Company retracts settlement in South Carolina asbestos case

By Brian Cole

Published on March 20, 2006

In her lawsuit, Anna Keys says the two sides reached a settlement agreement in April 2004. Ms. Keys is alleging that Union Carbide has backed out of the $170,000 settlement agreement and they are now offering to settle the case for $5,000.

Keys' husband, Carl, died in 1997. He worked at Union Carbide from 1951-1982 and contracted occupational pneumoconiosis and pulmonary function impairment. Carl Keys was granted 40 percent partial disability by the Worker's Compensations Fund.

Keys is claiming that the money owed to her is from benefits lost after her husband's death. However, Union Carbide and Dow Chemical (a second defendant) are claiming that her husband's benefits would only have been paid until he was 65. They claim they do not owe her for benefits because Carl Keys was 69. Anna Keys was also denied a dependant's benefits claim by the Worker's Compensation Fund when they found that Carl Keys' occupational pneumoconiosis was not a factor in his death.

In 1999 Anna Keys filed reports from a doctor that said Carl Keys died of asbestos exposure. Five years later, the defendants contacted Mrs. Keys about settling the claim.

Keys thought the matter was settled until recently.

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