A now-bankrupt construction products company has reached a proposed settlement with their insurance providers following a dispute involving asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits. The company, Flintkote, was the subject of thousands of asbestos mesothelioma claims that they expected their insurance provider, Travelers Casualty & Surety, to pay due to previous agreements. In the proposed settlement, Travelers has agreed to pay Flintkote $1.7 million.

Flintkote filed for bankruptcy in 2004. Prior to that, it was a successful manufacturer of building and construction materials. For decades, Flintkote provided roofing, insulation, and other products that contained asbestos fibers. When Flintkote entered into bankruptcy, the company was facing approximately 157,000 claims involving asbestos, including asbestos mesothelioma cases. 

Travelers is one of 19 different insurance companies that insured Flintkote for asbestos-related claims. In 1985 both companies signed what is called the “Wellington Agreement,” which states the insurer and the client share responsibility for asbestos claims, including asbestos mesothelioma.

Even though Flintkote went bankrupt, the company claimed that Travelers still owed money for the claims filed against them. In the proposed settlement sent to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary F. Walrath, Travelers agreed to pay Flintkote $1.7 million — $1.665 million to cover the full amount of the remaining products liability claims, and $35,000 in “additional consideration.” 

Flintkote is entering into similar negotiations with other insurance companies who provided the company with asbestos coverage. 

Asbestos Mesothelioma

Many manufacturers of construction materials have been faced with asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits. Due to its insulating properties, asbestos was widely used for decades up until the 1990s. However, asbestos can cause a deadly cancer, called mesothelioma, as well as lung cancer.

Mesothelioma is a cancer that forms in the lining of the lungs. As asbestos can remain undetected in the body for years, sometimes decades, an individual may have or be at risk of developing asbestos mesothelioma without knowing of the risk. The condition can be treated, but many individuals have died from it.

Many asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits have claimed that manufacturers were aware of the asbestos dangers and failed to warn against them. Other asbestos mesothelioma lawsuits have been filed over asbestos exposure in the work place. Jobs that take place in certain factories or in navy yards may carry higher risks of asbestos exposure, and thus mesothelioma. If an employer failed to warn against asbestos mesothelioma or failed to provide adequate safety measures, then an asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit may be a successful way to receive compensation for the medical costs as well as for the pain and suffering caused by the disease.

The Asbestos Mesothelioma Lawsuit discussed above is In Re: The Flintkote Company and Flintkote Mines Limited, Case No. 04-11300, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.