A record setting asbestos mesothelioma settlement was announced by Garlock Sealing Technologies in mid-January, stating that the company will settle all future asbestos mesothelioma claims and will additionally go to court against current claimants who may want a bigger cut than what is provided by the asbestos mesothelioma settlement.

Over the course of the next 40 years, Garlock, a unit of EnPro Industries, will pay $358 million to future claimants who allege they developed asbestos mesothelioma, a deadly form of lung cancer, from asbestos-containing gaskets manufactured by Garlock.

Taking into account tax deductions, time value of money, and the payment amounts that may be given to certain pre-petition claimants, the true value of the Garlock asbestos mesothelioma settlement is closer to $236 million.

According to court reports, this asbestos mesothelioma settlement deal is twice the amount estimated by a bankruptcy judge, who in January 2014 valued Garlock’s liability in current and future asbestos claims to be at $125 million. However, this 2014 estimate and the current $358 million asbestos mesothelioma settlement are significantly less than the $1 billion the plaintiffs’ legal counsel were seeking from Garlock during the course of the asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit.

This asbestos mesothelioma settlement contains some unusual requirements for future claimants and their representatives. These stipulations include that all future claimants present a complete work history, evidence of Garlock product exposure, and finally turn over their claims against other asbestos products manufacturers with bankruptcy trusts.

The manufacturer has designed these measures to avoid double dipping claimants who make a habit of filing conflicting claims with multiple asbestos-product manufacturers, thus making it seem as if each manufacturer’s product was the source of their asbestos mesothelioma condition.

History of Garlock Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuits

According to the asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit, Garlock manufactured gaskets that allegedly contained a type of asbestos that is technically safer than amphibole which is also regularly used in pipe insulation. However, Garlock claims that the plaintiffs’ lawyers specifically target Garlock and kept escalating payment demands at the same time that other manufacturers who made more dangerous types of asbestos than Garlock went into bankruptcy.

This proposed asbestos mesothelioma settlement by Garlock may set a precedent for future asbestos lawsuits, asbestos mesothelioma class action lawsuits, and any resulting settlements, since this is the first time that legal representatives for current plaintiffs and those for future claimants have split their numbers. In all asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits including mass torts, the potential conflict between present and future claimants is always a factor.

At some point, it usually occurs that in order to pay the current claimants, the amount may be taken out of the potential awards set aside for future claimants. Despite this conflict of interest, the present and future claimants and their legal representatives have always presented themselves as a united force for plaintiffs against asbestos manufacturers, that is until now.

It has been theorized that Garlock may be able to facilitate the splitting of these to claimant groups by presenting evidence to the court that current claimant committee lawyers pressed on with dubious asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits, which allegedly represented workers whose asbestos mesothelioma condition had a root cause from other products not manufactured by Garlock, thus unfairly draining money from Garlock’s assets.

Judge George Hodges, cut Garlock’s asbestos mesothelioma liability to $125 million after receiving evidence that plaintiffs’ counsel had withheld evidence from the court that the plaintiffs had been exposed to more dangerous forms of asbestos with the intent of winning a jury verdict against Garlock Sealing Technologies. The plaintiffs’ counsel then submitted conflicting asbestos mesothelioma claims with other asbestos product manufacturers who were already going bankrupt.