U.S. House to take up combined bill targeting class actions and asbestos litigation abuse this week

[cali]

Source: Legal Newsline

The U.S. House kicks off its second session of the 114th Congress this week by taking up a piece of legislation -- what some are now describing as a “Frankenbill” -- that would make class action lawsuits on behalf of uninjured plaintiffs more difficult to bring.

Last month, that bill, H.R. 1927 or the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act, and H.R. 526, the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act, were merged.

The mega-bill, now referred to as the Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2015, could get a vote by the House later this week.

According to GovTrack, which follows bills in Congress, the bill -- still referred to as H.R. 1927 -- is scheduled to be taken up by the House Committee on Rules Wednesday afternoon. The committee then is expected to send it to the House floor.


Read more: http://legalnewsline.com/stories/510656317-u-s-house-to-take-up-combined-bill-targeting-class-actions-and-asbestos-litigation-abuse-this-week

[saturnsring]

1. just doin the work of the people

[allan01]

2. never so humble , whilst america crumbles . theres no place like home

[vkkv]

3. Republicans consistently do the EXACT OPPOSITE of what I would

consider to be good government..

How about some ACA improvements?

Prison / Crime reform?

Big Pharma regulations?

Fill some circuit court positions with Obama admin. nominees?

Medical marijuana?

Gun control?

[mercuryblues]

4. corporations are a protected class of people

Incredibly, the House is pairing the VW Bailout Bill with other legislation designed to limit corporate liability. The FACT (Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency) Act would force public reporting of personal information of asbestos victims, in an effort to delay and limit compensation for their poisoning.

The Chamber of Commerce also supports the FACT Act, claiming it would prevent double-dipping by mesothelioma sufferers who may have been exposed to multiple asbestos-lined products. But the clear intent is to both chill victims from coming forward and delay their compensation. Because mesothelioma sufferers typically only live between four and 18 months after diagnosis, this would shift many victim claims to wrongful death, which has a lower payout rate. Corporations like Honeywell have financial reason to want victims of their use of harmful chemicals to die quicker, so they can pay their families less.

the FACT bill was written by ALEC, endorsed by the chamber of Commerce and introduced By republicons Trent Frank of AZ and Goodlatte of VA

What company would benefit from this the most?

GEORGIA-PACIFIC

http://centerjd.org/content/fact-sheet-koch-and-asbestos-legislation

Koch has a direct financial interest in limiting the rights of asbestos victims and it has been aggressively attempting to do so for nearly a decade.

•Since 2005, Koch Industries has owned paper manufacturer Georgia-Pacific, which has been sued by hundreds of thousands of asbestos victims for poisoning them with the company’s asbestos-containing joint compound.[2]


•In 2005, Georgia-Pacific devised a strategy to defend itself against asbestos lawsuits by funding and controlling studies falsely concluding Koch’s type of asbestos does not cause cancer[3] (even though the Occupational Safety & Heath Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization say it does).[4]

Who funds ALEC?

ALEC Exposed: The Koch Connection

Untold sums of cash poured into ALEC by Charles and David Koch have been an effective investment in advancing their worldview.

http://www.thenation.com/article/alec-exposed-koch-connection/

[lark]

8. OK, now we see the reason for the haste of this bill.

Must protect the Kochs so they will spend their money on the candidate the Repugs want. Wonder if the Kochs threatened to support Trump if this wasn't done? Pure conjecture, but awfully funny how this benefits them so very much.

[CharlotteVale]

5. How many "Democrats" will join them?

[cali]

6. Enough

[ChairmanAgnostic]

9. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

(Disclaimer. This angry response (in support) was typed on a new Apple keyboard attached to the iPadPro. Any errors, mistakes, arrows, oar udder tissues ewe Mei C . . . &(. . .

[turbinetree]

7. While humans are wheezing and dying .......................because

this Congress thinks lawsuits on corporate malfeasance shouldn't happen.

We the public will be getting this in the coming months:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-devaney/tpp-public-comment-period_b_8897524.html

And then pretty soon on there collective plate this same Congress will have to vote on TPP which has it's public comment window closing this coming January 13, 2016, I will bet anyone a emolji doughnut that this Congress sides with corporations------------just like the asbestos corporations.


Honk----------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016

[tammywammy]

10. I wonder how often that a bestie fraud happens

My uncle died from mesothelioma last year. He made it 18 months post diagnosis which was amazing, they gave him 6 months. My mom was deposed for the lawsuits and she said there were at least 10 lawyers in person and more on the phone representing the defense. My uncle never misrepresented his exposure to asbestos, nor did his lawyer encourage such behavior.

My uncle was a couple years older than my mom is now, she will probably eventually get mesothelioma too she had more exposure than he did.