A 14-year class action lawsuit against Halliburton might be about to come to an end soon in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Halliburton says it has reached an agreement to settle the Erica P. John Fund lawsuit and will fund nearly $54 million of the $100 million settlement fund and its insurer will fund the balance.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2002 and made claims in connection with accounting for long-term construction projects. It was amended a year later to include claims related to asbestos liability disclosures.
The case was subject to several rulings of the District Court and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals as well as two rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court. It was in July of 2015 when the District Court certified a class with respect to only one of the six corrective disclosures claimed by the Lead Plaintiff. Halliburton appealed to the Fifth Circuit and in October 2016, pending the appeal, the District Court continued indefinitely the trial date.
The settlement remains subject to final documentation and the approval of the District Court once the class members are officially notified of the notice.