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"We are devastated that our hard work to achieve a $600M settlement remains unfulfilled," the attorneys said in a joint statement.
Thursday, June 12th 2025, 6:38 AM EDT
YOUNGSTOWN - A federal judge has removed the company in charge of distributing money to victims of the East Palestine train derailment, saying the company likely miscalculated payments and may have overpaid some people.
U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson on Wednesday ordered Kroll Settlement Administration LLC to immediately stop its work. She named Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, Inc., as the new company to handle the payments.
This change happened after the lawyers representing the victims, known as "class counsel," asked for Kroll to be removed. Norfolk Southern, the railroad company being sued, did not object to Kroll's removal.
In her order, Judge Pearson said she had "sufficient reason to believe" that Kroll did not properly carry out its duties in managing the settlement. This means she found enough evidence to suggest Kroll failed to follow the court's instructions.
Specifically, the judge believes Kroll did not correctly follow the "Plan of Distribution," which is like a detailed rulebook for how the settlement money should be divided. This plan used a "point system" to decide how much each person would receive based on their damages.
The court's findings suggest Kroll did not accurately figure out the dollar value of each "point" in a program for people who were exposed to chemicals. Also, the order noted that Kroll might have made mistakes by not treating the Village of East Palestine differently from the larger East Palestine area (which includes the 44413 zip code), as the plan required.
"Because of these likely mistakes," the order stated, "the Court finds there is sufficient reason to believe that Kroll overpaid certain Class Members’ Voluntary Exposure claims to the detriment of other participating Class Members and the Qualified Settlement Fund.” This means some people might have received too much money, which could reduce the total amount available for other victims and from the overall fund set aside for the settlement, called the "Qualified Settlement Fund."
Attorneys representing the victims, including Jayne Conroy, Beth Graham, and Seth Katz of Simmons Hanly Conroy, Grant & Eisenhofer, and Burg Simpson, expressed their disappointment in an emailed statement.
"We are devastated that our hard work to achieve a $600M settlement remains unfulfilled," the attorneys said in a joint statement. They added that they would "continue to do everything we can for the community to get the Voluntary Exposure funds out to the hands of the citizens in the correct amounts."
The lawyers noted that they received many complaints about when payments were being made. They also recently learned about errors in Kroll's calculations. "As a result, we believe we have no choice but to audit these calculations," they stated.
Kroll was first chosen to manage the settlement on May 21, 2024. The court officially approved the settlement and the payment plan on Sept. 27, 2024. At that time, the court kept the power, or "continuing jurisdiction," to oversee how the settlement was handled.
The judge's order tells Kroll to fully cooperate with Epiq in transferring all responsibilities. This includes handing over control of the settlement's website, email, phone number, and all related information and documents within five to ten days. Kroll must also transfer control of the Qualified Settlement Fund to Epiq within five days.
Additionally, the victims' lawyers have been told to hire an independent expert, called a "qualified auditor," to thoroughly review Kroll's past payment calculations. This audit will determine the extent of any errors. The auditor's report will be given to the court when it's finished.
Judge Pearson also confirmed that the court still has ongoing authority over Kroll regarding its actions while managing the settlement.