The judge overseeing the bankruptcy case of Johnson & Johnson’s longtime talc supplier disqualified the decisive ballots cast in favor of a cancer-victim compensation plan, ruling that most of one law firm’s asbestos-injury clients had no basis to vote, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., threw into doubt the chapter 11 plan put forth by the defunct supplier Imerys Talc America Inc., saying that more than 15,700 ballots cast in its favor by personal injury lawyer Thomas Bevan can’t be included in the vote totals. The judge’s decision affects a critical vote on the Imerys plan, which is designed to resolve its liability for thousands of lawsuits linking the talc it supplied for J&J baby powder products to ovarian cancer, asbestos poisoning and other ailments. Without yes votes from Mr. Bevan’s clients, the bankruptcy plan falls short of the three-quarters support from injury claimants needed to resolve current and future injury liabilities, as Imerys has proposed, according to the judge’s ruling. An Imerys spokeswoman said Wednesday it is evaluating the appropriate next steps “and will continue to work constructively with all parties to chart a path forward.” J&J, which also faces vast talc litigation, has been opposing the Imerys plan and had sought to disqualify votes submitted by Mr. Bevan’s firm and other plaintiffs’ lawyers who gave their support under what J&J alleged were suspicious circumstances. Wednesday’s ruling stated that Mr. Bevan did nothing to establish that his clients were ever exposed to allegedly dangerous talc products from Imerys that would give them an interest in the chapter 11 plan.
