Becnel
A settlement has been reached between plaintiffs and the mobile home manufacturers named in a federal class action suit in relation to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers that allegedly exposed users to harmful fumes when they lived in them following Hurricane Katrina.
Four motions of voluntary dismissal have been filed by Reserve attorneys Daniel Becnel Jr. and Matthew Moreland as of noon Friday in the U.S. Federal Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana.
On Tuesday, a court filing by the plaintiffs stated that both parties were "very close" to agreeing on a final settlement. Victims of Katrina were issued trailers made by the manufacturers named in the suit. Plaintiffs claimed injuries related to high levels of formaldehyde in the trailers.
The settlement does not apply to suits involving FEMA travel trailers, which also allegedly caused harm to residents.
FEMA trailer suits have been consolidated into a multidistrict litigation presided over by U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt.
Federal MDL 07-md-01873