WR Grace Reaches $3 Billion Deal in Asbestos Suit
An announcement made earlier today outlines a $3 billion agreement made with W.R. Grace and Company to resolve current and future asbestos claims with the chemical manufacturer and related entities, which will eventually allow the multinational corporation to emerge from bankruptcy with no further obligations for asbestos injury liability.
According to a press release, the announcement of the settlement was made at a scheduled bankruptcy hearing before Judge Judith Fitzgerald in Pittsburgh this morning. It is expected that Judge Fitzgerald will set the matter for an additional hearing later this month.
The agreement calls for the company to pay $250 million in cash, as well as deferred payments of $110 million per year for five years beginning in 2019 and $100 million per year for ten years beginning in 2024.
“Terms of the agreement will require Grace to make cash payments over a period of time into a trust fund for asbestos victims. Additional cash contributions will be paid to the trust by Sealed Air Corporation, and Fresenius Medical Corporation, both formerly affiliated with Grace,” the settlement states. In addition, Grace had to agree that all of its remaining insurance coverage would be used for the benefit of the asbestos victims and agreed that the trust fund shall receive warrants for its stock shares at an agreed price. The total value of the payments and equity is approximately $3 billion dollars.
“The victims of asbestos poisoning and asbestos cancer have walked a long path to reach justice. Certainly nothing can replace the family members who have been lost as a result of their exposure to asbestos, but today’s settlement represents a fair resolution for both the victims and Grace,” said John D. Cooney of the Chicago law firm of Cooney and Conway. “It is appropriate at this time to remember that countless lives were lost and families damaged because of the needless use of asbestos products for many decades.”
At the time it declared bankruptcy in April 2001, W.R. Grace was faced with approximately 325,000 asbestos-related lawsuits. With the establishment of the trust fund, those victims and future sufferers of asbestos diseases like malignant mesothelioma, caused by Grace products, will be able to receive fair compensation for their pain and suffering.
The settlement will affect thousands of individuals in the town of Libby, Montana, where Grace operated a vermiculite mine that produced asbestos-contaminated vermiculite. Hundreds have already died in the small town and many others have been sickened with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.
