HKS Authors

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Abstract

For over fifty years, workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) in western Kentucky were exposed to dangerous amounts of toxic radiation - largely without their knowledge. One group of PGDP workers and their families sued the plant's operators under a completely novel theory - that they have suffered asymptomatic damage to their DNA - which was rejected by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Rainer v. Union Carbide Corp. Sen discusses Rainer's factual, legal background and its impact, and highlights some of the problems left unanswered by the Sixth Circuit's opinion.

Citation

Sen, Maya. "Defining the Boundaries of Personal Injury: Rainer v. Union Carbide." Stanford Law Review 58 (February 2006): 1251-1265.