BOONEVILLE, Miss. — Attorney Casey Lott, of Langston & Lott, announced today that he filed a motion to approve a $17.5 million class action settlement for the families and individuals harmed by the 2014 natural gas explosion at the Escambia County Central Booking and Detention facility in Pensacola, Florida.
The motion, which is unopposed, will provide a mechanism for distributing up to $17.5 million among those injured by the explosion, according to a scale based on the degree each individual was harmed. Mr. Lott directly represents the family of an individual killed by the explosion, one of three “gravely injured” claimants. Mr. Lott will also be serving as “class counsel” for the other 670 claimants.
“This is a landmark settlement with more than a dozen defendants who we believed all had some form of liability for the explosion,” Lott said. “Once the defendants tendered these funds, we were tasked with creating a system that would fairly and adequately compensate various claimants with a wide variety of injuries. We’ve worked very hard to do that, and we now believe we have a system in place that will ultimately ensure that all claimants similarly situated will be compensated consistently.”
The motion defines the class to receive the funds as “All persons who were at the scene of the Escambia County Central Booking and Detention Facility in Pensacola, Florida, during the explosion, or subsequent evacuation therefrom and emergency responses thereto; anyone who was married to such a claimant at the time of any of the foregoing events; in the case of a claimant who is deceased, the wrongful death beneficiaries or heirs of said claimant; or anyone who is related to the claimant and has a claim through the claimant due to said relationship.”
Today’s filing represents an important milestone in proving financial relief to those harmed by the explosion. If granted, potential claimants will be contacted with further information about the settlement and provided specific details about how to proceed.
To inquire about the settlement, or for other information about Langston & Lott, contact the firm at (662) 728-9733.
