The debtors in the Garlock Sealing Technologies bankruptcy proceeding have filed a heavily redacted opposition to reopening the sealed record of 2013’s estimation hearing that led to only $125 million being placed in a trust for asbestos claimants, the Washington Examiner reported today. The company’s asbestos personal injury claimants’ committee has asked a bankruptcy judge to reopen the record, claiming the debtors misled and committed a fraud upon the court. The debtors claim that the arguments presented by the committee in its motion provide no sound reason for reopening the estimation record as most arguments have already been rejected by the court. The debtors — which include Garlock, Garrison Litigation Management Group and The Anchor Packing Company — filed their opposition on July 3 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of North Carolina. The action arises out of Judge George Hodges’ Jan. 10 bankruptcy ruling in favor of Garlock, ordering the gasket manufacturer to put $125 million in an asbestos trust — roughly $1 billion less than what plaintiffs’ representatives felt was proper. In his decision, Hodges noted how attorneys had been withholding evidence while pursuing claims against Garlock.
