Attorneys for aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin and former St. Croix industrial worker Milton Burt told a Superior Court judge Monday that they reached a settlement agreement in Burt and other former industrial employees’ chemical exposure lawsuits.
Former employees first sued the company, Martin Marietta — which merged with Lockheed Martin — in 2007, claiming that a lack of proper safety and oversight measures at a St. Croix alumina refining plant exposed them to toxic dust that could lead to cancer or respiratory ailments. Burt was a maintenance worker at the plant for 26 years, according to a lawsuit he filed in 2021, who had little or no protection from bauxite dust, asbestos and other lung irritants. In sum, Burt and at least 80 others have sued over their exposure to dangerous material at the plant. Some have died awaiting trial.
The settlement agreement, according to a joint court filing from Burt and Lockheed Martin’s attorneys, could also apply to the approximately 80 other plaintiffs pending their approval.
An order by Superior Court Judge Alphonso Andrews Jr. accepting the agreement had not been added to the docket by Monday evening. One of Burt’s attorneys, Russell Pate, confirmed to the Source that a settlement between the parties had been reached. Other attorneys contacted by the Source either had no comment or did not respond.
In their joint settlement notice, attorneys also asked Andrews to dismiss jurors who had been empanelled last week in Burt’s case. Opening arguments were initially slated to begin last Thursday, according to court documents, but jurors were dismissed for the weekend amid outstanding legal issues.
