Groundbreaking Settlement on Behalf of Southern African Gold Miners Suffering from Silicosis & Tuberculosis
WASHINGTON, July 29, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hausfeld is proud to announce that on Friday, July 26, 2019, the High Court of South Africa in Johannesburg approved a groundbreaking settlement on behalf of Southern African gold miners suffering from occupational lung disease. This historic class action settlement, the first ever of its kind in South Africa, reflects more than a decade of preparation and litigation aimed at providing compensation to gold miners who suffered from silicosis and tuberculosis over the last 50 years.
In May 2016, the Johannesburg High Court certified the case as a class action against most of South Africa’s gold mining industry by a unanimous three-judge panel. Extensive negotiations over a three-year period with the defendants resulted in this landmark settlement. The settlement calls for the compensation of all eligible gold miners who suffered silicosis or tuberculosis and sets up a trust to provide medical examinations to miners and compensation payments. Benefits for eligible miners will be in the range from 10,000 to 500,000 South African Rand.
“This groundbreaking settlement brings much-needed relief to thousands of workers whose legal rights were ignored and forgotten. The High Court’s approval of the settlement begins to bring justice to this system,” said Hausfeld partner Richard Lewis.
Hausfeld, along with the South African law firm Abrahams Kiewitz Inc., first filed the case in August 2012. The case was consolidated with another action brought a few months later by South African attorney Richard Spoor, with assistance from Motley Rice, and these firms, along with The Legal Resources Center, worked together to achieve class certification and settlement. www.hausfeld.com
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Hausfeld is a leading global law firm with offices in Berlin, Boston, Brussels, Düsseldorf, London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Stockholm, and Washington, DC. The firm has a broad range of complex litigation expertise, particularly in antitrust/competition, financial services, sports and entertainment, environmental, mass torts, consumer protection, and human rights matters, often with an international dimension. Hausfeld aims to achieve the best possible results for clients through its practical and commercial approach, avoiding litigation where feasible, yet litigating robustly when necessary. Hausfeld’s extensive experience with alternative and innovative fee models offers clients a diverse menu of engagement options and maximum flexibility in terms of managing their cost exposure.
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