it stays in us forever.
Our bodies are incapable
of breaking it down.
And knowing all of this,
still you did nothing because
doing something,
"would essentially
put the long-term viability
"of this product's segment
on the line."
You were making
too much money.
One billion dollars a year just in
profits, just in Teflon.
And so you pumped
millions more pounds
of toxic C-8 into the air,
into the water
so much so you could
actually see it foam.
C-8 was everywhere. There was
nowhere left for you to contaminate.
And that's when
they came to Jim.
They knew he was sick and needed
the money and they needed his land.
And when they got it,
they dug up all the C-8
from every single pit
at Washington Works.
Fourteen million pounds
of toxic C-8 sludge
and they dumped it, again.
This time right up there.
Steps from your creek,
from your house.
That's what your cows
have been drinking, Earl.
Put 'em behind bars.
Whole damn lot of 'em,
right in jail.
I understand, believe me.
But this is a civil case.
The most we can hope for is damages.
Don't want no money!
Whole damn world need...
- Needs to see what they done.
- You're right. They should.
And it kills me
that they won't.
But that would mean
going to trial
and proving
that C-8 killed your cows.
And every scientist who knows
anything about any of this
already works
for these chemical companies.
That's not an accident, Earl.
Earl, these companies,
they have all the money all the time,
and they'll use it. Trust me.
I know. I was one of them.
You're still one of 'em.
You can't be serious.
You know what I put on the line here?
You want a prize? Some medal
'cause for once in your life
you took the side
of the little guy?
Sorry, no prize. All you get is
your share of this blood money.
- And you sleep real good tonight.
- Talk to your family.
It ain't just my cows
was poisoned.
What do you think
I fed my family on?
Wilbur, please.
Leave this place!
Start over. Give your family
a fighting chance!
Too late for that.
We got it, Sandra and me.
The cancer.
Surprise, surprise.
In here.
How'd it go?
What's wrong?
Rob?
Rob, what is it?
What happened?
What happened?
Oh, honey, honey, honey.
You saw a man hurting
and
you did the Christian thing.
You helped him.
How? How?
Either he dies penniless
or he lets DuPont just keep
pillaging his community.
How is that helping?
Gotta get some sleep.
I can't believe a freaking case
settlement could shut this up.
Have you read their
confidentiality agreements?
You've uncovered
a threat to the public.
This goes beyond lawyering.
That's...
That's all I know is lawyering.
Fine.
Then be the lawyer.
You know DuPont
better than anyone.
What haven't they thought of?
God. Jesus,
Mary and Joseph.
What is that?
Uh, a memo
and 136 exhibits.
Wil, Sandra,
this is your copy.
The EPA announced a public hearing
into this family of chemicals
- I've been looking into.
- I heard about it from Tucker.
- Monsanto Tucker?
- Union Carbide now.
He says to me,
"Is it true
"that a Taft lawyer sent a
phone book's
"worth of confidential
DuPont documents
"to the entire
Federal government?"
Internal documents, not confidential.
Very different.
- So you're testifying.
- I signed up to testify.
And the next thing I hear
is DuPont has petitioned
a judge
to stop me from testifying,
from flying to D.C,
from even picking up
the phone
They filed for a gag order.
Yes! This is what
we're up against.
- Jesus.
- David.
Come on, Tom.
What do you expect?
Where do we stand?
Well, the judge rejected
the gag order,
so I fly out Monday.
Nice. I guess we'll
just watch on C-SPAN.
You ever do
anything like this again,
I will cut your balls off and
serve them to DuPont myself.
Get out of here.
Good luck in Washington.
Thanks, Tom.
This material
is a perfluoro...
or a PFOA.
It's also known
as FC 143,
ammonium perfluorooctanoates.
It has been shown
by DuPont's own science
that PFOA C-8
is possibly life threatening
to human health.
We are asking this agency
to do something.
...the Presidential election
in four decades.
Just look at these
latest polls.
Did you forget
to pay the water bill?
What?
You forget to pay
the water bill?
No.
We got a notice.
What's it say?
"PFOA is
a persistent chemical
"that is slow
to be eliminated
"from the blood stream of people
who have been exposed to it.
"The DuPont company
has advised
"the Lubeck Water District
that low concentrations
"have been found
in the district's wells.
"DuPont has advised
the district
"that it is confident
these levels are safe."
What the hell does that mean?
A letter came last fall.
Made no sense to me,
so I started making calls.
I told Joe don't
kick that hornet's nest.
It's not like we didn't know
what we'd signed up for.
What do you mean?
Oh, I was married
before Joe
to a chemist
at DuPont.
Dream job.
Paid real well.
And the perks!
Presents for no reason.
We'd get this catalogue.
Just pick whatever you want.
And little stuff.
Like he'd bring home
this soap,
this miracle powder.
You puttin the washing
machine or the dishwasher,
just wipes stuff clean
like you would not believe.
One day he comes home
and says,
"Can't bring that stuff
home no more."
"Why?" Won't tell me.
Then he'd get sick
for weeks.
The Teflon flu,
the guys would call it.
We knew
something wasn't right.
But this house,
we bought it just by
showing the bank
my husband's DuPont ID.
Put both our kids
through college. Engineers.
In this town,
that doesn't come without a price.
My brother Kenny
didn't know that price.
He joined DuPont at 19.
Died on the operating table
two years later.
- Ulcerative colitis.
- Just like Dan Schiller had.
Who's Dan?
A chemist at DuPont.
Worked with my ex-husband.
And Roger,
what's his name?
Wilkins,
the foreman.
Steven Gellar.
Randy Field.
Randy's was kidney cancer.
He survived.
- His wife didn't.
- No, June's was thyroid.
It was supposed
to be treatable.
They didn't catch it
in time.
But they caught it
in their son.
Were your children
born healthy?
- Yes. Yes, they were.
- Good.
But we wanted
a third and couldn't.
I went to my doctor.
He says, "You need a hysterectomy.
You need it right away."
I'm so sorry.
Bad luck, I guess.
I was 36.
Mr. Kiger,
you think I could get
a copy of that letter?
What's wrong
with your hand?
Nothing. It's fine.
Whoa, Rob?
Rob, what are you doing?
I mean, it's not enough
to poison these people?
They gotta swindle them too?
Okay, calm down. All right?
DuPont wrote that letter!
- Not the water authority.
- How do you know that?
You think I don't know what a
DuPont letter looks like by now?
Okay. Okay.
I mean, Jesus!
It's evil, Sarah.
It's fucking evil!
What's fack?
Perfect.
It's nothing, sweetie.
It's nothing. Oh, boy.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, honey.
Can you give
Charlie the bottle, please?
- Where's his bottle?
- It's in the bag.
- What is all this?
- It's from Grammer's.
It was left
in her mailbox.
- "Medical claims, now and forever"?
- Here, bud.
- "Now and forever."
- Is that that...
That...
Medical monitoring.
Is that...
I thought you said
that wasn't gonna pass?
- Morning.
- Guys.
Our lead plaintiff
is Mr. Joe Kiger.
Potential plaintiff,
if the partnership approves.
Mr. Joe Kiger,
a Phys Ed teacher
from Parkersburg,
West Virginia.
On behalf of
the 70,000 local residents,
whose water
DuPont knowingly poisoned
for the last 40 years.
A class action?
Let him finish.
The Kigers were notified
by their local water company
that DuPont had found
small concentrations of C-8
in their water supply,
but not to worry
because those concentrations
were safe.
Why?
Because DuPont said so.
This is what DuPont
considers safe.
That's something like
one drop of water
in an Olympic size
swimming pool.
In other words,
even a trace of C-8
renders water unsafe.
But DuPont told
the local water authority,
"Don't worry.
"Your wells have got even
less than that."
- Except that was a lie.
- A lie?
Yes. DuPont has been
secretly testing
these wells for decades.
They knew they had
contaminated those wells
up to six times
that level.
And thanks to the Tennant
case, now we know too.
Hold on. This stuff
is unregulated, right?
I mean, as far as
EPA's concerned,
it might as well
be rose petals.
The EPA hasn't
set a standard, that's true,
but DuPont did.
And all the law requires
to win a case like this,
is to show
that DuPont exceeded
what DuPont itself
considers safe.
Self-regulation.
- If what you're saying is right...
- It is right.
...then why would DuPont tell this
water district anything at all?
Seems to me
that they're being
a good
corporate citizen here.
That's how long
you have to file suit.
One year from the moment
you realize your water's
been contaminated.
This letter looks like it's
telling people their water is safe.
In fact, it's notifying them
that it isn't.
DuPont has started the clock.
Smart.
We would've
counseled that.
It was sent
11 months ago.
The moment they realized
we knew.
In 30 days,
they're home free.
So that's the proposed
case in brief.
But there's something else
to consider.
You think?
Rob.
C-8 bio-accumulates.
It builds up inside of us.
Some class members
who aren't sick today
will get sick tomorrow.
We need a way to protect
them into the future.
Jesus, Tom! If you're even thinking
about using medical monitoring...
Hold on. Hold on.
Medical monitoring
is a claim now permitted
in West Virginia courts.
- Oh, come on.
- Let's hear him out.
It say if a company
exposes a community
to something
that makes them sick,
they must monitor the health
of that community indefinitely.
Everybody get that? You're creating
liability from mere exposure.
It's also unprecedented.
Exactly!
Which is why not six months ago,
we fought tooth and nail
against it.
And you lost.
Our clients have the right
to avail themselves
of the law.
Potential clients.
Okay.
I know you, Rob.
I know your passion.
You got a great settlement
for your farmer.
You should be proud of that.
And perhaps as the newest
partner at this table,
I should be
more circumspect.
But what he's
proposing here is
nothing less
than a shakedown
- of an iconic American company.
- We do not represent DuPont.
No, you don't
represent anyone.
Is this what
we have become?
Plaintiff's attorneys.
Ambulance chasers.
Why don't you just admit it?
Rob, you wanna flip.
You wanna take everything
that you know
about how
chemical companies operate
and turn it against DuPont.
Like an informant.
- That's enough.
- Isn't that right?
- Okay!
- Isn't that right?
- Isn't that right?
- Yes.
Okay, then, I...
I say we take a vote
and determine whether or not
we continue
in the tradition
that has distinguished this
firm from everyone else...
Okay, I'm running
this meeting. Okay?
You got that?
Has anyone even read
the evidence
this man has collected?
The willful negligence,
the corruption?
Read it!
And then tell me we should
be sitting on our asses!
That's the reason
why Americans hate lawyers.
This is the crap that fuels
the Ralph Naders of the world.
We should want
to nail DuPont.
All of us should!
American business is better
than this, gentlemen.
And when it's not,
we should hold them to it.
That's how you build
faith in the system.
We're always arguing
that companies are people.
Well, these people
have crossed the line!
To hell with them!
It may come
as a surprise
to corporate defense types
like yourselves,
but there's more to the law
than just flooding
the other side in papers.
From where I sit,
you have to touch people.
These girls,
they handle the calls
from the
class action members.
And there's thousands of 'em
on any given case.
And it's here that we come
to know their pain.
Isn't that right, Hazel?
Yes. We hear it every day
and it's my job to make
a jury feel that pain.
Not out of pity,
but out of fear.
Whatever it is
that happened to my client,
that juror has to think,
"That could happen to me."
You just
keep hammering it.
One part per billion.
One part per billion.
It's their own documents.
Their own scientists.
Absolutely.
They set that standard,
they have to live with it.
Yeah, I think
we can relax, Rob,
though, there's no way they're gonna
prevail with a motion to dismiss.
This is procedural.
It's nonsense.
We'll get a trial today.
Okay, I'll catch
you guys in there.
I wouldn't drink that.
Earl.
How ya doing?
Still here.
That's somethin',
right?
Yes, that's something.
Good to see ya,
Robbie.
Can't let 'em
shut you down.
I won't. I promise.
Whole world
needs to know.
They will, Earl.
They will.
Hey, Rob? It's time.
I have to go.
We are here
on defendant's motion
to dismiss the case
brought by Mr. Kiger, et al.
Now, which one of you
is Mr. Wallace?
Edward Wallace,
Your Honor,
on behalf of the E.I.
DuPont de Nemours and Company,
better known as DuPont.
Yes, I've heard of it.
- Your motion.
- Thank you.
Your Honor, we're here today because
of a uniquely American invention.
Teflon.
Since 1961, Teflon
has liberated housewives...
- No, no, no.
- Excuse me. Homemakers...
This is a courtroom,
Mr. Wallace.
Not the Home Shopping Network.
Plaintiffs have alleged
that DuPont
did not meet
its own standard of safety
with regard to
the level of C-8
in the local water supply.
That's irrelevant,
Your Honor.
We ask you to dismiss
on grounds
that the only standard
that matters,
is the one that elected
government deems safe.
Not if it's unregulated.
It's government's job
to make these determinations.
- Not any one company.
- It's a trap.
They can't revert
back to...
I got it.
Is there a problem,
Mr. Deitzler?
Apologies, Your Honor,
but DuPont has been hiding
the dangers of this chemical
from the government
for a while now.
And they're asking you
to let them off the hook
because they've succeeded
in their strategy.
Government doesn't
regulate C-8.
Actually,
that's not true.
No, no.
The West Virginia's
C-8 Working Group
has just issued
a standard.
Here with us today,
is the governmental official
who led that effort,
Dr. Mary Sue Kimball.
And, Dr. Kimball,
as a senior member
of the State's Department
of Environmental Protection,
isn't it, in fact,
your duty,
- to protect the citizens of West Virginia...
- Mr. Wallace.
I'll cut to the chase.
What is the level of C-8
in drinking water
that the State
of West Virginia
has determined to be
completely safe?
Watch it go from one
part per billion to?
- Five.
- Ten?
150 parts per billion.
- Welcome to West Virginia.
- The levels found in the wells
of all six water districts
represented in this suit,
do they fall below
this maximum level?
Well below.
Nothing else, Your Honor.
Your witness,
Mr. Deitzler.
Wait. Who's on
the working group?
DuPont, of course,
and who else?
- Who did the water testing?
- Mr. Deitzler?
- When was it done?
- One moment, Judge.
What was
the sample size?
We should
be able to see...
Going once, going twice...
Dr. Kimball, who were
the members of this cabal
you call the C-8
working group?
Objection.
Cool it, Mr. Deitzler.
Go ahead, Dr. Kimball.
Agency officials,
representatives of the scientific
community, um, stakeholders.
Stakeholders?
Which stakeholders?
Oh, wait, let me guess.
It rhymes with bouffant?
DuPont is a stakeholder. Yes.
So, I see.
So, don't you find it peculiar
that on the eve
of a class action lawsuit,
where DuPont might be
considered liable
for poisoning this community,
they get you
to come in here suddenly
and reverse decades of their
so-called heralded science?
That's false.
I don't work for DuPont.
I didn't say you did.
But now you bring it up,
we'll check back in a month.
- Your Honor...
- You honestly, was gonna plan on
telling this community that they
can drink 150 times more C-8?
I mean, come on,
people, bottoms up.
Honestly, Judge...
All right,
Mr. Deitzler, enough.
We'll be unveiling
the new standard
at an upcoming
public hearing.
Unveiling. Oh,
that sounds like a party.
We'll be there!
Their safety standards thing,
that's all a sham.
Thanks to
the Judge's decision,
we will have our day
in court.
Yes, we will!
Because if the state
of West Virginia
won't stop
the DuPont Corporation
from literally
poisoning its citizens,
then we, the citizens,
will stop them ourselves.
Good
evening and welcome to 20/20.
Well, it coats the pots you cook
with so the food doesn't stick.
It protects the carpet
your baby crawls on.
I miss carpet.
...your skin lotion,
even your makeup.
We're talking about Teflon.
And tonight our 20/20
investigation uncovers
alarming information about
this much-used material.
It is very alarming, Barbara.
I cook with Teflon.
I didn't know until I watched this
report that you're about to see,
that if Teflon
gets hot enough...
...millions of people
have in their homes.
Teflon has become
such a familiar...
...Substance that is also used in
clothing and cars. Even in contact lenses.
...already found in the blood
of most Americans.
...millions of homes across
Australia. Teflon, a non-stick surface...
The
Environmental Protection Agency
this morning announced it has opened
a priority review of the chemical C-8,
currently the subject
of a class action lawsuit
against the chemical giant
DuPont.
Joe!
Joe! Oh, my Lord!
Joe, just wait!
Wait for the fire department,
please, honey!
Please don't go crazy!
...have triggered a
mass panic amongst Chinese consumers.
...just throw away
your non-stick pans, many experts...
Are your pans
making you sick?
That's the question
being asked...
...kitchen
implements coated in Teflon.
The house was empty.
It belongs to my father.
I don't know
how it could've started.
His name Kiger?
Think someone might have
got the wrong house?
All of this
hullabaloo is just silly.
Teflon is completely safe
for cooking.
That is why we founded
the Cook Healthy campaign,
to set the record straight.
And besides being completely safe, it is also...
Copy that.
All the way down.
We're now on the record.
This is the videotaped deposition
of Charles O. Holliday, Jr.,
taken by the plaintiffs in
the matter of Kiger et al
v. the E.I. DuPont
de Nemours and Company.
Raise your right hand.
Do you swear to tell the whole
truth and nothing but the truth?
I do.
Uh, please state
your name.
Charles O. Holliday, Jr.
And are you
presently employed?
Yes.
What is your position?
I'm the chairman and chief executive
officer of the DuPont Company.
In DuPont's most recent filing with
the Securities and Exchange Commission,
you state, "Based on over 50
years of industry experience
"and extensive
scientific study,
"DuPont believes there is
no evidence that PFOA causes
"any adverse human health effects
or harms the environment."
You signed
that legal filing, correct?
I don't recall the exact statement,
but that sounds right to me.
Are you aware that DuPont
has, in its own files,
studies dating back to the 1970s
that say just the opposite?
That PFOA, or C-8,
as it's called,
has potentially life-threatening
effects on human health?
I'm not familiar with the exact
studies we may have in our files.
Then I'll take you through them.
Uh, Exhibit 9.
Uh, you were just
handed Exhibit 9.
- Uh, do you see the date March 13th, 1979?
- Yes.
- Do you see the DuPont logo at the top?
- Yes.
- Do you see this word here, highlighted?
- Yes.
- Would you read it for me, please?
- "Receptors."
Do you know what that word refers
to, receptors?
Um, in this context,
I do not.
It means human beings.
DuPont refers
to the men and women
that your company
exposed to C-8 as receptors.
And in these receptors,
your scientists found,
"significantly higher
incidents of allergic endocrine
"and metabolic disorders."
As well as, "excess risk of
developing liver disease."
- Do you see that?
- Yes.
Moreover, you have
infertility at Teflon.
Occurrences of leukemia.
You have excess of cancers.
Bladder, kidney,
oral, pharynx.
Next paragraph. 78.
Do you see that heading?
Do you see that date? Do you see that?
Exhibit 96. Exhibit 53.
I'd like to move on
to birth defects.
We've gone
almost seven hours.
Mr. Holliday, you're aware
that in 1981
3M notified DuPont that it
had conducted studies on rats.
And these studies showed
that sustained C-8 exposure
can cause facial deformities?
I'm not aware
of a study by 3M.
How about DuPont's own studies that
showed the same thing in humans?
That's DuPont's
pregnancy study from 1981.
Does that look like
a DuPont document to you?
It looks to be.
Are you aware that DuPont has
denied that any such study
ever even took place?
I'm not familiar with specific
statements we've made about that.
Seven pregnant women,
all DuPont employees,
all from the Teflon line.
Do you see this here?
"Child, four months,
one nostril,
- "eye defect."
- Yes.
Two of the seven women,
nearly 30%, gave birth
to babies that had the exact facial
deformities that your company
- already knew about.
- We're done here.
Sir.
His parents named him Bucky.
Bucky Bailey.
This is your receptor.
Now we're done.
The Environmental Protection
Agency has levied the largest fine
in agency history against
the chemical giant, DuPont.
The EPA concluded the company failed
to report the health dangers of C-8
used in the manufacture
of Teflon.
Dupont will pay the EPA
16.5 million.
It earns a billion dollars in
profits from Teflon each year.
To recap,
we've agreed that DuPont will
clean local water supplies.
Install infiltration systems
in all six water districts.
Additionally, DuPont will pay
70 million in cash to the Class.
Three days' revenue
on the Teflon line.
Which leaves our most
challenging issue. Medical monitoring.
We've agreed to establish
an independent science panel
comprised of three scientists who
have no relationship to either side.
This independent panel will
study the members of this Class
to determine whether C-8 exposure
has led to increased incidents
of disease in this region.
If the panel finds that there
are probable scientific links
to a particular disease,
the health of everyone in the Class
will be monitored for
that disease in perpetuity
at DuPont's cost,
up to 235 million.
And any Class member
who develops that disease
can sue DuPont for damages.
However...
If the science panel fails to
establish probable scientific links,
then this case is over.
No monitoring.
No lawsuits. No exceptions.
Good. Well, gentlemen, you are now
officially in the hands of science.
Well, wouldn't have
pegged you as a Mai Tai guy.
- It's festive.
- Wouldn't have pegged you for that either.
We have something to celebrate.
Yeah?
Do we?
Look, how do we know
that the panel's gonna prove
that DuPont made
all these people sick?
I'm no scientist,
but even I know you'd need
huge amounts of medical data,
not to mention
thousands of blood samples
and...
From people
who don't trust us.
"Hey, folks, we wanna stick you with
some needles. You won't mind, will ya?"
I know these people,
you know.
They're gonna
take the money and run.
Wouldn't you?
I think they want more than just the money.
I think they...
They wanna know if they're
gonna get sick or not.
Or if they have C-8 in their
blood, and what that's gonna do
to them and their families.
So, we're just gonna trust
that they show up?
- Trust, but verify.
- What does that mean, Rob?
Well, come in for an exam.
Um, give us a blood sample.
Then, we'll give you
your check.
On second thought,
make mine a Mai Tai.
All around, please.
- Rob Bilott.
- Yeah.
Where'd you pull that out of?
Healthy drinking
water is vital to all of us.
That's why scientists need
to know if the chemical C-8
causes any health problems.
Starting today, you can help by completing
a health questionnaire and having...
Oh, come on!
...medical van's downtown.
Well, how about you?
- You gonna get your blood tested?
- Nah. I hate needles.
It's $400, buddy.
Really?
Got your attention, didn't I?
Okay. Okay.
All right. All right.
Yeah. That'll work.
We bring them back here.
Draw the blood,
hand them a check.
- $400?
- Each.
Lots of money around here.
How many you brought
with you today, Miss LUAnn?
My husband,
and my three kids, and me.
$2,000.
- Not too shabby right before Christmas.
- Yup.
But you ain't
gonna find nothing.
DuPont's good people.
You'll see.
Gigi, Gigi, Gigi!
It's your turn to put
the angel on the top.
- You do it, sweetie.
- Gigi's too pooped.
Why don't you get your Uncle
Ben to give you a boost?
- Ooh.
- Mom, you okay?
Yeah.
Seriously, it's huge.
They're gonna be making you
partner this year. I know it.
Well, they'd better.
I mean...
Mommy, come see!
Hey, baby,
did you hang that ornament?
- Rob, can you get that?
- Let me see.
Okay, I'm coming.
Hello?
- Rob, you sitting down for this?
- Larry, what's wrong?
- Sixty-nine thousand.
- Sixty-nine thousand what?
Sixty-nine thousand people got tested.
Sixty-nine thousand!
Do you realize
how much data this is?
It's what we needed, Rob!
This is it!
- Oh, my God.
- You were right all along, my friend.
- Merry Christmas!
- Thank you!
- You bet.
- Thank you!
Talk real soon.
- Hey, who was that?
- You won't believe it.
- Daddy, guess what I just did?
- What? What'd you just do?
I put the angel on the top.
- Yeah?
- Uncle Ben lifted me.
He did? Like this? Oh!
- Merry Christmas, everyone!
- Merry Christmas!
We are gathered here today
in the memory of Wilbur Earl Tennant.
"The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
"He makes me lie down
in green pastures.
"He leads me besides still waters.
He restoreth my soul.
"Even though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death,
"I will fear no evil..."
Quick, everybody.
Mustard or ketchup?
Teddy, for the tenth
time, that's my ketchup.
- Charlie, don't start.
- What? It's mine. I got it.
- He's got his own, okay?
- You're that lawyer.
Finish up.
My brother's Dale Lamb. You took his blood.
Said you'd help him.
Yeah, I did. We're...
We're working on it. I promise.
He's dead.
Testicular cancer.
Left three little boys
younger than yours.
But you enjoy your family.
Okay. Everybody up.
- I'm not finished.
- I said up.
Well, Darlene can't even leave
the house without being harassed!
First, they blame us
for suing DuPont,
and now they hate on us 'cause
they ain't seen nothing from it!
- I'm sorry, Joe...
- Well, that ain't good enough!
And they wonder why in the
hell it takes four damn years
to read a lousy blood sample,
and I don't blame 'em!
We trusted you, Rob.
We put our faith in you.
- I know, Joe. I'm so...
- All right?
Isn't there just some
kind of a progress report?
Anything that I can
share with these folks?
I mean, they...
They have been waiting.
I'm sorry, Mr. Bilott.
The Panel is still
in the process of
analyzing complex data
and modeling
from thousands of samples
and medical histories.
I'm so sorry. Could you hold a moment?
Charlie,
don't pick at your food.
What's a hooker?
Where did you learn that?
He told me that
Mary Magdalene was a hooker.
- What? She was.
- You're supposed to say prostitute.
And then
she found God
and became one of Jesus's
most fervent disciples.
See? I was just
teaching him the Bible.
I can't today.
So everybody up.
Everybody up!
- Can we still afford it?
- What?
Catholic school.
My brother's back in rehab.
Did you know that?
- No, I'm sorry.
- Today's...
Today's Mom's first day
at chemo.
I forgot.
'Cause it's not
about your case, Rob.
Car!
- Gosh.
- Okay. Jimmies.
Teddy forged my signature,
and Tony's quitting football. Tony.
But how would you
know about that, right?
Because all you see,
all that you...
You... The boys have ever seen is
you, obsessing about this...
Have I ever complained?
Say something,
for God's sakes, Rob!
- No.
- No?
- No.
- No.
Because I knew that
you needed something.
Some connection...
Something.
And...
So I took it on.
But if you want to start accounting,
if you want to start with,
"Oh, can we afford," then...
I don't know, Rob.
Can the boys afford a father who
can't string two words together?
Can our marriage
afford 13 years of...
Thirteen years of this?
How about it, Rob? You wanna talk about it?
About our lives?
Of course not.
I'll tell Mom
you asked about her.
What in God's name is that Panel
doing? Why are we still getting bills?
Overhead. Uh...
Local counsel.
- Harry's call center...
- $1,000 an hour.
That... That was
a technical expert.
We needed to do filings when DuPont
started lobbying Washington...
That's Washington's problem,
not ours.
That's why you got them involved.
Your memo.
It was just a fine, Tom.
It's a fine. Sixteen million.
It's... It's nothing for these people.
It's pocket change.
Yes, but if they get charged with
criminal concealment, game over.
- You said DOJ was investigating.
- Not anymore.
- What?
- They dropped the investigation.
- They dropped... What?
- They dropped it. No reason given.
Tom, our government is
captive to DuPont.
This case,
it's the only hope we have.
They know that, and they're
trying to make it as expensive
as they can to force you
to make me stop.
- Just tell me how much longer.
- I...
I... I can't.
I... wish I could.
- Tom, I...
- Are you okay?
Um, I'm fine. I'm just...
Rob, I'm a Managing Partner
now. I have a firm to run.
I know. And Tom, I think there
could be a huge payout here...
You think
I'm in this for money?
- No, I...
- You think I am...
Letting you drag this firm's
reputation through a meat grinder
for some kind of
plaintiff's payoff?
I... I don't know why you're doing it.
Rob, listen, I... I'm sorry,
but you're gonna have to
take another pay cut.
Tom, that's...
That's my fourth pay cut.
I... I'm down
to a third now.
You don't have any clients.
No one will take your calls.
What am I supposed to do here?
Now, I'm on your side, but...
Rob?
Amy? Amy!
- Kathleen!
- Get some help!
- Kathleen!
- Get some help!
Rob! Rob!
Looks like
we should, uh, cancel
my 4:00 with Jerry and...
I don't know.
We're waiting to find out.
It was, uh...
Make... Make sure that,
uh, Jerry knows that...
I... I have to go.
- Mrs. Bilott?
- Yes.
We think your husband's
most likely experienced a TIA.
A transient ischemic attack.
Blood is briefly cut off to the brain,
mimicking the symptoms of a stroke.
Uh, excuse me. A TIA?
This wasn't short.
It... It kept going on.
What about poison?
I'm sorry?
Could someone
be poisoning him?
No, Mrs. Bilott.
This is neurological.
You just said
it wasn't a stroke.
Well, not this time.
- What does that mean?
- Well, it means that
- he needs to never miss his medication.
- Mmm-hmm.
And needs to reduce all
sources of stress in his life.
He's under
enormous pressure at work.
Well, that needs to change.
But he's a young man.
He shouldn't be
having these incidences.
He's sedated, but
you can see him.
- I'll check in on him tomorrow.
- Thank you. Thank you.
I'll give you
some privacy.
Anything you
need, call me.
I need you to stop making
him feel like a failure.
I appreciate the stress that your
family must be going through.
Please don't talk to
me like I'm the wife.
Did Rob ever tell you about
moving around as a kid?
I...
Ten times before
senior year.
No friends,
no ties, no...
Just him, his sister,
his folks.
Then I came along and
you came along and...
Taft, it's not
just a job.
To him it's...
It's home.
And he was willing
to risk all that
for a stranger who
needed his help.
Now, you and I may
not know what that is,
but it's not failure.
Lord, you have
searched my heart
And you
know when I sit and when I stand
Your hand is upon me
Protecting me from death
Keeping me from harm
Oh, Lord, I know
you are near
Standing always at
My side
Hey, do you
know the score?
The game? Sorry,
my radio's busted.
Sorry.
Don't worry about it.
It'll be a surprise.
Bucky, come on.
We'll be late.
Have a good one.
Hey,
Rob, Bill Leary. We haven't met.
I'm the new comptroller
out of Indianapolis.
Listen, we need to talk about these
unbilled hours and these unreimbursed...
- Hello?
- Mr. Bilott?
Yes?
I guess I should start
by apologizing for taking...
well, seven years to call you.
- Who is this?
- Oh, yes, of course.
- It's Dr. Karen Frank from the...
- Science Panel?
Again, I'm so sorry to have kept
you waiting this long, Mr. Bilott.
- But there was just so much data...
- Please, Doctor, please,
can you...
Would just please
tell me what's happened?
What's happening?
What you've found out?
Yes. You gave us an
unprecedented amount of data.
The largest epidemiological
study in human history.
It's irrefutable.
We have linked sustained exposure to C-8
to six categories of
serious illness.
Kidney cancer,
testicular cancer...
thyroid disease,
preeclampsia...
high cholesterol,
ulcerative colitis.
3,635 people in the Class
already have these diseases.
Many more will
develop them.
Thanks to you the entire
Class will be monitored...
and those who get sick
can seek restitution.
You did a good thing here,
Mr. Bilott. You did good.
Thank you.
Rob? What happened?
Rob?
DuPont, they're
reneging.
- Which part?
- All of it.
They're tearing up
our agreement.
Rejecting the
Science Panel.
They're gonna fight
every claim in court.
Thousands of claims.
People, sick people, they'll give up.
They can't
fight DuPont!
How can they
go back on...
- Sarah.
- They can't go back on everything.
They're a titan
of industry.
They can do whatever
the hell they want.
Nothing else matters.
They can fight
you all they want.
It doesn't take away
from what you've done!
Of course, it does.
That's exactly what it does!
They want to show the world
that it's no use fighting.
Look, everybody,
even he can't crack the maze
and he's helped
build it!
The system is rigged!
They want us to think
it'll protect us,
but that's a lie.
We protect us. We do.
Nobody else.
Not the companies.
Not the scientists.
Not the government. Us.
A farmer with a 12th grade
education told me that.
On day one, he knew
and I thought he was crazy.
Isn't that crazy?
No.
All rise.
The honorable Timothy Burg...
United States District Judge for the
Southern District of Ohio presiding.
This court is now in session
pursuant to the adjournment.
Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye.
All persons having business
with this honorable court
draw near, give their attention
and they shall be heard.
God save the United States
and this honorable court.
Please be seated.
And we're here this
morning for a jury trial.
So, 3,535 claims.
At a rate of four
or five cases a year,
we can all expect
to be here till...
Well, the year 2890.
If we're lucky.
Guess we'd better
get started.
Mrs. Johnson, is your
attorney present?
Good morning, Your Honor.
Rob Bilott for the plaintiff.
Oh, still here, huh?
Still here.