The class action will be split into two phases - one to address liability issues and the second to consider damages General Mills is being sued by a group of Minneapolis residents over its poor waste disposal of toxic cleaning solvents at an old R&D center more than 50 years ago. A district judge ruled the case could proceed as a class action against General Mills following claims from a group of residents that vapors of the carcinogen trichloroethylene were present in homes and threatening inhabitants and business owners in the area.