Glendale News Press
Published March 14, 2005
Settlement deadline approaching
By Jackson Bell, News-Press and Leader
GLENDALE — Heirs of those killed in the Armenian genocide have until
Wednesday to file claims to receive their share of a $20-million insurance
settlement.
New York Life last year agreed to settle the 1999 class-action lawsuit filed
by descendants of victims of the 1915 genocide. They accused the insurance
company of not paying out 2,300 policies purchased by their slain relatives
in the Ottoman Empire, officials said.
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People can find out if they are eligible by calling the Armenian Insurance
Settlement Fund or visiting its website and checking the list of victims’
names. Descendants of former policyholders are then required to fill out a
claim and submit it by Wednesday.
“The heirs of these policyholders have waited 90 years for a little bit of
justice, and it would be a tragic shame if people missed the deadline and
opportunity just because didn’t know about it,” said Paul Krekorian, a
member of the Armenian Insurance Settlement Fund Board.
Krekorian also encourages people to submit forms if they believe their
relatives had New York Life policies, but can’t find any family names on the
website.
As of Wednesday, the board had received 917 claims, and the website has had
about 250,000 hits, Krekorian said.
As much as $11 million of the settlement will be available for descendants
of policyholders. The payment size will be determined by the amount of the
unsettled policy.
An additional $3 million went to Armenian charities, including
Glendale-based Armenian Educational Foundation and Burbank-based Armenian
Church of the North American Western Diocese.
The lawsuit against New York Life was filed by La Cañada Flintridge resident
Martin Marootian and 12 other plaintiffs. The settlement, made last year, is
the first of its kind stemming from the Armenian Genocide, in which the
Turks are said to have killed more than 1.5-million Armenians in what many
consider the first genocide of the 20th century.
The Turkish government disputes that it was a genocidal effort. “The case
itself was a big milestone for us because this is the first time it really
got approved in court that it was a genocide,” said Alina Ana Azizian,
executive director of the Armenian National Committee’s Glendale chapter.
“And it’s a first step in recognizing and helping people heal.”