Court Watch - Wednesday, July 1, 2009 12:24 - 0 Comments

Court upholds settlement in asbestos lawsuits

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to reinstate a roughly $500 million settlement of asbestos lawsuits against the Travelers Companies Inc. Travelers had been named in lawsuits alleging that it tried to hide dangerous health effects of asbestos. The company argued that asbestos claims should be paid out of a trust created by Johns Manville in the 1980s and approved by a federal bankruptcy judge.

Travelers settled with several groups of plaintiffs with the caveat that federal courts make clear the company wouldn’t have to face any new lawsuits of a similar nature. The U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York overturned lower-court approval of the settlement, saying a bankruptcy judge lacks the authority to act so broadly. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned that decision.

Source: AL.com