Chemours shares plunge as court rules for $5m compensation

Columbus, Ohio – Chemours Co. shares plunged 22 percent on 6 July, as a jury in Ohio determined that DuPont was liable for $5.1-million (€4.5 million) compensatory damages to a man with testicular cancer.

David Freeman had claimed that DuPont knowingly dumped toxic perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), used to make Teflon, in local waterways near where he lived.

Chemours said in a statement on the same day that the ruling had been appealed.

Chemours inherited DuPont’s Teflon brand fluoropolymer resins and other flouropolymers, including Viton fluoroelastomers in a spin-off last year

The new company is now facing 3,500 lawsuits from residents who say they contracted diseases linked to PFOA.

All claims, said Chemours’ statement, will be evaluated on an individual basis due to the unique facts present in each case.

This, it added, could take place over many years and interim results do not predict the final outcome of cases.

Indicating that it would challenge its responsibility for damages, Chemours stated that: "DuPont is the named defendant in each of these cases and is directly liable for any judgement.

“In the event, DuPont claims that it is entitled to indemnification from Chemours as to some or all of the judgment, Chemours retains its defences to such claims."