Sixteen states and the territory of Guam sued Corteva, Old DuPont, and a newly created company called Vylor on October 1, 2026, claiming the spinoff that created Vylor was designed to dodge PFAS lawsuits. The coalition, led by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, filed in Marion County, Indiana commercial court the same day the Vylor spinoff officially closed, according to Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark's press release. Vylor is now a separate publicly traded company carved out of Old DuPont's seed and genetics business. The states argue the split left behind too little money to cover PFAS liability claims that could run into the tens of billions of dollars.
Official resources:
- Read the official notice from Maryland — Use this primary source to verify the official announcement.
- Read the official notice from Or — Use this primary source to verify the official announcement.
Table of Contents
- Who Is Suing, and Where
- What the States Say Happened in the Spinoff
- What the States Are Asking the Court to Do
- How Corteva Has Responded
- How This Differs From Earlier DuPont PFAS Settlements
Who Is Suing, and Where
The plaintiffs are Indiana, Alaska, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington, plus Guam, according to the Indiana Commercial Court complaint filed October 1, 2026. The case is being heard in Marion County, Indiana, a commercial court set up to handle complex business disputes. Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is among those who joined the suit, framing it as an effort to stop a corporate restructuring from erasing the state's ability to collect on PFAS claims, per the Maryland Attorney General's announcement.
PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are long-lasting synthetic chemicals linked to environmental contamination and health concerns, often called "forever chemicals" because they don't break down naturally. The defendants are Corteva, Old DuPont, and Vylor itself. Corteva and Old DuPont are both descendants of the original DuPont chemical company, which split into multiple entities over the past decade.
What the States Say Happened in the Spinoff
The core claim is about where the money went. The complaint alleges Old DuPont and Corteva moved roughly three-quarters of Old DuPont's total asset value — the profitable seed and genetics business — into Vylor, while Old DuPont received only about $5 billion in value for assets the states say are worth closer to $40 billion, according to the Indiana complaint. That gap is the basis for the states' legal theory: a fraudulent transfer under the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, a law that lets creditors challenge asset transfers made to avoid paying debts.
The states argue the restructuring was built specifically to put money and valuable assets out of reach of anyone pursuing PFAS claims against the old DuPont entities, and that it left Old DuPont without enough value to cover those liabilities, per the complaint and Reuters' reporting on the filing. Corteva, under a prior corporate separation agreement, has contractually taken on DuPont's legacy PFAS liabilities. Reporting describes the potential exposure tied to those liabilities as running into the tens of billions of dollars, according to Reuters via Capital.com.
What the States Are Asking the Court to Do
Beyond a ruling on the merits, the coalition is seeking a temporary restraining order right now. It would stop DuPont and Corteva from spending remaining funds on dividends or stock buybacks, and bar Vylor from selling or pledging the seed-business assets it just received, according to Fox Rothschild's PFAS litigation blog. That request matters because the spinoff already closed.
Without a freeze, the states argue, the assets and cash that could fund PFAS claims could be moved, spent, or encumbered while the underlying fraudulent-transfer case is still being litigated. This isn't the states' first attempt to stop the deal. California had already tried to block the Vylor spinoff through an emergency federal injunction request inside the AFFF (firefighting foam) multidistrict PFAS litigation pending in South Carolina. A federal judge there rejected that request, according to Reuters via Business Insurance, which is part of why the new coalition pursued a separate fraudulent-transfer claim in Indiana state court instead.
How Corteva Has Responded
Corteva has pushed back publicly and directly. The company called the lawsuit "entirely without merit and based on faulty claims," according to a statement reported by Brownfield Ag News. Separately, Corteva has argued the states' underlying PFAS claims themselves are "speculative and unproven," and has pointed out that Corteva never manufactured or sold PFAS products directly — the liability it holds stems from the earlier corporate separation agreement with DuPont, not from making the chemicals itself, per the same reporting.
How This Differs From Earlier DuPont PFAS Settlements
This case is not a continuation of past PFAS settlements involving these companies — it's a new legal track focused on corporate structure rather than contamination itself. In 2021, Delaware reached a $50 million settlement with DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva over PFAS contamination in that state, with an additional $25 million that would be triggered only if other states' claims settled above $50 million, according to WHYY's 2021 reporting.
The Indiana suit doesn't allege new contamination or seek damages for pollution. It challenges whether the companies structured a 2026 corporate spinoff specifically to avoid paying for contamination liabilities that already exist. For readers tracking PFAS-related claims and settlements, the Indiana case is a dispute over who will be left solvent enough to pay those claims — not a new contamination settlement itself.