By FireRescue1 Staff
OAK BROOK, Ill. — Federal Signal reached a settlement with more than 1,100 firefighters in connection with hearing loss claims Monday.
The settlement follows several recent trial victories for Federal Signal, and affects 1,125 firefighters from Maryland, New Jersey, and Missouri. Under the settlement agreement, the company will make a payment of $3,800,000, reduced by the percentage of firefighters who do not participate in the settlement.
In order to receive any payment, a minimum of 93 percent of certain claimants must participate in the settlement.
“I am happy that we have been able to resolve these cases with Federal Signal,” said Attorney Joseph Cappelli, who represented the 1,125 firefighters.
“Years of litigation and several trials have brought both sides to the point where settlement makes sense. After extensively investigating fire departments in various states and handling several hundred individual firefighter cases, I have concluded that most firefighter claims are complicated and challenging cases to win,” Cappelli said.
Federal Signal Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel Secretary Jennifer Sherman said the settlement “represents a very favorable development for the company in the hearing loss litigation.”
She added, “As demonstrated in our recent trial victories, as well as our track record generally throughout this litigation, Federal Signal has strong defenses to these claims and we are committed to defending our siren products and litigating these cases as necessary.”