ABB Hearing Scheduled For End Of February -- MesoLink.org -- 02-24-06

Swiss engineering group, ABB, has confirmed that a hearing is scheduled for 28th February with regards to the settlement of $1.4 billion of claims filed against the company for asbestos issues. The session is due to be held at the US Federal District Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

In an original settlement proposal, ABB had offered a total of $1.2 billion to compensate 110,000 claimants who had fallen victim to asbestos-related health problems and had sued the engineering firm.

These were people that had worked for the group. However, in December 2004, this proposal was rejected, and ABB then increased the proposal by $232 million.

The settlement has been debated over for a number of years, and with the latest settlement proposal ABB could see the light at the end of the tunnel if no appeal is made within 30 days. The lawsuits stemmed after the thousands of employees of ABB and its subsidiaries were exposed to asbestos, which allegedly caused a range of adverse health effects.