AFFF Lawsuit Settlement Amounts | September 2024

You may be eligible for financial compensation from manufacturers if you used Aqueous Film-Form Foam (AFFF) as a service member or firefighter. Pursuing damages holds manufacturers accountable since they knew or should have known AFFF’s cancer-causing properties.

But you may also wonder how much you can receive in an AFFF lawsuit settlement. This overview addresses this question by offering information on settlements and payouts.

Qualify for AFFF Compensation? Find Out Now

AFFF Lawsuit Payouts & Settlements

Affected communities and individuals have initiated lawsuits and legal actions against AFFF manufacturers and users. Settlement amounts refer to the monetary compensation awarded to plaintiffs or affected parties. These payouts represent the negotiated or court-determined sum that aims to cover various losses, including cleanup costs, medical expenses, property devaluation, and other damages suffered due to AFFF contamination.

How Much Compensation Will I Get if Exposed to AFFF?

AFFF lawsuits divide compensation into tiers:

• Tier 1 (Higher Compensation): Estimated payouts range from $200,000 to $500,000 for individuals with severe medical conditions due to AFFF exposure.

• Tier 2 (Moderate Compensation): The estimated value for Tier 2 cases likely falls between $150,000 and $280,000. These cases involve individuals who experienced health problems linked to AFFF exposure but may not have suffered as severely as Tier 1 plaintiffs.

• Tier 3 (Lower Compensation): Tier 3 cases involve settlement payouts of $75,000 or less. These cases typically cover individuals with less severe health issues or minor health concerns related to AFFF exposure.

Factors Affecting AFFF Lawsuit Settlement Amounts

Your settlement tier depends on the extent of your illness or injuries from AFFF. Some factors that help determine that include:

• Contamination levels: Health impacts often align with high contamination. Those exposed most to AFFF usually show worse health outcomes.

• Health impacts: Prolonged exposure to the forever chemicals in AFFFs often causes cancer. Other AFFF health conditions include ulcers, immune suppression and high cholesterol.

• Environmental damage: Entities and agencies filing for relief may seek compensation for environmental damage and loss.

• Economic loss: Victims of AFFF may no longer be able to work or incur high medical bills. Compensation from the AFFF class action lawsuits can reimburse these expenses.

• Legal bills: Many attorneys represent victims of chemical exposure on contingency, meaning their fees are a percentage of the victim’s damage award. Settlement negotiations can consider these costs.

What Types of Damages Can I Claim?

Damages refer to the impacts you suffered due to AFFF exposure. They can be economic, like medical expenses or lost wages, or noneconomic, which includes pain and suffering. Attorneys (or their experts) assign a monetary value to damages to pursue settlement negotiations.

Damages include:

• Medical expenses: Costs of all medical treatment, including chemotherapy, surgery, doctor visits, prescription medication, and anything else needed to manage a serious illness.

• Lost wages: Serious illness causes people to stop working. Lawsuits may compensate for these lost wages or earning potential. If the victim dies, settlements can also include future support for family members.

• Pain and suffering: Pain and suffering is a broad term covering all the various emotional or psychological issues associated with AFFF exposure, including depression, the pain or discomfort of surgeries/chemotherapy, and more.

• Loss of enjoyment of life: Many health issues associated with AFFF exposure diminish the quality of your life. For example, pregnancy issues caused by PFAS may leave you unable to achieve your life goal of starting a family.

• Loss of consortium: If you lose a spouse or significant other due to an AFFF illness, you can sue for loss of consortium, which compensates you for your grief and lost companion. 

• Funeral costs: Families pursuing a claim for a dead loved one can request damages that cover burial or creation.

Settlement Amounts for AFFF Firefoam Lawsuits

So far, no settlement amounts are publicly available. Many corporations require victims to sign nondisclosure agreements, so other victims don’t expect the same amount. If a global settlement pays victims by the tiers listed above, there will likely be a public announcement of that amount.

When will AFFF Lawsuits be Settled?

A settlement depends on when you file your case and the court calendar. It can be nearly impossible to guess when a case will settle. However, current developments in the AFFF multi-district litigation (MDL) give some guidance.

These lawsuits involved firefights exposed to AFFF. In 2021, they became part of an MDL in the District of South Carolina. Some claims settled out of court, and others remain pending.

A status conference on September 13, 2024, will indicate whether the court schedules a bellwether trial or starts assembling a global settlement. Attorneys for the litigants are optimistic that the manufacturers would settle the claims instead of risking costly trials.

So, it is likely that trials or settlements will arise in 2025, about four years after the MDL started. Developments in the MDL are likely to happen fast, so check lawsuit updates frequently.

Are You Eligible to Bring an AFFF Fire Fighting Lawsuit?

If you are a firefighter or service member who used AFFF and developed cancer, you may have a claim against AFFF manufacturers. You must prove your past employment and exposure to AFFF, then provide medical evidence of your illness or injury.

Fortunately, you do not have to manage this ordeal alone. ConsumerShield has a network of attorneys that can help you file an AFFF. Start with a free case review and enforce your legal rights to just compensation.