Vietnam Veterans File Agent Orange Class Action Lawsuit Against Dow Chemical and Monsanto - Corporations Deny Liability Despite Evidence

Attorney Victor Yannacone files a class action lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against U.S. chemical manufacturers of Agent Orange, including Dow Chemical Company and Monsanto—the two largest producers—along with Diamond Shamrock, Uniroyal, Thompson Chemicals, Hercules, and dozens of other companies. The lawsuit represents Vietnam veterans suffering severe health problems including cancers, birth defects in their children, and neurological disorders allegedly caused by exposure to the toxic herbicide during military service.

The chemical companies deny any link between Agent Orange and veterans’ medical problems despite growing scientific evidence of dioxin’s toxicity. The manufacturers assert the “government contractor” defense, claiming that because they followed government orders to produce Agent Orange, the government rather than the corporations should be held liable. This legal strategy attempts to shield war profiteers from accountability for products they knew or should have known were dangerous to human health.

The lawsuit exposes the fundamental injustice of the war profiteering system: corporations profit enormously from military contracts during wartime, then evade responsibility for the human costs of their products by claiming they were merely following orders. Dow’s corporate website later states: “The U.S. courts have consistently ruled that Dow and the other manufacturers bear no responsibility for the development and use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, and have dismissed all legal claims to the contrary.” This position ignores the corporations’ role in producing a substance containing dioxin—one of the most toxic chemicals known to science—and their failure to warn users of its dangers or investigate alternatives.