Dana wins court OK for asbestos accords

11/16/2007

NEW YORK Toledo auto-parts maker Dana Corp. won bankruptcy court approval yesterday to pay as much as $2 million to settle about 7,500 personal-injury lawsuits over automotive gaskets it made that contained asbestos.

The decision resolves a very large number of claims and opens the door for other claimants to seek similar settlements, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland said at a hearing.

The settlement resolves 11 percent of the cases against Dana over mesothelioma, a cancer linked to asbestos exposure, Heather Lennox of Jones Day, an attorney for company, said.

Judge Lifland overruled an objection from a group of claimants not participating in the settlement who argued that the terms of the agreements should be made public.