After BASF Falsehoods Were Exposed, Judge Approves $100 Million Asbestos Settlement

Asbestos exposure has been proven to cause serious and deadly illnesses, including malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, and asbestos-related cancers. While victims have pursued justice through the legal system, many of those responsible have gone to great lengths to avoid having to pay for their negligence. Following discovery that attorneys for Englehard Corporation, a subsidiary of BASF Corporation, had hidden and falsified evidence, the company participated in negotiations with victims. A federal judge recently approved a $100 million settlement that was reached.

Mesothelioma Victims Pursued Litigation for Years

The settlement was the end result of litigation that first started in 1984, when BASF settled an asbestos injury case out of court. A class action lawsuit filed by mesothelioma and asbestos-related disease victims accused the company and its former counsel at law firm Cahill Gordon and Reindel LLP of anticipating that there would be more claims filed against them in the future. The plaintiffs claimed that the company and its former attorneys had conspired to store or destroy all evidence that the Emtal Talc that Englehard had produced between 1967 and 1983 was contaminated with asbestos.

Over two-and-a-half decades, thousands of mesothelioma claims, as well as claims filed by people diagnosed with other asbestos-related diseases, were dismissed based on the company’s false assertion that there was neither evidence nor testimony supporting victims’ assertions of asbestos contamination of their product. Then in 2009, the daughter of an Englehard chemist was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma following exposure to the company’s products. He provided deposition testimony regarding the presence of asbestos and of the hidden evidence.

$100 Million Settlement Resolves Years of Injustice for Mesothelioma Victims

When the company’s falsehoods about asbestos contamination of its products were revealed, six named plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of the thousands of mesothelioma and asbestos victims whose initial claims had been denied or dismissed.  The $100 million settlement that the New Jersey federal judge approved will provide between $3,500 and $300,000 to each of the 20,000 class members, and each of the six named plaintiffs will receive an additional $50,000 award.