Asbestos Trusts / Trusts Database / Owens-Illinois

Asbestos Trusts — Owens-Illinois

Asbestos Trust Claims: Compensation is Available Without Filing a Lawsuit

Asbestos companies and their insurers placed close to $30 Billion dollars into trust funds to pay people who were injured by asbestos. But nearly 40% of the funds have still gone unclaimed by the victims. You may be entitled to a portion of these funds.

Applying for asbestos trust fund compensation is not getting into a fight.

This money was set aside in a trust account for those who were injured.

Applying for a payment from these trusts is not affecting any company or coming out of anyone’s pocket. This is insurance money specifically to help people hurt by asbestos.

The court ordered the funds because the asbestos industry could no longer hide its secret: asbestos is very dangerous to breathe.

Owens-Illinois Asbestos Personal Injury Trust

Company Founding	1929
Core Businesses	manufacture of glass products and insulation
Bankruptcy	District of Delaware (2020)
Year Trust was Founded	2022
Assets at Founding	$610 million
Assets as of 2021	$552,892,806
Payment Percentage	100%
Amount of Money Paid To Date	> $59 million
Number of Claims Paid	439

Company Summary

In 1929, Owens Bottle Co. and Illinois Glass Company merged, forming Owens-Illinois Glass Co. (later Owens-Illinois, Inc.). The companies had dominated the glass industry on their own and hoped to continue the trend once merged, despite challenges from the Great Depression.

• In 1938, after reaching an agreement concerning fiberglass production, Owens-Illinois (OI) merged with Corning Glass Co. to form the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Co. 

• OI’s main business has always been glass, but it was an infamous name in the asbestos industry. It was in 1943 when Owens-Illinois began developing an asbestos insulation product made up of around 10-15% amosite or chrysotile asbestos.

• Research on Kaylo done at the Saranac Laboratory in New York showed that it was a dangerous product. 

• In 1948, doctors from Saranac wrote to representatives at OI that Kaylo could cause asbestosis. Owens-Illinois brought the product to market anyway and sold it from 1953 to 1958. 

• That ended OI’s stint in the asbestos industry, but it did not solve the problem of asbestos exposure due to Kaylo.  In 1958, OI sold the rights to Kaylo production to Owens-Corning.

• Today, OI is known as the O-I Glass Company, and it’s safe to say the company is sticking to glass production once again.

Workers Generally Eligible for the Trust:

Workers who may have been at risk of exposure to asbestos from working with Kaylo include:

Insulators	Construction / Demo workers	Shipyard workers
Pipefitters	Boilermakers	Steam equipment repairmen
Factory workers	Laborers	Refinery workers

Kaylo came in block form and was also available as pipe covering. Workers that frequently installed, repaired, or removed insulation products may have come into contact with Kaylo, putting them at risk of developing asbestos-related injuries due to exposure.

The trades listed above are not an exhaustive list, and workers who were even in the vicinity of those using Kaylo would have been at risk of asbestos exposure, too.

Secondary Asbestos Exposure

Spouses and household members of workers may qualify for the OI Asbestos Personal Injury Trust as well.

People who brought home asbestos on their work clothes may have also been exposed in their homes and vehicles. This especially includes anyone who regularly laundered asbestos-tainted work clothes. Asbestos is dusty and durable, and anyone who spent time in a garage or small laundry room breathing it in could have been at risk.

Owens-Illinois Asbestos Personal Injury Trust History

Asbestos claims against Owens-Illinois can date back to the 1940s and ‘50s, but a steady stream of claims against it began in the 1970s.  O-I was able to stay afloat for longer than its Kaylo counterpart, Owens-Corning, which reorganized under Chapter 11 about 22 years prior.  

OI split in 2019 to establish 2 subsidiaries – Paddock Enterprises, LLC and O-I Glass, Inc.  It assigned Paddock Enterprises all of its asbestos liability, and that company filed for bankruptcy on January 6, 2020. 

The OI Trust was established through the bankruptcy Plan on July 8, 2022.

In 2022, Paddock Enterprises (a subsidiary of OI) created the Owens-Illinois Asbestos Personal Injury Trust under its Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization. The current payment percentage is 100%.

It is important to note that claimants are only eligible for compensation from the Trust if their exposure (to Kaylo) occurred before January 1, 1959. For exposures after that date, look to Owens Corning. 

The payment percentage is determined by each trust and is subject to change over time. The Trust has established forms and procedures to apply and collect compensation from the trust. You can learn more on their website.

In 2022, 42,657 claims were filed with the Trust, according to its first annual financial report.

The report also details that $59,941,250 was paid out in the settlement of claims to date.

Important Facts About Asbestos Trust Compensation for People with Asbestos Illnesses

The Vast Majority of Our Clients Qualify for Payments from Multiple Asbestos Trusts.

Depending on where you worked, or how you were exposed to asbestos, you may qualify to file claims with more than one asbestos trust.  Different occupations worked with different types of asbestos products.  The location of the work – the actual job site – also impacts which claims may be filed.  Every case is unique, and thousands of clients have been able to receive compensation from multiple asbestos trusts.  

Asbestos Trust Claims Are Not Lawsuits and Do Not Affect a Person’s Employer or Benefits.

Filing claims with asbestos trusts is a separate act than filing a lawsuit against certain companies.  It is possible, however, to file a lawsuit and additionally file claims with asbestos trusts.  This determination is made on a case-by-case basis depending on each client’s work and/or exposure history.   Companies that are not bankrupt are eligible to be sued in a lawsuit, while bankrupt companies are those that were ordered to establish asbestos bankruptcy trusts.

The asbestos trusts exist for the purpose of awarding compensation to qualifying claimants.  The courts designated that money be specifically set aside to provide payment to those individuals injured by asbestos.  You do not have to be retired to file a claim, and the claim does not affect your current or previous employer(s), or any benefits you may already receive.  If you worked with products or at a job site that was owned by a company that has established an asbestos trust, you may meet the criteria for compensation.  

Veterans Injured By Asbestos Exposure During Service Can Claim Asbestos Trust Compensation and Veterans Benefits

Asbestos use was extremely common in the U.S. military for decades.  Navy ships were built using asbestos insulation to ensure they were fireproof.  The boiler rooms on the ships were full of asbestos insulation, gaskets, and valves used on the various types of equipment.  Military tanks and vehicles used asbestos containing brake parts as well as gaskets and valves. 

Some military jobs, such as mechanics, boilermakers, and pipefitters, to name a few, would cause servicemembers to be directly exposed to asbestos.   Other jobs required that work be done near those using or working with asbestos, which still put those workers at risk.  A military veteran’s benefits will not be affected by filing asbestos trust claims; this is true even if you already receive disability benefits from the VA.

Cigarette Smokers Are Absolutely Eligible to File Asbestos Trust Claims.

One of the common misconceptions surrounding asbestos trust claims is that people who smoked are not eligible to file for compensation.

That’s absolutely false.

Our Office has Recovered Many Trust Settlements on Behalf of Smokers.

Asbestos exposure makes it five times more likely you’ll develop lung cancer. Smoking makes it ten times more likely you’ll develop lung cancer. But being a smoker with asbestos exposure makes it fifty times more likely you’ll develop lung cancer.

And that’s why asbestos companies will pay compensation to industrial workers or others exposed to asbestos, even if they were lifelong smokers.

I know this, because many of them are my clients.

Your rights can be lost if you wait.

Although asbestos trust claims are not lawsuits, they are subject to the same time limitations that lawsuits are.

These laws are called Statutes of Limitation. 

Statutes of limitation specify how much time a person has to file a lawsuit.

If a person waits too long, they lose the right to file a lawsuit.

Every state puts limits on how long individuals have to file lawsuits on their own behalf or on behalf of a deceased loved one. These laws are called Statutes of Limitation, and if you miss one, you will not be able to file any asbestos claims.

The exact same thing applies with asbestos trusts: 

Asbestos exposure makes it five times more likely you’ll develop lung cancer. Smoking makes it ten times more likely you’ll develop lung cancer. But being a smoker with asbestos exposure makes it fifty times more likely you’ll develop lung cancer.

Statutes of Limitations are often not very straightforward in asbestos cases because there are questions about when the statute should start:

• Does “the clock” start when a person is diagnosed with an asbestos-related illness, or does it start when they find out their illness could have been caused by asbestos?
• If they worked in Texas but now live in Missouri, which statute applies?

These are the sorts of questions that are best posed to an asbestos attorney, and we’re happy to answer them for you.

If you believe you are entitled to compensation for your asbestos-related illness, call, text or email our law firm so we can tell you how long you have to make the decision to file a trust claim or to seek asbestos compensation through an asbestos lawsuit.

It won’t cost you anything to call us, but it could cost you everything if you wait too long to file a claim.

Justinian C. Lane, Esq. – AsbestosClaims.Law

My grandfather, grandmother and father were all exposed to asbestos in their work, and all three died of respiratory-related cancers.

I found out too late about the health effects of asbestos to help them.

But my firm has helped many other people receive compensation for health problems they developed from exposure to asbestos.

Call, text or email us for a completely free consultation with no obligation. I will listen to the details of your story, and explain your options. We only work on contingency, so we only get paid if you do.

Every case is different, but the Law Offices of Justinian C. Lane, Esq. has obtained large settlements for thousands of people harmed by asbestos. This compensation has helped ease our clients’ financial burdens, and offers a legacy to leave for their loved ones.

At AsbestosClaims.Law, we’ve helped thousands of people who were exposed to asbestos in their job, car or at home. Can we help you?