Nearly 900 residents of East Palestine have sued the class-action lawyers who handled the $600 million Norfolk Southern settlement, along with Dr. Arch Carson, related PR firms, and Erin Brockovich’s group East Palestine Justice. They accuse them of deliberately hiding data that showed high levels of cancer-causing chemicals in the town’s soil, claiming malice and civil conspiracy.
None of this is surprising, especially when it comes to Erin Brockovich. She is not the environmentalist or feminist star she has been made out to be. Two years ago, The Washington Post visited the California town, Hinkely, Brockovich hails from and the reality of what happened is far different than what the movie about Erin Brockovich’s life was all about. Unfortunately, the town is still in bad shape. But that didn’t deter Brockovich from cashing in.
As it turns out, the law firm where Brockovich worked as a legal clerk, Masry & Vititoe, received $133.6 million from the settlement (equivalent to about $274 million in 2025 dollars). Brockovich herself got $2.5 million of that amount (roughly $5.13 million in 2025 dollars) as her fee. Hinkley residents barely got any of the money.
No doubt when Brockovich and her friends were able to move in to represent East Palestine residents, it was all down hill from there. They merely sought to make money and didn’t give a damn about their clients.
PHOTO CREDIT: Screengrab of the 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio – By National Transportation Safety Board – https://reuters.com/world/us/ohio-carry-out-controlled-release-chemicals-train-derailment-site-2023-02-06 (direct link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128540829
