Judge gives initial OK to $1B deal in condo collapse
A Florida judge on Saturday gave initial approval to a settlement of more than $1 billion to families who lost loved ones in the collapse last year of a Florida beachfront condominium building in which 98 people died.
The quick settlement of the unprecedented collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South building in the early morning hours of June 24, 2021, means that potentially years of court battles will be avoided.
Miami-dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman, who is overseeing the lawsuits filed after the collapse, said during a hearing held remotely it was the best possible outcome given the loss of life and property in the disaster.
“It is a great result,” Hanzman said before giving preliminary approval to the agreement, which was announced Friday. “This was a very contested deal.”
Rachel Furst, co-chair of the attorney group representing victim families, said the agreement also means defendants — insurance companies, developers, the city of Surfside and others — will have “complete peace” that they won’t be sued again. Still, some people may decide to opt out of the deal and pursue their own independent claims.
“This was heavily negotiated,” Furst said. “We believe this is an outstanding settlement.”
The total for the families who lost loved ones in the collapse is about $1.02 billion. Separately, people whose condos were destroyed and lost property such as furnishings and mementos will share about $96 million.
Families of victims will have to file claims, as the money will not be split evenly. The goal is to begin distributing money by September.
The money comes from
A LOOK AT BIG U.S. LEGAL SETTLEMENTS AMID SURFSIDE’S $1 BILLION DEAL
The proposed settlement of more than $1 billion as compensation for the 98 people who died in a Florida condominium collapse is far from the largest in U.S. history.
Even adding in the $96 million proposed for property owners in the Champlain Towers South disaster wouldn’t bring it close to the biggest such legal deals.
Other major U.S. legal settlements include:
A Victim Compensation Fund established after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has paid out more than $7 billion to about 5,500 individuals and families who were injured or lost a loved one. The program had been set expire in December 2020 but was renewed by Congress for the coming decades in part because so many 9/11-related illnesses do not appear right away.
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig explosion that killed 11 people dumped tens of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, fouling beaches, ruining fisheries and killing birds. It resulted in a $20.8 billion settlement, the largest involving the environment in history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The money goes to a variety of programs.
The 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement between four cigarette makers, the federal government and 46 states requires the companies to pay $206 billion over 25 years and another $9 billion each year after that. The money largely goes to help states handle the long-term health costs of smoking.
In 1998, Dow Corning Corp. settled a class-action lawsuit by agreeing to pay about $3.2 billion to an estimated 170,000 women who said they suffered injuries and illnesses caused by silicone breast implants.
ENRON
Shareholders in the now-defunct Enron Corp. reached a $7.2 billion settlement in 2008 after a massive accounting fraud scandal was uncovered, showing how the company’s earnings had been misrepresented. Enron, which once had some 29,000 employees, declared bankruptcy and essentially went out of business in December 2001. several sources, including insurance companies, engineering companies and a luxury condominium that had recently been built next door. None of the parties are admitting wrongdoing. A billionaire developer from Dubai is set to purchase the 1.8-acre beachside site for $120 million, contributing to the settlement.