US class action: Camp Lejeune
What is Camp Lejeune?
Camp Lejeune is a major US Marine base in Onslow County, North Carolina. Built in 1942, the camp call itself the “home of expeditionary forces in readiness” and houses thousands of combat-ready US marines and their families. With more than 20km of beaches, it is a centre for amphibious assault training. It also has many other training facilities in its 640 sq km grounds and is often used for joint training by allied NATO forces.
Why is Camp Lejeune the subject of a class action?
Between 1953 and 1987 leaking underground chemical storage tanks contaminated drinking water on the base. Thousands of servicemen and their families as well as local residents and workers on the base were exposed to carcinogens such as Trichloroethylene (TCE), Perchloroethylene (PCE), Vinyl chloride and Benzene. The chemicals are linked to conditions such as bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, adult leukaemia, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Parkinson’s disease. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, as many as one million people may have been exposed to contamination.
How has the class action progressed?
In 1999 the Marine Corps started to notify former residents of the base that they might face health risks. Ten years later, the first Camp Lejeune contaminated water lawsuit was filed against the U.S government by Laura Jones, the wife of a marine who was stationed on the base in the 1980s.
Since then, multiple of cases have been filed alleging that the government was negligent in its handling of the contaminated water and failed to take appropriate measures to protect the residents and workers of the camp. However the legal situation has been complicated by the fact that under US law members of the US armed forces aren’t usually allowed to sue the military.
This changed in August 2022 when President Biden signed new legislation allowing people exposed to contaminated water on the camp to file new compensation lawsuits. This made thousands of new claims possible.
Potential plaintiffs have been given a two-year window, beginning August 10, 2022 to file claims with the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy’s Tort Claims Unit in Norfolk, Virginia. The office will examine the claims and decide whether to offer compensation. After going through the admirative process, plaintiffs will have the option to file lawsuits.
Lawyers expect to file hundreds of thousands of claims and the contamination may well become one of the largest mass lawsuits in US history. Calculated by plaintiff numbers, not payout, the largest US class action to date is a case brought by US service members against 3M over earplugs that they say failed to protect their hearing from loud noises.
It is also one of the most heavily advertised. Data research firm X Ante that lawyers spent more than $100m on ads seeking claimants in the months after August 2022 an amount, according to Reuters, that has only been beaten by ads for asbestos claims, Roundup and blood-thinner Xarelto.
Is there an international aspect?
Yes. As the base has regularly been used by NATO soldiers, lawyers across the world are encouraging veterans of NATO armies who trained on the camp to bring claims. In the UK various law firms are bringing cases on behalf of veterans of the British Army and Navy. Thousands of British service personnel have been deployed on the base since the 1950s.
Where are we now?
As of April 2023, no claims arising from the 2022 legislation have been litigated. Lawyers in the US and abroad are currently still in the book-building stage.
Questions and answers
Q: Are there any other names for class action lawsuits?
A: The most common name for legal disputes involving many claimants is ‘class action lawsuit’ or ‘class action litigation.’ However, they can also be called ‘group actions,’ ‘group claims,’ ‘collective actions,’ ‘mass torts,’ ‘group claim lawsuits,’ to name a few. Although there are various different legal regimes governing the way class actions progress, what they all have in common is that they represent many, sometimes millions, of claimants.
Q: How do class action lawyers handle new group claims?
A: There is no stipulated way for class action lawyers to manage class action litigation. However, managing a case with thousands of claimants requires organisation and class action claims administration is complicated. Most lawyers will use some form of claims management software. Often, they will use a claims management platform to which claimants can upload data. In today’s data-driven world it would be hard if not impossible to run a large claim without some sort of dedicated claims system, claims handling software, or claims management website. Click here for more details of FinLegal’s claims handling software.
Q: What are the biggest group action lawsuit claims?
A: It depends on how ‘biggest’ is defined. Merricks v Mastercard potentially represents every adult in the UK, so millions of people. The Tobacco Master Settlement in the US was worth more than $200 billion.
Q: What does group action software do?
A: Click here for more details of FinLegal’s claims handling software.
Q: Is group action software and mass tort software the same as claims manager software?
A: FinLegal’s claims handling software can be used by lawyers and claims managers, as well as potential claimants who can self-serve using tablets, phones and laptops. Click here for more details of FinLegal’s claims handling software.
Q: What is a claims management platform?
A: A claims management platform is a web-based software solution for managing class action litigation. FinLegal’s claims handling software can be used by lawyers and claims managers, as well as potential claimants who can self-serve using tablets, phones and laptops. Click here for more details of FinLegal’s claims handling software.
Q: What are the largest class actions lawsuits/biggest group actions settlements of all time? How big are big group claim settlements?
A: As class actions involve many people, even a small per person payment can lead to a big group claim settlement. However, the biggest ever class action lawsuit was the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement of 1998, a case brought against the four largest cigarette manufacturers in the US. The total settlement was more than $200 billion. Class action settlements, in total, are rarely small. $200 billion is by far the largest, and no other claims to date have come near that figure.
Q: What is the difference between opt in and opt out?