A U.S. District Court judge Wednesday denied a Virginia man’s attempt to get some of the money set aside for the victims of salmonella poisoning traced to Lynchburg-based Peanut Corp. of America, but did not make a ruling on the full $12 million settlement.
Judge Norman K. Moon has yet to approve a plan recommended last week for the disbursement of the $12 million fund to 122 victims and their families, although some of those victims’ attorneys erroneously announced that the claims were approved.
Robert DeRise, a law clerk in Lynchburg’s federal District Court, said the order signed by the judge Wednesday only approved a motion to dismiss efforts by Kenneth Hinton, of Arlington, to receive some of the money.
When the bankruptcy trustee asked U.S. District Court to approve the personal injury and wrongful death settlements from that fund, Hinton filed an objection because his claim was valued at $0.
After a hearing, Magistrate Judge Michael Urbanski reported in July that Hinton could not prove he had eaten products linked to PCA or that he had become sick with the strain of salmonella involved in the outbreak. He recommended that Hinton receive no money from the $12 million settlement fund.
On Wednesday, Moon signed an order approving Urbanski’s recommendations regarding Hinton. Soon, however, attorneys for the claimants in the case announced to the media that all the settlements were approved.
DeRise said there could have been some confusion because last week Urbanski recommended approval of the other settlements, which were then sent to Moon for final approval.
Moon’s order does state that the request to disburse the settlements was “granted in part, only insofar as it relates to the valuation of Hinton’s claim at $0.”
The News & Advance published a story on its website stating that the settlements had been approved, but withdrew the story a few minutes later. The Associated Press also published that the settlement was approved, but issued a correction Wednesday evening.
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