Lawsuit brings $24 million to Libby asbestos victims

Last week, Cascade County District Court Judge John Kutzman approved the $24 million settlement for 1,000 victims of asbestos in the Libby and Troy area.

According to Roger Sullivan with the law firm of McGarvey, Heberling, Sullivan & Lacey, PC, the settlement is for cash payment of $24 million in two installments, the first installment is 60 percent of the money and the remaining 40 percent is paid by July 31, 2017. Two new trusts were set up as per the settlement, $18 million will go to the Kalispell law firm’s 826 claimants’ trust and $6 million will go to Great Falls law firms’ 261 claimants’ trust. Nancy Gibson out of Missoula is the trustee on both of the trusts.

The amount the claimants receive varies based on the extent of their disease and medical costs. That amount was already decided when the settlement was reached in June of 2016. Before the settlement could go through, it required a number of procedures including a number of lawsuits and cases that needed to be approved by the judge.

Claimants will receive a payment either through the law firm or directly mailed to them. As with any settlement, the amount will deduct 33 percent for attorney fees.

A 2004 Montana Supreme Court case, Orr vs the State of Montana, ruled that there was a duty to disclose the hazardous material. Although the current claimants relied on this court decision, that case only included mine workers, family members and contractors of the mine, but that didn’t include the community members.

A 2011 lawsuit between Lester M. Jones et al vs the state of Montana negotiated a $43 million settlement with asbestos victims. More than 1,100 claimants with asbestos disease got a portion of that settlement.

In this recent lawsuit, the Libby claimants and the law firms contended that previous ruling should extend to people in the community. The litigation was settled without a ruling.

Most of those claimants were mine workers and their families, but the new lawsuit includes mainly community members.

Beginning in the late 1960s and increasingly into the 1990s, Zonolite Mining Company/W.R. Grace employees and former employees and their family members made claims against W.R. Grace for asbestos related diseases.

Many of those claims were settled and some cases were tried to verdict.

The mine closed in 1999 and W.R. Grace filed for bankruptcy on April 2, 2001.

Since the bankruptcy filing, the cases in the new motion have been filed against the State of Montana. Orders have been entered approving the consolidation of those cases into this matter.

There have been other claims made against the State of Montana in which the claimant has not yet filed a civil action.

In all the cases and claims against the State of Montana, the plaintiff’s and claimants alleged that their asbestos related disease were caused by the State of Montana among other defendants.

Subsequent to the filing of the cases and claims against the State of Montana, plaintiffs and claimants and the State of Montana have engaged in mediation in an effort to resolve those cases and claims.

As a result of the mediation, the State of Montana and MHSL Libby Mine claimants entered into a “Memorandum of Understanding of Settlement Agreement,” dated June 4, 2016.

The memorandum set forth the terms and conditions of the settlement between the Libby Mine claimants and the State of Montana, including identification of settling parties, lawsuits, claims and cause of actions being settled; amount of settlement’ form of releases; process for court approval of the settlement; and payment of the settlement amount into a Qualified Settlement Fund Trust.

These aren’t the first trusts created for Libby and Troy claimants. In 2011, an initial trust was set up to deal with Medicare expenses, and another trust was made when Grace filed for bankruptcy.

Additional payments beyond the $24 million pend on the result of the rulings of other lawsuits. Those lawsuits have been argued and submitted to the district court judge so a ruling is pending.

This settlement is one of many that claimants have made, and it certainly isn’t the last one. Since this wasn’t a judicial ruling, it serves as no precedent for future class action lawsuits, and as the younger Libby generation ages, there may be more lawsuits to come.

There are other pending claims against companies that haven’t declared bankruptcy like W.R. Grace, which include Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway and International Paper Company.

“It’s good to get these funds to the people in Libby, so we’re happy with the settlement.” attorney Dale Cockrell who represented the State of Montana said. “The total compensation from those will be more appropriate for the unfortunate people of Libby.”