Gunmaker’s offer doesn’t settle Sandy Hook lawsuit

Only 2 of Remington’s 4 insurers involved in proposal to families

NEWTOWN — The $3.6 million Remington insurers have offered each of the nine Sandy Hook families suing the bankrupted gunmaker for wrongfully marketing the rifle used in the 2012 shooting does not in itself signal an end to the seven-year court battle.

The reason: Only two of the four insurance companies handling the gunmaker’s case were involved in the $33 million settlement offer to Sandy Hook families this week, the families’ lead attorney confirmed on Wednesday.

“Ironshore and James River, two of the four insurance companies that once did business with Remington, deserve credit for now realizing that promoting the use of AR-15s as weapons of war to civilians is indefensible,” attorney Josh Koskoff said in a prepared statement after the two insurers’ offers were filed in state Superior Court in Waterbury. “It appears that the other two insurance companies involved — Chubb and Swiss Re — have yet to learn that lesson and continue to stand firmly behind dangerous marketing and against the families.” James Rotondo, an attorney for Remington who signed each settlement offer, declined to comment Wednesday about the limited offers.

Remington’s lead attorney, James Vogts, could not immediately be reached for comment.

It was not clear on Wednesday how the limited settlement offers would affect what has become the highest profile case of its kind in the country.

Moreover, since the $3.6 million settlement offers by two Remington insurers were made separately to each family, there is no global requirement for the families to act as one.

Theoretically, some families could accept the offer, while others could refuse it and look ahead to trial.

Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse Lewis was among the 26 firstgraders and educators killed at Sandy Hook School, declined to comment on Wednesday.

The complexity of the lawsuit stems in part from the gunmaker’s recent $156 million sell-off in U.S. bankruptcy court in Alabama, where a federal judge assured Sandy Hook families that some of the sale proceeds would be preserved to keep Remington’s insurance intact.

The settlement offers, which are subject to approval by the same Alabama bankruptcy judge, came one day after state Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis denied a motion by Remington to throw the families’ amended complaint out of court.

“This case is moving forward to trial,” Koskoff said after Bellis’ ruling. “If Remington did not understand that before today, it should understand it now.”

The limited settlement offer is the latest development in a lawsuit that was thrown out of state Superior Court, reinstated by Connecticut Supreme Court, turned down for review by the U.S. Supreme Court when Remington appealed, and sent back to trial court after Remington’s bankruptcy.

The case made headlines earlier this month when pretrial documents handed over to the families by Remington included 18,000 “random cartoons,” among thousands of other irrelevant images and videos, the families’ attorneys said.

The next step is for the families to discuss the limited settlement with attorneys, Koskoff said.

Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media file photo In this file photo, Attorney Joshua Koskoff stands with Sandy Hook family members suing Remington for unlawful marketing of the rifle used in the 2012 slaying of 26 first-graders and educators. The families are considering a limited settlement offer made by two of Remington’s insurers.