|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Federal Judge Dismisses 20 Holocaust Lawsuits NewsMax WiresNEW YORK - A federal judge Thursday threw out 20 lawsuits accusing an Italian insurance company of failing to pay benefits to victims of the Holocaust. U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey said the lawsuits are pre-empted by the U.S. government's policy of trying to resolve such claims through a special commission. Story Continues Below The class-action lawsuits - filed in New York, Wisconsin, Florida and California by Holocaust survivors and their heirs - claimed Assicurazioni Generali refused to honor policies held by victims of the World War II-era genocide. The company was pleased with the ruling, adding it "stands by its moral commitment and its responsibilities to continue to pay all proper claims," lawyer Kenneth Bialkin said. "No deserving policy holder should have any concern." Lawrence Kill, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he had not read the ruling and that no decision about an appeal had been made. The judge said his findings were guided in part by the Supreme Court ruling last year that struck down a California law enacted to help Holocaust survivors or their heirs collect on dormant insurance policies. In 2000, Generali agreed to pay up to $100 million to settle thousands of Holocaust-era claims through the International Commission for Holocaust Era Insurance Claims. The commission includes Jewish organizations, U.S. and European regulators, Israel and five European insurance companies that operated during the Nazi era and now have subsidiaries in the United States.
© 2004 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2012 NewsMax.Com |