Court Grants Access to Settlement Records in Prior Claims

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- A North Carolina federal judge has granted motions to compel, allowing two benzene defendants to seek access to settlement agreements in a previously-filed lawsuit and a workers' compensation claim. Stromberg, et al. v. Ashland Inc., et al., No. 07-332 (M.D. N.C.).

In an Oct. 10 order, Judge Wallace W. Dixon of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina found that information relating to the two prior settlements was relevant to the plaintiffs' instant claims.

Donald and Holly Ann Stromberg contend that Donald's work at Voith Paper Service in North Carolina as a …