Timing of Requests for Consideration at February 2012 Trustees’ Meeting

Posted 11/28/2011
Any requests for revisions to Trust policies or procedures, physician certification, modifications to an approved list, and/or TDP/Matrix interpretations or questions to be considered during the February 2012 Trustees’ meeting must be received by the Trust on or before Friday, January 6, 2012.

Comments to the Trust

Posted 11/28/2011
The Trust welcomes comments from Trust claimants, beneficiaries and law firms that file claims with the Trust. The Trustees invariably will seek the advice of the Trust Advisory Committee and Futures Representative with regard to any comments seeking to modify Trust policies or set priorities on Trust agendas or finances. The Trust recommends that claimants or their attorneys make an effort to discuss those issues either with the Trust Advisory Committee or the Futures Representative, or both, as appropriate, before raising these issues with the Trustees or the Trust staff.

New Documents Posted

Posted 05/2/2011
The Sixth Amendment to and Complete Restatement of Trust Agreement and the First Amendment to and Complete Restatement of Matrix have been posted to the Trust Documents portion of the site.

Annual Report Posted

Posted 04/27/2011
The 2010 Annual report is now available for download. 

Notice of Hearing

Posted 04/27/2011
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a hearing on the motion to approve J.T. Thorpe Settlement Trust’s Fifth Annual Report and Accounting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. before United States Bankruptcy Court Judge, the Honorable Sheri Bluebond, at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, Los Angeles Division, located at 255 East Temple Street, Los Angeles, California  90012 in Courtroom 1475.

Declarations

Posted 04/04/2011
Pursuant to Section I(d) of the Matrix, the Trust may require additional information to assure that such evidence provided to the Trust is reliable. Therefore, any claim that is partially supported by a declaration to verify claimant’s presence at a site, asbestos exposure, and/or dates of exposure, or any other facts relevant to the claim must meet these requirements:

  • The declaration must be written by a person who is competent to testify to the information stated in the declaration and the person must have direct knowledge of the factual information relevant to the claim.
  • The declaration must provide sufficient background information to explain how the declarant acquired the direct knowledge of factual matters relevant to this claim, to allow the Trust to determine the credibility of the declarant.
  • The declarant’s complete home address is to be part of the declaration.
  • The declaration must be in the declarant’s own words and not boilerplate wording.
  • The declaration must be accompanied by any documents (i.e. military records, social security records, etc) that the declarant relied upon in drafting his or her declaration.  If no documents were relied upon in drafting the declaration, then the claimant must make a statement that he or she did not rely on any documents for the declaration. If the information was given to the person by someone other than the Injured Person, then the declaration must state who, when, and in what form the information was given.
  • The declaration must be specific to the claim filed.
  • The declaration must be signed under the penalty of perjury.
  • The Trust may interview anyone who signs a declaration in support of a claim submitted to the Trust pursuant to Section I(d) of the Matrix.
Resolution

Posted 03/03/2011
RESOLVED that the Trustees, in agreement with the TAC and Futures Representative, do hereby amend the J.T. Thorpe Settlement Trust Case Valuation Matrix Section IV (vii) as follows:

vii. Medical Causation. The following adjustments apply to Injured Persons who have different smoking histories and/or medical findings than those described for the base Other Cancer case. In no event can any of the adjustments listed below be combined for an overall causation adjustment in excess of 3.0 OCA.

Causation Information

Data
Pathological diagnosis of asbestosis, or occupational levels of asbestos bodies or asbestos fibers in lung tissue 2.0 OCA
Clinical diagnosis of asbestosis (in absence of pathological diagnosis) 1.5 OCA
No radiographic evidence of asbestos exposure and no Increased fiber burden as a marker of asbestos exposure .25 OCA
Lifetime non-smoker 2.0 OCA
1-20 pack-years of smoking 1.2 OCA
Over 80 pack-years of smoking .6 OCA
Diagnosis over 10 years since Injured Person quit smoking 1.2 OCA
Diagnosis over 15 years since Injured Person quit smoking 1.5 OCA

 

Site List Modification

Posted 03/03/2011
A modification to the J.T. Thorpe Site list was approved at the February 17, 2011 Trustees’ meeting. The modification is listed below and the new list has been posted on the Trust Web site. Please review the current list, which includes a modification column for reference purposes.

J.T. Thorpe Ship List:

  • USS BOYD (DD-544) added to the approved ships list. JTTS installed four boilers on this ship in 1942 according to JTTS Job Book Number 3863.