Milacron Inc. reached a settlement earlier this year with final remaining defendants in cases brought by General Motors workers who claimed to have been made ill by exposure to metalworking fluids at a Flint, Mich., factory, the company recentlyconfirmed.The litigation lasted for a decade.
As part of the settlement, both sides agreed not to discuss the terms.
We can state that there were two cases with multiple plaintiffs that have been settled and that settlements were made as a compromise so as to avoid the expense and uncertainties of litigation, Milacron spokesman Al Beaupre told Lube Report late last month. He added that the settlement did not constitute an admission by Milacron.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs declined to comment.
Filed in Genesee County Circuit Court, the suits involved some two dozen employees of GMs V8 Engine Plant in Flint, who claimed to have been sickened by exposure to mist and fumes from metalworking fluid supplied to the factory by Milacron. According to press reports, one of the plaintiffs was the family of an employee who died 1995.
The first suits were filed the following year. Originally Milacron and GM were named as defendants, but GM succeeded in having itself dismissed from the case. The first group of cases was settled two years ago, and the remainder earlier this year.