More than 1,000 former USX workers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to accept a $47 million cash settlement plus benefits from USX to resolve the 1987 lawsuit filed against the steel company by 1,700 laid-off workers.
If all of the workers don't agree to accept the money, attorney Gerry Spence will walk away from the case, Spence told the workers crowded into the Mountain View High School gymnasium.USX insists each plaintiff sign off on the settlement, said Allen Young, one of the workers' attorneys. Spence and Young won't know for three or four days if each worker agrees to the settlement.
"We have to contact everyone that wasn't there last night," Young said.
Spence and Young sifted through the ballots late Wednesday night after the 41/2-hour meeting. "We didn't see any no votes," Young said. "If there are any, it would be less than 1 percent."
USX offered to settle after U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins last month ruled against USX on benefits he believed the company owed to 23 bellwether plaintiffs that represent the varying circumstances of the 1,700 workers.
Jenkins' ruling would likely cost USX between $55 million and $66 million, Young said.
USX's settlement offer may be worth more, Young and Spence told the workers. Besides the $47 million, USX has offered to pay accruing pensions and benefits for most of the plaintiffs, including those who went to work for Geneva Steel.
"That would be worth between $5 million and $20 million," Young said.
If all the workers accept the settlement, USX will pay them $18 million within 40 days and an additional $29 million in six months, Young said. The benefits would begin accruing immediately.