JUNE 1, 2004- THE DOW PLAN FINALLY STARTS
Most of you would never believe this day would finally come. On May 20, 2004, Judge Denise Page Hood signed an Order authorizing the payment of First Priority Payments of Allowed Claims beginning on June 1st and continuing until further order of the Court.
On May 11, 2004, I was given a tour of the SFDCT Settlement Facility and met with Wendy Huber, the Claims Administrator. I was informed that over $40 million dollars in payments will be made by the SFDCT in the latter part of June, to claimants whose claims have been submitted and who have acceptable proof. The offices of the Settlement Facility and their staff was very, very impressive.
If you have not already received a "Waiver of Opt Out Form" from the SFDCT, on June 1st, the SFDCT will mail a "Participation Form" to all Personal Injury Claimants who have not already waived their right to opt-out of the Settlement Facility. You can use the Participation Form to do three things: (1) inform the SFDCT of your decision to remain in the Settlement Facility; (2) Opt-out of the Settlement Facility to pursue your claim in court against the Litigation Facility; (3) withdraw your claim from the Dow Corning bankruptcy case.
You must remember that all deadlines to make claims or opt-out to file a lawsuit begin to run on June 1, 2004. Claims in the Settlement Facility will be processed in the order that they are received. For those claimants who have already signed an "Opt Out Waiver Form," your claims have been or are currently being processed and, when approved, will be paid.
"Notification of Status" letters will be mailed at or near June 1, 2004, to claimants who have already signed an Opt Out Waiver Form. If you have a "deficiency" in your claim, you have to be very careful and note the applicable deadline date to cure the deficiency and make sure you submit your supplemental information to the SFDCT by that deadline. Please note that there will be a newsletter in the Participation Form mailing that has a one page chart of all claim deadlines that you can use for future references.
