Kristina Baehr
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Kristina Baehr | |
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| Born | Kristina Archena Scurry 1980 or 1981 (age 43–44) |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Known for | Red Hill water crisis litigation |
Kristina Archena Baehr (née Scurry, born 1980 or 1981) is an American trial attorney who specializes in bringing class actions on behalf of people who allege they were poisoned by environmental toxins. She has brought several lawsuits representing victims of the Red Hill water crisis at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on Oahu.[1]
Early life, education and career
[edit]Kristina Scurry was born to Pamela M. Scurry and Richardson G. Scurry Jr.; her father worked for an investment firm in Purchase, New York, and co-founded the Bible Literacy Project. She graduated from Princeton University and Yale Law School. At Yale, she authored a law review comment that examined the effect of mandatory minimum sentencing of sex crimes in South African criminal law.[2] She argued that the existing structure favored judicial consideration of mitigating factors and should be replaced with a framework centered on aggravators.[3] In 2007, she married fellow Princeton alumnus Evan Baehr.[4]
Baehr began her career with the Carter Center helping the Liberian Ministry of Justice launch a sex crimes prosecution unit. She was then a clerk for federal district judge Nancy Gertner.[5] The Baehrs moved to Austin, Texas, where they had four children and where Kristina joined McKool Smith as a corporate litigator.[6]
Baehr believes that she and her children were being harmed by indoor "toxic mold", which is considered a myth by experts.[7][8] The Baehrs said they spent $700,000 on home mold remediation.[9][6]
In 2021, the Baehrs, represented by counsel, sued 11 builders and contractors involved in their home's construction. All but one defendant settled prior to trial. In August 2023, a Travis County jury proportionally awarded $3.1 million to the Baehrs from the remaining defendant, an HVAC contractor.[6]
Environmental law career
[edit]After finding that few Texas attorneys specialized in environmental toxic torts, Baehr in 2021 founded a boutique law firm called Just Well Law to focus on this area of practice.[6]
Red Hill water crisis
[edit]After CNBC featured her in a 2021 segment, Baehr said that she received many calls, including from Hawaii, where military families at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam claimed serious harms from tap water contaminated by a jet fuel leak.[6] In 2022, Just Well Law and local counsel filed suit in federal court on behalf of military families and civilians who claimed harm from the leak.[10] The number of claimants grew over the next year,[11] reaching 7,500 represented by Just Well Law in three separate cases. The suits were filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act.[12]
Some of the plaintiffs against the Navy in the Red Hill litigation are active-duty service members.[13] Although the Feres doctrine bars most tort claims by active-duty personnel, Baehr has argued that it cannot be used to bar claims by service members for injuries they suffered off duty in their own homes.[14]
A bellwether trial for a limited number of plaintiffs began on April 29, 2024.[1] Media outlets have described Baehr as "lead counsel" for the plaintiffs.[15][16] The U.S. government admitted to liability for negligence at the fuel storage facility and that residents using the water line suffered injury.[1] Baehr described the government's stipulation to liability as "historic".[11] The trial is set to determine the extent of harm experienced by plaintiffs and whether the government failed to warn residents of the military base.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Cohen, Li (April 30, 2024). "The Justice Department admitted a Navy jet fuel leak in Hawaii caused thousands to suffer injuries. A trial for victims is underway". CBS News. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ Scurry Baehr, Kristina (2008). "Mandatory minimums making minimal difference: ten years of sentencing sex offenders in South Africa" (PDF). Yale Journal of Law and Feminism. 20.
- ^ Spies, Amanda (2016). "Perpetuating Harm: The Sentencing of Rape Offenders Under South African Law" (PDF). South African Law Journal. 133 (2): 394, 405.
- ^ "Kristina Scurry, Evan Baehr". New York Times. August 19, 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ "Kristina Baehr". Just Well Law. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Pesquera, Adolfo (August 18, 2023). "$3.8M Texas Verdict: Lawyer Leaves Intellectual Property Practice for Toxic Torts". Law.com. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ Chang, Christopher; Gershwin, M. Eric (December 2019). "The Myth of Mycotoxins and Mold Injury". Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology. 57 (3): 449–455. doi:10.1007/s12016-019-08767-4. PMID 31608429.
- ^ Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care (30 November 2023). "Biotoxins (indoor damp and mould) Clinical Pathway" (PDF).
- ^ Pelley, Virginia (April 22, 2024). "Toxic Mold Can Turn Your Life Upside Down—And Climate Change Might Be Making It Worse". Women's Health. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
- ^ Marklay, Chloe (December 9, 2022). "Over 100 military families sue Navy over health impacts of fuel contamination at Red Hill". KITV / Island News.
- ^ a b Kime, Patricia (September 28, 2023). "Legal Claims over Red Hill Water Contamination Balloon to 4,600 as November Filing Deadline Looms". Military.com. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
- ^ Mindock, Clark (September 1, 2022). "Military families sue U.S. Navy over jet fuel in Pearl Harbor water supply". Reuters. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
- ^ Novak Jones, Diana (November 9, 2023). "Pearl Harbor service members sue U.S. government over fuel spill". Reuters. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
- ^ Cohen, Li (March 29, 2023). "3 active-duty service members file claims against federal government over jet fuel leak: "Poisoned by the Navy in their own homes"". CBS News. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
- ^ Rivera, Keya (April 30, 2024). "Families say jet fuel-contaminated water from Navy spill on Oahu made their kids sick". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
- ^ Buan, Robert (April 29, 2024). "Federal case for Red Hill victims begins". KITV. Retrieved May 3, 2024.