SALISBURY, MD - WBOC has learned a United States District Court judge has denied Perdue Farms’ request to fully dismiss or stay a class action lawsuit against the company over PFAS, or “forever chemical,” contamination detected near their Perdue AgriBusiness plant in Salisbury.
Two allegations against Perdue AgriBusiness, however, have been dismissed, according to court documents acquired by WBOC.
The lawsuit, originally filed in October of 2024, alleged the plaintiffs had suffered and continue to suffer adverse health effects caused by exposure to the PFAS. According to the suit, the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) detected elevated levels of PFAS in Perdue’s wastewater in September of 2023. Perdue then began testing groundwater for elevated PFAS levels at properties near their facility on Zion Church Road.
In December of 2024, Perdue filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and its seven counts against the company. Months later, on August 12, 2025, United States District Judge Stephanie Gallagher filed her response to that motion.
Judge Gallagher denied the motion to dismiss five of the counts, which include strict liability and abnormally dangerous activity, negligence, public and private nuisance, and trespass, according to court documents. In her ruling, Gallagher says the plaintiffs have adequately pleaded these claims to allow them to continue and quashing Perdue’s effort to have the case fully dismissed.
Count six of the class action lawsuit argued Perdue Farms shares liability for any harm to the plaintiffs caused by alleged PFAS pollution at Perdue AgriBusiness. Count seven sought an injunction against Perdue to cease any activity that may release PFAS into the nearby environment and thus continue to “irreparably harm” the defendants.
In Tuesday’s filed opinion, Judge Gallagher rejected the two counts.
“This Court agrees with Perdue, however, that Plaintiffs have not adequately pleaded claims linking any of their existing medical conditions to Perdue’s PFAS-related conduct,” Gallagher writes. “Without specifying the health conditions they previously had or presently suffer from, they have neither provided Perdue adequate notice of their claims nor set forth facts plausibly establishing causation. Any such claims are dismissed without prejudice.”
As an alternative to full dismissal, Perdue also requested the lawsuit be stayed until MDE completed its investigation into PFAS levels around Perdue AgriBusiness. According to court documents, Perdue argued the court should defer to the “special competence of an administrative agency” and allow the Department to release its results of the investigation. The court rejected that motion to stay as well, arguing the matter of environmental contamination was one of urgency.
“While this Court will not preclude Perdue from re-raising the issue should it be appropriate as this case and the [MDE] investigation both proceed, at this stage, Perdue’s motion for stay will be denied,” Judge Gallagher wrote in her opinion.
Following her ruling dismissing two of the seven counts and dismissing the motion to stay, Judge Gallagher ordered the case will proceed.
Following Tuesday’s ruling, WBOC reached out to Brockstedt Mandalas Federico who represent the Salisbury plaintiffs, as well as Perdue.
“Today’s ruling marks an important milestone in this community’s effort to obtain accountability and justice regarding Perdue’s extensive PFAS pollution of the area's groundwater,” the defendants’ attorneys said. “Perdue has known about this public health crisis for nearly two years and concealed it until the community came together and filed this lawsuit. The people of Salisbury deserve clean and safe drinking water. Unfortunately, Perdue is failing to address the contamination while it continues production for its own profit. With this ruling, we will begin the discovery process and continue to fight until the full extent of the contamination is addressed and we have secured meaningful relief for every affected community member.”
A spokesperson for Perdue sent the following statement to WBOC on Tuesday evening:
"Perdue AgriBusiness welcomes the Court’s recent ruling in the class action lawsuit concerning PFAS contamination near our Salisbury facility. In today's decision, the judge dismissed parts of plaintiffs’ case and removed unsubstantiated claims attempting to link alleged health conditions to our operations.
"We’re confident the facts will speak for themselves as the case moves forward. We’re proud of the work we’ve done and the work we continue to do to protect the health and safety of our community.
"This development does not change our commitment to our neighbors which has guided us throughout this process. We will continue to work closely with the Maryland Department of the Environment on a comprehensive response effort, which includes testing well water, installing water filtration where needed, implementing a comprehensive PFAS outflow treatment system and a new non-PFAS fire suppression system at our facility, and keeping residents informed. We will continue this work to help ensure the health and safety of the communities where we live and work."