A $375 million settlement was approved in a lawsuit against the former operators of the Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant. The lawsuit alleged that Dow and Rockwell, the two companies that operated Rocky Flats from 1952 through 1989, released radioactive hazardous substances into the surrounding area. Filed in 1990, the environmental class action suit also alleged that the Defendants caused the properties owned by class members to be contaminated with plutonium which caused the properties’ values to be less than they otherwise would have been.
After 26 years of litigation, Heffler Claims Group was selected as the settlement administrator and began distribution in 2016. Heffler’s duties included notification, skip tracing to locate class members who relocated, claims filing assistance through a toll-free number, and mail and internet correspondence.
This case study examines the obstacles Heffler faced during notice and class action claims administration, and the solutions Heffler used to complete a successful distribution. This included working with counsel and local media to combat potentially misleading information circulated by third-party filing companies, and using technology to locate and inform class members who may have relocated in the many years since the suit was filed.