The 2024 Status of Camp Lejeune Litigation: Have Settlements Been Made?

The Camp Lejeune lawsuit has been sitting in the US District Court of the Eastern District of North Carolina for over a year now. When President Joe Biden officially passed the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) in August 2022, victims had high hopes for justice.

Over one million of them were severely injured by Camp Lejeune’s toxic waters between 1953 and 1987, developing terminal conditions like leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bladder cancer, breast cancer, etc. The Federal government has since then offered free healthcare (Obama administration), but grounds for legal justice were established only under the Biden administration.

As the litigation’s statute of limitations is two years, victims have time till August 2024 to file their claims. Since August 2022, over 100,000 administrative claims have been filed, and thousands have turned into lawsuits. 

However, the claimants have had to face severe struggles in extracting fair compensation from the Navy Judge Advocate General (JAG). What is the current status of this lawsuit? 

In this article, we will discuss the events that have taken place in 2024. Let’s look at the settlements already made in this litigation and the anticipated timeline for the remnant cases.

Suggestions for Track 3 Cases

Towards the end of 2023, attorneys from both sides submitted their proposals/suggestions for cases to be included under Track 3. In total, the litigation is expected to have three tracks with certain cases (based on injuries) under each.

This method was chosen to ensure plaintiffs receive fair Camp Lejeune settlement amounts. Along with its Track 3 case suggestions, the government also filed a motion seeking amendment of the latest case management order. If the court approves the motion, it would mean further deadline extension.

The court offered a brief extension to give both parties the time they need to appoint a Settlement Master for the litigation. The previous deadline for the same was December 11th, 2023. Despite the extension being offered early this year, it is expected that the current progress will remain disrupted. Lawyers are hopeful that the settlement process will not slow down as a result.  

Case Filings Continue

As mentioned earlier, the Camp Lejeune litigation’s filing window is open till August of this year. This means the plaintiff’s counsel must prepare itself for more administrative claims as the year progresses.

According to TorHoerman Law, attorneys are still accepting claim filings even as lawsuits are progressing toward their first-ever Bellwether trials. Over 1,400 new cases were filed from the end of last year up until now.

Of these, 14 cases had to be dismissed with 3 on grounds of pro se and 11 based on voluntary dismissals. The new cases were distributed among four judges, responsible for deciding the case outcomes of the litigation.

As for settlements, there have been six made so far, the average payout for which is $250,000. The injuries that have been settled as a part of the six cases include Parkinson’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, and bladder cancer. 

These settlements are further expected to help the plaintiff’s counsel determine an exact payout amount for similar cases.

Early Settlement Disqualification

At the very start of this year, Bloomberg published a rather gloomy report. The early settlement program established by the Department of Justice to accelerate the settlement process was found to be irrelevant in 85% of cases.

This means hundreds of thousands of claims will inevitably end up in court (likely after the filing window closes). In over 40% of cases, the victim has suffered two or more injuries. The saddest part is that this report suggested that numerous claimants will not live to collect their just payout.

Though the raw data of the findings has not been released yet, it is clear that many claimants are too old and sick. They do not have many years ahead of them to wait for trial. The tragic irony of the situation is that the elective option was set up to expedite claims settlements for the sick and aging.

However, only 52 cases have been approved for early resolution offers, and 28 more appear to meet the criteria (out of 123,000!). This means a good number of claimants will need to tread the long and tedious road of suing. The costs involved in the administrative and legal process may wear down many plaintiffs.

The average age at which claimants are succumbing to their injuries was found to be the mid-60s. At the current rate, most will have their cases taken over by family in the form of wrongful death lawsuits.

Jury Trial Ruling and Fraud Warnings

As of now, a major point of contention is whether the Camp Lejeune claims must be tried in court before a jury. The government has introduced this new argument that the original PACT Act may have removed government immunity, but plaintiffs have no right to jury trials.

The plaintiff’s counsel has stated that the law does grant the plaintiffs the right to seek jury trials. This motion is currently awaiting its ruling (which is expected to be a big one). The latest update in the Camp Lejeune litigation is fraud warnings issued by the Department of Justice.

The Navy has issued the warning that fraudulent attempts are being made to procure money or personal information from claimants. Awful as it is, entities are trying to victimize the victims and deceitfully extract their money.

To steer clear of this claptrap, claimants must remember that –

• The DOJ or Navy would never ask for their money.
• All queries must be taken to the representative attorney.
• All legitimate Navy emails are delivered from CLCaims@us.navy.mil. Any suspicious emails must be forwarded to this official email.
• In case of any suspicious phone calls, claimants can confirm the same by dialing (757) 241-6020.

As we have seen, the Camp Lejeune litigation continues to progress even in 2024. Though some claimants have already received their compensation, there is still a long road to traverse. Given the government’s current disposition, it looks like the victims’ struggle is not yet over.

As August 2024 draws closer, additional victims are running out of time to take action. In the final analysis, the plaintiff’s counsel is looking forward to the first trials for a positive outcome.