Wolfson Calls Plaintiffs' Push for Woman Talc Master 'Troubling'
A federal judge who appointed two women to head the talcum powder litigation in New Jersey has called their recent objection to her appointment of a special master "troubling" because it focused on gender.
August 29, 2017 at 01:38 PM
5 minute read
A federal judge who appointed two women to lead the plaintiffs' team in nationwide talcum powder litigation in New Jersey has called their recent objection to her appointment of a special master “troubling” because it focused on gender.
“The suggestion that gender should play a role in the selection of a special master is completely without merit,” U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson wrote in an Aug. 18 letter confirming the appointment of retired U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano as special master in more than 2,000 cases alleging Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products caused women to get ovarian cancer. Pisano, who served as a U.S. district judge in New Jersey from 2000 to 2015, is now counsel at Newark-based Walsh Pizzi O'Reilly Falanga.
Leigh O'Dell and Michelle Parfitt, who were named in December to head the talcum powder litigation, had suggested the names of three former judges, all of whom are women, to serve as special master instead of Pisano “because this multidistrict litigation involves such a significant and serious women's public health issue,” according to Wolfson's letter.
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