Delta Airlines airliner at San Diego International Airport
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge has tentatively approved a $78.8 million settlement between Delta Air Lines and nearly 13,000 property owners in Orange and Los Angeles counties over an airliner’s 2020 fuel dump over Southern California.
On Sept. 28, Judge John Kronstadt of the Central District of California tentatively signed off on the agreement, which provides for $24 million in attorney fees and $1.96 million in litigation costs. Kronstadt also approved $40,000 in “service awards” for several plaintiffs based upon the work they did in the preparation for the class action.
The litigation was filed in 2020 after a Delta passenger plane that took off from Los Angeles International Airport en route to Shanghai suffered engine problems early in the flight. As a safety precaution, the airliner’s crew jettisoned thousands of gallons of jet fuel before returning to LAX.
The settlement estimates that each of the more than 13,000 class members will receive $1,392.56 per affected resident, with property owners expected to receive $4,826.08 per property. Overall, two-thirds of the payout will go to property owners, with the balance going to renters and other residents affected by the fuel dump, the settlement says.
Delta Airlines declined to provide further comment about its decision to settle the long-running litigation beyond previous comments. The airline argued that the flight crew followed appropriate safety procedures in safely transporting the passengers back to LAX.
The requested lodestar calculation for attorney fees came to more than $9.7 million, but that total was subject to a multiplier of between 2.0 and 3.0, the settlement says.
“... Each multiplier falls within the range the court already preliminarily found reasonable,” the settlement states.
The Los Angeles-based federal court, however, did not resolve what Kronstadt termed an employment dispute between plaintiff law firm X-Law Group and plaintiff attorney Thomas Gray.
“The court states its tentative view that it is not appropriate for the court to address issues related to the employment dispute between Mr. Gray and X-Law Group, particularly given Mr. Gray’s civil complaint filed against X-Law Group in the Los Angeles Superior Court. …” Kronstadt said.
A motion for final approval of the settlement filed by the X-Law Group indicates that a non-monetary provision of the settlement was especially welcomed by class members. This involved the lengthy study to determine whether jet fuel had contaminated soil owned by the property owners, who feared contamination could stigmatize their ability to sell their properties in the future.
“... (The court) recognized the substantial benefit to the class in non-reversionary compensation of $78,750,000,” the motion said. “The court also anticipated that there would be nonmonetary benefits to class members from a study and simulation showing that the soil of properties within the class showed no detectable amounts of fuel.”
The website Settlement Insight estimates that class members could begin receiving their share of the damages award about 110 days after the settlement wins final approval.
Last year, the X-Law Group told the Southern California Record that the proposed settlement would fairly compensate the communities affected.
“After five years of relentless litigation, we're proud to return what was taken from these southeast L.A. communities: their security, their property values and their faith that when corporations cause harm, accountability will follow,” the law firm said.
