Asbestos settlement

Going through Mrs. R’s papers, I came across a thick set of lawyer letters concerning a class-action settlement in which my wife’s father was a plaintiff.

One letter noted Mr. R’s part of the settlement totaled $27,000 – minus lawyer fees of more than 30 percent.

Two of the pieces were checks, $5 from Rock Wool Manufacturing Co. Asbestos Trust, and $8 from M.H. Detrick Co Asbestos Trust. Both checks were dated Oct. 4, 2007, with a dead date of Feb. 6, 2008. On the back of each check is written: “In full payment, discharge and release of (company name) pursuant to Second Amended Joint Plan of Reorganization dated November 24, 1999.”

Mr. R died in 2004. I suppose Mrs. R either forgot to deposit the $13, or she decided the money didn’t matter.

Also from 2007 are letters from Baron and Budd, attorneys and counselors from Dallas. Two letters inform Mrs. R of bankruptcy filing by two companies “against which you have an asbestos-related claim.”

In settlement, Fiberboard Corp. agreed to pay $9,500, of which Mr. and Mrs. R had received $2,899.45. Because of bankruptcy, Fiberboard “can only pay 25%” of the remainder.

Also in settlement, Owens-Corning Corp. agreed to pay $18,000, but, you know what? OC also filed for bankruptcy, and although the company paid $5,553.91, it just doesn’t have the remaining $12,446.09. But because of its magnanimous corporate heart, OC is going to pay 40 percent of what it owes.

“As always, attorneys’ fees and costs will be deducted from the amount received on your behalf,” the letters state.

I am going to frame the checks and collage the bankruptcy notes and also collage the collection of fees and costs “on your behalf,” just to remind me that if I ever become involved in a class-action suit, I might just blow up a guilty company. There can be more justice in C4 than in dollar payments.

All that is in the ballpark of an incident described by a history student. She and her husband were going through divorce. She and her 15-year-old daughter lived in the house bought when the marriage was better. Then, the husband put the house up for sale. She and her lawyer went back to court.

She described the scene on the day of hearing.

“They’re all buddies. Before hearings started, my lawyer and my husband’s lawyer were talking with the judge, all of them telling jokes and laughing. You know they play golf together and they belong to the same country club and they drink together. And I’m supposed to believe the judge dispenses unbiased judgment?”