Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Settlement Reached In Genocide Suit

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Settlement Reached In Genocide Suit

    SETTLEMENT REACHED IN GENOCIDE SUIT
    By Alex Dobuzinskis, Staff Writer

    Pasadena Star News, CA
    Oct 14 2005

    LOS ANGELES -- A French insurance company has agreed to pay $17
    million to settle a class action lawsuit filed by descendants of
    Armenians killed in the early 20th century in what is now Turkey.

    French insurance giant AXA also agreed to call the killings genocide,
    an important term to Armenians trying to call attention to what they
    say were organized murders of more than a million people between 1915
    and the early 1920s.

    "Anytime we're able to bring attention to the genocide is significant,"
    said Brian Kabateck, one of the plaintiff's attorneys.

    "Because the rest of the world needs to understand what happened and
    the rest of the world needs to focus on an ultimate resolution of
    the genocide, which is recognition by the United States government
    and the Turkish government."

    Between 2,000 and 5,000 policies are believed to be covered by the
    settlement, including many in Southern California's large Armenian
    community, although the final number has yet to be determined.

    AXA was sued because it bought L'Union Des Assurances de Paris, the
    company that sold policies to Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire.

    The $17 million AXA settlement will be presented to a federal judge
    in Los Angeles next month for final approval. It is similar to one
    reached last year in which New York Life agreed to pay $20 million
    to resolve litigation arising from its failure to pay Armenian
    policyholders' relatives.

    One key difference is that in its settlement AXA would follow the
    French government's lead in describing the events of 1915 to the
    early 1920s as genocide.

    Armenians estimate that 1.5 million died when Armenian civilians living
    in the Ottoman Empire were forced from their homes or otherwise killed
    during and after World War I. The United States government and Turkey
    have not officially called the event a genocide, and Turkey argues
    that the number is exaggerated.

    "I am not belittling their ordeal during that relocation: many
    perished, many terrible things happened, that's true," said Engin
    Ansay, the Turkish consul general in Los Angeles. "But it was not a
    government decision or any decision on the part of the authorities
    to annihilate one whole nation."

    The case against AXA

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Advertisement

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    was brought on behalf of several lead plaintiffs living in the San
    Fernando Valley. One was Anik Arabian, who brought her uncle's life
    insurance policy with her to America, but who died after the lawsuit
    was filed in 2002.

    Arabian was born in Greece, where her parents had landed after being
    driven into the desert. Many of her family died in what is now Syria,
    then a part of the Ottoman Empire.

    "They were burying their kids with their bare hands, my grandfather and
    grandmother they buried ... six of them," said son Vagram Topadzhikyan,
    60, of Glendale.

    Under the AXA settlement, money from an $11 million fund will be paid
    to the closest relative of a policyholder on the company's list.

    Another $3 million will go to Armenian charitable organizations in
    France, and another $3 million for administrative and legal fees.

    "We believe that this settlement is in the best interest of AXA Group
    and all of its stakeholders, and we are pleased to put this matter
    behind us," said AXA spokeswoman Joann Tizzano.

    The plaintiffs' lawyers were Kabateck, Mark Geragos and Vartkes
    Yeghiayan, who are all of Armenian descent and also brought the case
    against New York Life.

    The AXA settlement sets aside the same amount for claims payment and
    charity as the New York Life settlement. The only difference is the
    amount earmarked for legal and administrative fees was halved in the
    AXA case.

    The deadline to file a claim in the New York Life settlement passed on
    March 16, and the claims are being analyzed. The company had agreed
    to pay on 2,400 policies, but claims were filed on 1,600 of them,
    which means the amount that would have been paid on the remaining
    claims will be added to the charity fund.

    Some policies might have gone unclaimed because their holders were
    unaware of the settlement, or because all the potential claimants died.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Working...
X