Richard Friedman: $185M verdict for toxic lights in WA school upheld by states high court

$185M verdict for toxic lights in WA school upheld by state’s high court

Oct. 30, 2025 at 5:57 pm

By Lulu Ramadan

Seattle Times investigative reporter

The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a record-setting payout to three teachers who developed brain damage and other illnesses after being exposed to toxic PCBs at a Monroe school.

In the 6-3 ruling, justices reinstated a $185 million jury award, likely the largest product liability verdict ever upheld in Washington state history. A lower court had sided with Monsanto, the manufacturer of the now-banned chemicals.

The lawsuit was one of several against the company brought by more than 200 students, parents and staff who experienced health problems at Sky Valley Education Center.

“We, as teachers, knew that there was something seriously wrong with the building and it took years to even get people to listen,” Michelle Leahy, one of the three teachers in the case, said in an interview hours after Thursday’s ruling. 

Monsanto said in a statement that it disagrees with the ruling and “is considering options for further legal review of the decision.” The company could ask the state’s highest court to reconsider, or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

“It’s a relief, to say the least,” said Richard Friedman, one of the lawyers representing the Sky Valley plaintiffs. Since 2018, his Seattle-based firm has filed lawsuits on behalf of Sky Valley students, staff and others who said they developed cancers, autoimmune diseases and other illnesses.

Monsanto settled in August with most of the Sky Valley plaintiffs, leaving nine cases active at the time, including Leahy’s. While the exact amount of the settlement wasn’t made public, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, said at the time that it had set aside $618 million for the settlement and litigation costs. 

Eight other cases against Monsanto have been on hold at the appeals level until the state Supreme Court decided Leahy’s case. In a statement, Monsanto said it will continue to appeal the remaining cases. 

Leaking light fixtures

As early as 2014, teachers suspected their symptoms — like cognitive problems and skin cysts — were linked to oily chemicals leaking from fluorescent light fixtures. They reported their concerns for years to Sky Valley’s principal and the Monroe School District, but officials were slow to respond, allowing PCBs to fester, The Seattle Times and ProPublica reported in 2022.

“Who would ever think that the job that you love was making you sick?” Leahy said at the time.

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in various building materials before the federal government banned them in 1979. These chemicals can be found in paint, caulking, ceiling tiles and lights, which usually contain the highest concentrations of PCBs.

Leahy and two other teachers, Kerry Erickson and Joyce Marquardt, went to court in 2021. During a seven-week trial, the three described their failing health to a King County jury. Experts testified about the scientific links between PCBs and illnesses.

The jury sided with the teachers, finding Monsanto liable and delivering one of the largest awards nationwide for individual PCB exposures.

The $185 million judgment included punitive damages, which are generally not allowed in these cases under Washington state law. But Friedman’s firm argued that laws in Missouri, where Monsanto was headquartered, applied instead. 

Leahy, Erickson and Marquardt were each awarded between $15 million and $18 million in compensatory damages, as well as $45 million in punitive damages each. 

Monsanto successfully appealed the case last year, and it eventually made it to the state Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in February before reversing the lower court’s ruling Thursday. 

“We’re really grateful to the court system and to the clients who had the tenacity to stick with this,” Friedman told The Seattle Times.

For Leahy, the battle isn’t over until every school in Washington has been tested for PCBs. “People don’t realize it’s a silent bomb,” she said. 

Following The Seattle Times’ and ProPublica’s reporting, Washington state lawmakers authorized a study of PCBs in schools. Researchers found that more than 2,000 school buildings across the state were constructed before 1980, when PCBs were commonly used in building materials.

PCB testing isn’t mandatory in Washington, but lawmakers have set aside more than $1 million for school districts seeking to proactively remove lights containing PCBs. These fixtures can leak or burst, releasing the toxic chemicals into the air.

Ramadan, Lulu. “$185 M Verdict for Toxic Lights in WA School Upheld by State’s High Court.” The Seattle Times, 31 Oct. 2025.

$185M verdict for toxic lights in WA school upheld by state’s high court | The Seattle Times