Providence, RI, February 23, 2006--Sherwin-Williams stock fell as much as 22% Wednesday on reports that a verdict from a Rhode Island jury could cost the nation's biggest paint maker millions.
Shares of the Cleveland-based company ended the session down $9.37 at $43.20.
Jurors found that Sherwin-Williams, along with two other companies that formerly made lead-based paint, created a public nuisance that continues to poison children.
The state brought in doctors who described lead poisoning in children can cause behavioral disorders, gastrointestinal pain, brain damage and even death, the report said.
The verdict means the company, along with NL Industries and Millennium Holdings, could be responsible for millions of dollars in clean-up and mitigation costs, though no dollar value was given.
A superior court judge will decide later how much, if anything, the companies must pay.
