A federal court overturned a US$ 1.63 billion default judgement against Federal-Mogul Corp. in an asbestos dispute with Owens-Illinois Inc.
The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has…
A federal court overturned a US$ 1.63 billion default judgement against Federal-Mogul Corp. in an asbestos dispute with Owens-Illinois Inc. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has permanently vacated the judgement against Federal-Mogul, the Southfield, Michigan, auto-parts supplier said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On August 24, Federal Mogul was ordered to pay the judgement after it failed to respond to a lawsuit filed by Owens-Illinois (OI) against its Manchester, England-based auto-parts unit T&N Ltd. Federal-Mogul said attorneys for Owens-Illinois, a Toledo packaging concern, never notified the company about the lawsuit. Federal-Mogul and T&N said they found out about the suit only after the default judgement was issued. The judgement was to have been reimbursement for some of the lawsuits brought against T&N charging its products containing asbestos caused cancer. Federal-Mogul acquired T&N, once one of the largest makers of asbestos in the United Kingdom, for US$ 3 billion in 1998.