NC State moves to dismiss Poe Hall lawsuit

A major legal development in the ongoing case tied to alleged contamination at NC State’s Poe Hall.

Just weeks after a group of former students, faculty and staff filed a lawsuit against the university, alleging they developed breast cancer after years of exposure to toxic PCB chemicals, NC State is now asking a judge to throw the case out.

NC State seeks to block Poe Hall lawsuit from moving forward

In a new court filing, the university argues the lawsuit should be dismissed entirely, saying it does not meet the legal standard for a constitutional claim.

Instead, NC State says the allegations amount to negligence, not violations of constitutional rights, as the lawsuit claims.

Families sue over Poe Hall in January

Rather than filing a traditional negligence case, the plaintiffs brought what’s known as a direct constitutional claim, arguing NC State’s alleged failure to act amounted to “deliberate indifference” and violated their fundamental rights under the North Carolina Constitution.

The lawsuit claims the university, as a state entity, had a duty to protect people’s bodily integrity, and that the alleged exposure to toxic chemicals “shocks the conscience.”

NC State challenges Poe Hall lawsuit

But NC State argues the case is also being filed in the wrong place.

According to the motion, claims like these should be handled through workers’ compensation or the State Tort Claims Act, typically through the Industrial Commission, not in Superior Court. The university says those are the proper legal avenues for injury claims involving a state agency.

Because of that, NC State is asking the court to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled in this court.

Motion is one of several recent legal filings tied to alleged PCB exposure inside Poe Hall

This marks the latest development in a case that continues to unfold, as plaintiffs push for accountability, and the university works to limit how those claims proceed.

Additional litigation is currently pending in court, including lawsuits filed against PCB manufacturer Monsanto. Both the University and a group of people who worked or studied in Poe Hall and later became sick have filed separate lawsuits against Monsanto’s parent company Bayer.

Attorneys working on behalf of the plaintiffs told WRAL News:

NCSU’s opposition to the efforts of faculty, students, and staff to have their day in Court over exposure to toxic PCB’s is not surprising and consistent with their past legal challenge trying to prevent independent testing of Poe Hall. It is interesting that NCSU has sued Monsanto alleging Poe Hall is toxic from PCB contamination and seeks money to build a new building but opposes compensating their own faculty and students who became ill from the same toxic exposure. We look forward to having these issues determined by impartial judges and impartial juries and will address NCSU’s motion to dismiss at that time  

WRAL News has also reached out to NC State’s communications team for comment.