Business Wire (press release), CA
July 28 2004
July 30 Hearing for Final Settlement in New York Life/Armenian
Genocide-Era Beneficiaries
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–July 28, 2004–
MEDIA NOTE: Plaintiffs’ attorneys Brian S. Kabateck, Vartkes
Yeghiayan, Mark J. Geragos and William Shernoff will make statements
and take questions immediately after the completion of the hearing
outside the courthouse.
One of the longest ongoing legal sagas in U.S. history is coming
to an end Friday, July 30. After 89 years of off again-on again legal
wrangling, a hearing for final approval in the New York Life/Armenian
Genocide-era beneficiaries’ settlement will be held:
Friday, July 30, 2004
9:30 a.m.
United States Judge Christina A. Snyder
Courtroom 5
United States District Court
312 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, California
The court is expected to give final approval to a $20 million
settlement in Martin Marootian, et al., v. New York Life Insurance
Company, Defendant, Case No. C99-12073 CAS (MCx).
Prior to 1915, New York Life sold life insurance policies to
thousands of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. New York Life
policyholders were among the 1.5 million Armenians massacred during
the Genocide. Many of the policy heirs were unable or unaware that
they may be entitled to insurance benefits. While New York Life was
able to find and pay many beneficiaries, the insurance company
acknowledged its records indicated an estimated 2,300 policies sold
to
Armenians prior to the Genocide remained unpaid.
“This is the first time a court anywhere in the U.S. or possibly
the world has formally recognized the Armenian Genocide and the
trauma
and turmoil that resulted,” says Brian S. Kabateck, one of the
attorneys representing the plaintiffs, who himself is of Armenian
descent and lost family in the Genocide. “All of us are crusaders,
especially the three Armenian lawyers who took on the case. While
this
settlement is not reparation for the Genocide, as lawyers, we can
help
bring recognition to the Genocide through claims for unpaid insurance
benefits and stolen property that date back to 1915.”
Other attorneys for the plaintiffs are Vartkes Yeghiayan, Mark J.
Geragos and William Shernoff. “By making these claims, heirs will
receive the benefits due them,” says Kabateck, “but more importantly,
it’s a significant step that further recognizes the Armenian
Genocide,
something that the United States and Turkey still refuse to do.”
The court had given preliminary approval to the settlement in
January. A three-member Settlement Fund Board, with members appointed
by California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, will approve
claims. The board will also be responsible for distributing $3
million
of the settlement to nine Armenian charitable organizations. The
class
includes Armenians living in the United States and abroad.
Notification of the final settlement will be advertised in
newspapers in the United States, France, Argentina, Russia, Lebanon
and Armenia. Information will also be available at:
Beneficiaries will have six
months to file a notice of claim. The board will then contact
beneficiaries with instructions for completing the appropriate claim
forms.
The following Armenian organizations will share equally in the $3
million fund. If heirs do not come forward for policy benefits, more
money will be distributed to additional charities.
Armenian Church of North America Eastern Diocese
New York, New York
Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church Eastern US and Canada
New York, New York
Armenian Church of North America Western Diocese
Burbank, California
Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church
Los Angeles, California
Armenian Apostolic Catholic Exarchate
For Armenian Catholics in the US & Canada
New York, New York
Armenian Missionary Association of America, Inc.
Paramus, New Jersey
Armenian Relief Society, United States Chapter
Watertown, Massachusetts
Armenian General Benevolent Union
New York, New York
Armenian Educational Foundation
Glendale, California