Camp Lejeune Settlement Offers Extended To Only 0.004% of Water Contamination Claims Submitted

Nearly two years after the Camp Lejeune Justice Act was enacted, the U.S. government has only identified 136 claims that may be eligible for an elective settlement offer.

Even though landmark legislation was enacted nearly two years ago to compensate veterans and former military family members injured by Camp Lejeune water contamination, the U.S. government has only made settlement offers to a tiny fraction of the estimated 263,000 claimants who have come forward.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) was signed into law in August 2022, opening a two year window for individuals who worked or lived at the Marine Corps base between the mid-1950s to late-1980s to seek financial compensation for various types of cancer and other ailments linked to toxic chemicals that contaminated the water supply.

The U.S. government previously denied the injury claims for years, since the North Carolina statute of limitations had already expired by the time the water problems at the base were discovered. Although law makers have called for prompt Camp Lejeune settlement offers to be made, the Department of Navy and Department of Justice have struggled to review claims.

In September 2023, an elective Camp Lejeune settlement option was announced, which provided fixed levels of compensation for individuals with specific ailments known to be caused by toxic chemicals in the water, including kidney cancer, liver cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, bladder cancer, multiple myeloma, Parkinson’s disease, and systemic sclerosis.

Although many critics have argued the amount of compensation available through that elective option is insufficient, a new report suggests that the Navy itself has only confirmed 136 claims may be eligible for a settlement offer, and only 105 individuals have actually had an offer to settle their claims extended. This represents only 0.004% of Camp Lejeune claims presented so far.

In a status report (PDF) submitted to the U.S. District Judges presiding over the litigation on June 20, the U.S. government and plaintiffs lawyers outlined progress that is being made to process claims through a new Claims Management Portal launched about 10 weeks ago, where all new incoming claims are now being submitted, as the Navy continues “ingestion efforts” to make previously submitted claims available for review through the portal.

By the time the Camp Lejeune lawsuit filing deadline expires on August 10, 2024, it is expected that the sprawling litigation will become one of the largest mass torts in U.S. history, involving dozens of different injuries and diseases.

Global Camp Lejeune Settlement Negotiations

Since many claims are being presented involving injuries that will not qualify for an elective settlement offer, and many individuals have already indicated they intend to reject the set amount of compensation determined by the government, the parties are currently engaged in active discovery to prepare several “tracks” of claims involving different categories of injuries for early trial dates, to help gauge how the Court may respond to certain evidence and testimony that is likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

In addition, the U.S. government and a Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) are currently engaged in discussions aimed at a more comprehensive settlement program, with a Special Settlement Master recently appointed to preside over negotiations. However, last month the PLG raised concerns that the government’s inability to adopt a process of efficiently accessing records held by other federal agencies was hampering negotiations.

“Many of the PLG’s concerns regarding the settlement process noted in the May 9, 2024 status report remain,” the Plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in the status report. “The PLG is hopeful that the appointment of a settlement master will help the Parties make progress toward resolution and push this matter forward.”

Camp Lejeune Track 1 Bellwether Trial Selections

Unless greater numbers of settlement offers start to be extended and accepted, it is expected that several early “bellwether” trials will be held before the four U.S. District Judges presiding over the litigation, to test the relative strengths and weaknesses of evidence linking chemicals in the Camp Lejeune contaminated water to specific injuries.

In October 2023, the Court established a Camp Lejeune Lawsuit Track 1 criteria, and the parties selected a group of 100 cases to go through early discovery involving the following five categories of injuries:

• Bladder cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Leukemia
• Parkinson’s disease
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma

To help focus efforts, the Court recently directed the parties to narrow down the original list of 100 cases to a group of 25 claims that will be eligible for trial, including five cases from each of the five injury categories, with plaintiffs selecting three of the claims and the U.S. government selecting the other two.

Plaintiffs submitted their Track 1 trial case selections on June 15, and the U.S. Government issued a notice of filing (PDF) identifying it’s selections on June 20. As a result, the final Track 1 claims include:

Camp Lejeune Bladder Cancer Lawsuits:

• Jefferson Criswell v. USA
• Terry F. Dyer v. USA
• Mark A. Cagiano v. USA
• Jimmy Laramore v. USA
• Edward Raymond v. USA

Camp Lejeune Kidney Cancer Lawsuits:

• Frank Mousser v. USA
• Allan W. Howard v. USA
• David W. Fancher v. USA
• David Downs v. USA
• Jacqueline Tukes v. USA

Camp Lejeune Leukemia Lawsuits:

• Joseph M. Gleesing v. USA
• Vivian Connard, Representative of Stephen Matthew Connard v. USA
• Bruce W. Hill v. USA
• Robert Fiolek v. USA
• Karen Marie Amsler v. USA

Camp Lejeune Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Lawsuits:

• Frances Carter as Personal Representative of the Estate of Ronald Carter v. USA
• Robert A. Kidd v. USA
• Cometto Davis v. USA
• Jose Vidana v. USA
• Scott Keller v. USA

Camp Lejeune Parkinson’s Disease Lawsuits:

• Edgar Allen Peterson, IV v. USA
• Edgar Allen Peterson, IV v. USA
• Diane Rothchild v. USA
• Robert Welch v. USA
• Richard Sparks v. USA

While the outcome of these early bellwether trials will not have a binding impact on other claims in the litigation, they will be closely watched by lawyers involved in the cases, as the average amounts of any Camp Lejeune lawsuit payouts awarded may help the parties in global settlement negotiations, by demonstrating how judges are likely to respond in future cases involving various types of injuries.