Singleton Schreiber Secures Major Victory in New Hampshire Supreme Court on Behalf of Homeowners in PFOA Contamination Suit
Concord, NH – In a significant appellate decision, the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled in favor of Amherst homeowners in Hermens v. Textiles Coated Incorporated, Case No. 2024-0189, allowing property damage claims against Textiles Coated Incorporated (TCI) to proceed, despite the earlier dismissal of a related medical monitoring suit.
In a unanimous decision issued May 30, 2025, the Court rejected efforts by TCI to use a prior dismissal of medical monitoring claims to preclude a separate lawsuit seeking property damages for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination. The plaintiffs allege that TCI’s releases of toxic PFOA from its Amherst manufacturing facility resulted in widespread PFOA contamination of properties and private wells in the surrounding residential area, causing diminution in value, loss of use and enjoyment, inconvenience, annoyance and discomfort.
TCI argued that the dismissal of an earlier medical monitoring case barred the current property damage claims under the doctrine of res judicata. The New Hampshire Supreme Court decisively disagreed, holding that the two lawsuits involved distinct legal claims and different class definitions, and that precluding the property claims would be inconsistent with justice and judicial efficiency.
“This ruling affirms that distinct claims arising from the same incident should be evaluated on their own legal merits,” the Court wrote. “The application of res judicata under these unique circumstances would not support the public policy favoring certainty in legal relations or judicial efficiency.”
The decision affirms the Hillsborough County Superior Court’s denial of TCI’s motion for summary judgment and allows the property damage claims to proceed.
In addition to Kevin S. Hannon, partner at Singleton Schreiber, the plaintiffs and the class are represented by John A. Yanchunis of Morgan & Morgan, and Gottesman & Hollis.
About Singleton Schreiber
Singleton Schreiber is a client-centered law firm, specializing in mass torts/multi-district litigation, fire litigation, personal injury/wrongful death, civil rights, environmental law, insurance bad faith, and sex abuse/trafficking. Over the last decade, the firm has recovered more than $3 billion for clients who have been harmed and sought justice. The firm also has the largest fire litigation practice in the country, having represented over 26,000 victims of wildfire, most notably serving plaintiffs in litigation related to the 2025 Eaton and Hurst Fires, 2025 Moss Landing Battery Plant Fire, 2023 Maui wildfires, the Colorado Marshall wildfire, the Washington Gray wildfire, several California wildfires, and others.
