What You Need To Know About the FACT Act

 

Two bills have recently been introduced that could impact asbestos litigation. One of those is the Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2015, introduced in the United States House of Representatives. This bill was introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Blake Farenthold from the 27th congressional district in Texas. This act was then rolled into the Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2016 which has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill was originally introduced in the Senate by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Now the bill is awaiting Senate and Presidential approval but it faces an uphill battle. Even if the bill gets passed by the Senate, which has struck down three similar bills during the past four years, President Barack Obama has already stated that he will veto the bill.

The FACT Act hopes to streamline asbestos litigations which are seen by the bill’s creators to have gotten out of control. Its purpose is to create transparency to the asbestos victim compensation system. The fear is that fraudulent asbestos cases will dry up asbestos trusts and leave nothing for future asbestos victims. The bill is aimed to curtail this by doing four things:

  • Require US asbestos trusts to file quarterly reports that are open and could be audited quarterly for payouts;
  • Provide for defendant corporations in these cases to be allowed to demand information from asbestos trusts for any reason;
  • New requirements for victims awaiting compensation; and
  • Make victim information available in a public database.

However, those against the bill believe that these actions could make asbestos victims leery of suing, since their personal information will become public. There is also a fear that the additional paperwork will postpone payments to victims, possibly beyond the victim’s death. These opponents also cite the statistic that though only 8% of the population is veterans, 30% of mesothelioma victims are veterans, usually due to asbestos use during years spent in the military. The fear for some is that this bill not only targets military veterans unfairly but it would make it more difficult for veterans to obtain the reward they would otherwise receive from their asbestos claim. Opposition to the act continues to cite privacy issues as well as stalling of payment to victims as major concerns of this legislation.

 

To remain up to date on the status of the FACT Act/ Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2016 visit: https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1927/all-info





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