Special Action—Failure to Warn: Help Stop Wyoming Bill To Protect Chemical Companies from Lawsuits [Inactive]

Action Inactive—HB 285 was defeated after the bill failed to move out of committee.
Thank you for taking action! [For Wyoming residents]

Help stop legislation in Wyoming (HB 285) that would shield pesticide manufacturers from being sued by people who have been harmed by their products. Beyond Pesticides is a national grassroots organization that represents community-based organizations and a range of people seeking to improve protections from pesticides and promote alternative pest management strategies that reduce or eliminate a reliance on toxic pesticides.

HB 285 was referred to the House Agriculture Committee on January 28 and was put on the House Agriculture Committee hearing calendar for February 6, 2025. Update—HB 285 was defeated after failing to move out of committee.

If this bill were to pass, it would strike a blow for consumer safety for all toxic products. In a climate where there is less regulation, the ability to sue creates an incentive for manufacturers to develop safer products that protect our health and the environment—not to mention the compensation it provides to those harmed.

Failure-to-warn claims serve as the basis for the overwhelming majority of pesticide injury litigation of the past decade, according to legal professionals, including Brigit Rollins, JD, staff attorney at National Agriculture Law Center. Failure-to-warn is a legal argument grounded in the common law of state court systems across the nation. “Almost every pesticide injury lawsuit filed in the past ten years has included a claim that the pesticide manufacturer failed to warn the plaintiff of the health risks associated with using their product and that such failure caused the plaintiff's injury,” says Ms. Rollins.

Petrochemical-based pesticide manufacturers, predominately German-owned Bayer-Monsanto, are expanding their all-out push from last year, where bills were introduced in Missouri, Iowa, and Idaho. We mobilized last year with little warning, and we were able to defeat these bills. Currently, bills have been introduced in seven states. The focus of these bills is to protect chemical corporations, not people.

>> Please ask your state Representative to OPPOSE HB 285 by clicking here. [Inactive].

Thank you for your active participation and engagement! The Action is a multi-step process, so please click submit to proceed to step two, where you will be able to personalize comments before final submission. The comment maximum limit is 4,000 characters, so it may be necessary to delete some of our prepared message text if editing.

For more information, see our Myths & Facts and Wyoming resource page, as well as the Failure-to-Warn and Pesticide Immunity Bills resource hub.

Letter to the Wyoming House: [Original text from February 8, 2025]

I am writing to ask you to oppose HB 285, "An Act relating to public health and safety; providing standards for a pesticide manufacturer's or seller's duty to warn consumers or the public about pesticide risks as specified," that will shield pesticide manufacturers from being sued by people who have been harmed by their products. The chemical companies have argued unsuccessfully all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court that they should not be required to warn consumers about the dangers of their products. So now they are asking the Wyoming legislature to do what they have not been able to do in the courts—prevent people harmed by toxic products from suing them.

As you may know, HB 285 was referred to the House Agriculture Committee on January 28th. A hearing is scheduled for this committee to discuss the bill on February 6th.

If this bill were to pass, it would strike a blow for consumer and farmer safety for all toxic products. In a climate where there is less regulation, the ability to sue creates an incentive for manufacturers to develop safer products that protect those who use potentially hazardous materials, public safety, and the health of the environment—not to mention the compensation it provides to those harmed.

Petrochemical-based pesticide manufacturers, predominately German-owned Bayer-Monsanto, are expanding their all-out push from last year to at least seven states. The focus of these bills is to protect chemical corporations, not people.

Please oppose HB 285 and ensure that those who are harmed by toxic products are compensated.

Thank you!