Ortiz v. Fibreboard Corp., 527 U.S. 815, 5 (1999)

Page:   Index   Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  Next

Cite as: 527 U. S. 815 (1999)

Syllabus

(b) The settlement certification also fell short with respect to the inclusiveness of the class and the fairness of distributions to those within it. The class excludes myriad claimants with causes of action, or foreseeable causes of action, arising from exposure to Fibreboard asbestos. The number of those outside the class who settled with a reservation of rights may be uncertain, but there is no such uncertainty about the significance of the settlement's exclusion of the 45,000 inventory plaintiffs and the plaintiffs in the unsettled present cases, estimated at more than 53,000. A mandatory limited fund settlement class cannot qualify for certification when, in the very negotiations aimed at a class settlement, class counsel agree to exclude what may turn out to be as much as a third of the claimants that negotiators thought might eventually be involved, a substantial number of whom class counsel represent. The settlement certification is likewise deficient as to the fairness of the fund's distribution among class members. First, a class including holders of present and future claims (some of the latter involving no physical injury and claimants not yet born) requires division into homogeneous subclasses under Rule 23(c)(4)(B), with separate representation to eliminate conflicting interests of counsel. See Amchem, 521 U. S., at 627. No such procedure was employed here. Second, the class included those exposed to Fibreboard's asbestos products both before and after 1959, the year that saw the expiration of Fibreboard's Continental policy, which provided the bulk of the insurance funds for the settlement. Pre-1959 claimants accordingly had more valuable claims than post-1959 claimants, the consequence being a second instance of disparate interests within the certified class. While at some point there must be an end to reclassification with separate counsel, these two instances of conflict are well within Amchem's structural protection requirement. Pp. 854-859.

(c) A third contested feature that departs markedly from the limited fund antecedents is the ultimate provision for a fund smaller than the assets understood by the Fifth Circuit to be available for payment of the mandatory class members' claims. Most notably, Fibreboard was allowed to retain virtually its entire net worth. Given this Court's treatment of the two preceding certification deficiencies, there is no need to decide whether this feature would alone be fatal to the global settlement. To ignore it entirely, however, would be so misleading that the Court simply identifies the issue it raises, without purporting to resolve it at this time. Fibreboard listed its supposed entire net worth as a component of the total (and allegedly inadequate) assets available for claimants, but subsequently retained all but $500,000 of that equity for itself. It hardly appears that such a regime is the best that can be provided for class members. Whether in a case where a settle-

819

Page:   Index   Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  Next

Last modified: October 4, 2007