A tragedy happens.
asserted
tragedy → happen → ?
People get hurt.
asserted
People → hurt → ?
Lives are lost.
asserted
Lives → lose → ?
Then the lawyers start looking around the room.
asserted
lawyers → start → room
Who can be held responsible?
asserted
Who → hold → ?
That question sits at the center of a growing problem in American civil litigation.
asserted
question → sit → litigation
There’s nothing wrong with holding people and companies accountable when they actually cause harm.
asserted
they → ’ → harm
That’s what the justice system is supposed to do.
asserted
system → ’ → what
But stretching legal theories to pull additional companies into a case because they have deeper pockets makes justice into a business model.
asserted
they → stretch → model
Three people were killed, and hundreds of nearby homes and businesses were damaged.
asserted
hundreds → kill → homes
The victims deserve justice, and any company whose negligence caused the explosion should be held accountable.
asserted
negligence → deserve → explosion
But determining that responsibility begins with a simple question: Who controlled the danger?
asserted
Who → determine → danger
That question is central to the litigation, which involves not only WGM but Detcon and its former parent company, 3M. Detcon supplied and serviced gas-detection equipment at the facility, but Watson Grinding operated the plant.
asserted
Grinding → involve → plant
It controlled the workers, equipment, fuel, maintenance, safety procedures, and, ultimately, whether the facility continued operating despite known hazards.
asserted
facility → control → hazards
According to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, a worn hose separated and released combustible propylene gas.
uncertain
hose → accord → gas
A manual gas-isolation valve was left open.
asserted
valve → leave → ?
The gas detection system had been disconnected from controls designed to trigger alarms, ventilation, and automatic shutoffs.
asserted
system → disconnect → alarms
Even more troubling, concerns about the detection system had been raised in 2013, 2016, and 2019, along with a similar propylene explosion in 2008 that should’ve raised caution.
asserted
that → raise → caution
If you own a factory, you are responsible for operating it safely.
asserted
you → own → it
And yes, if a supplier knows about a dangerous problem and fails to warn its customer, that matters.
asserted
that → know → customer
But warning someone about a dangerous condition is not the same thing as having control over what they do about it.
asserted
they → warn → it
If they tell you your brakes are shot, and you ignore them, drive another 10,000 miles, and crash, nobody would reasonably argue that the mechanic should have been sitting in your driveway every morning to make sure you didn’t drive.
asserted
you → tell → driveway
Yet that basic distinction gets complicated when a tragedy leaves victims with devastating losses and the company most directly responsible is bankrupt.
asserted
company → complicate → losses
WGM’s bankruptcy has complicated efforts to recover damages, increasing the incentive to pursue solvent co-defendants such as Detcon and 3M.
asserted
bankruptcy → complicate → Detcon
But a company’s ability to pay is not evidence that it caused the harm, and the need to compensate victims
asserted
it → pay → victims
cannot make it so.
asserted
it → make → ?
Modern mass-tort litigation has gained power in America.
asserted
litigation → gain → America
Despite the merits of individual claims, the financial incentive to find the next enormous mass-tort case is hardly a mystery when billions of dollars can be on the line.
uncertain
billions → find → line
And when lawyers push liability beyond the conduct a company actually controlled, everyone eventually gets a bill.
asserted
everyone → push → bill
That’s the tort tax: higher insurance premiums, higher prices, more money spent on lawyers and businesses deciding that certain products, services, or investments simply aren’t worth the risk.
asserted
products → spend → ?
Tort costs reached an estimated $529 billion in 2022, while research has found that excessive litigation contributes to higher prices for households and businesses, including in areas such as prescription drugs, home insurance, and health insurance.
asserted
litigation → reach → drugs
That is why the Watson case matters beyond the parties involved.
asserted
case → involve → parties
Companies routinely hire specialists to inspect equipment, calibrate systems, and identify problems.
asserted
Companies → hire → problems
That doesn’t make them responsible for the company’s safety and operations writ large.
asserted
them → make → safety
If a contractor’s limited assignment can eventually become an unlimited duty to make sure a customer obeys every warning, businesses will have to price that risk into everything they do.
asserted
they → become → everything
Some will charge more.
asserted
Some → charge → more
Some will demand broader insurance coverage.
asserted
Some → demand → coverage
Some will simply walk away from risky customers.
asserted
Some → walk → customers
And consumers will pay for it.
asserted
consumers → pay → it
The fact is, costs don’t stay in the courtroom.
asserted
costs → stay → courtroom
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
