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Agent Orange Chemical Companies Shielded from Lawsuits

The U.S. Supreme Court on March 2, 2009 declined to hear any appeal of the federal appellate court rulings against the Vietnam veterans in the Issacson and Stephenson test cases. The Supreme Court justices offered no comment on their action.

As reported elsewhere on this site, the two test cases had been dismissed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York based on their ruling that the chemical companies are shielded from lawsuits brought by U.S. military veterans or their relatives because the law protects government contractors in certain circumstances. From the Second Circuit opinion that was handed down in February 2008, which gave rise to this unsuccessful Supreme Court appeal:

"The court concluded that the 'uniquely federal interest' of 'getting the government's work done' requires that, under some circumstances, independent contractors be protected from tort liability associated with their performance of government procurement contracts."

This legal defense is known as the Military Contractors Doctrine.

It is our understanding, now, that due to this situation any new lawsuit filed by a veteran against the chemical companies responsible for the Agent Orange which they were exposed to in Vietnam would be dismissed. As such, there is no way to get legal compensation for veterans or their families in the court system.

Of course, this is not the outcome we wanted; this outcome, however, was something that we knew was a real possibility and, unfortunately, it has ended up this way.

To each and every Vietnam veteran reading this page, we thank you for serving our country and we wish you the best going forward.