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NEW YORK LIFE AGREES TO PAY ARMENIANS $8 MILLION
By R.J. Lehmann, Washington bureau manager
BestWire
November 14, 2006
NEW YORK (BestWire) - Nearly $8 million in settlement checks are
going out this month to more than 2,500 descendents of victims of the
Armenian Genocide, part of a multinational class-action settlement
with New York Life Insurance Co. over unpaid life insurance benefits
owed to the families of genocide victims.
Approved in February 2004 as a $20 million global settlement, the
agreement called for the life insurer to pay inflation-adjusted
benefits, administrative costs, and plaintiffs' attorneys fees for
more than 2,000 pre-1915 life insurance policies that were held by
Ottoman Armenians and that company records still listed as outstanding.
The disbursements come after settlement board reviews of thousands of
claims verified 2,515 that could be traced legitimately to policies
sold by New York Life. U.S. descendents will collect $2.6 million of
the settlement proceeds, while descendents living in Armenia will
receive $3.4 million. The remaining $2 million will be distributed
among descendents living in 24 other countries.
"We are thrilled that thousands of Armenians will finally get the
insurance compensation they deserve," said Brian Kabateck, one of the
lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, in a statement. "Armenians don't
give up easily and this settlement is a testament to that."
In January 2005, a fund representing "unclaimed or heirless"
policies previously distributed $3 million in benefits to Armenian
civic organizations. Groups that collected from the fund included
the Armenian Church of North America's western and eastern dioceses;
the Armenian Apostolic Church's western and eastern prelacies; the
Armenian Apostolic Catholic Exarchate; Armenian Missionary Association
of America; the Armenian General Benevolent Union; Armenian Educational
Foundation, and the Armenian Relief Society.
(BestWire, Jan. 26, 2005)
The Armenian Genocide, also known as the Armenian Holocaust, refers
to events that took place during World War I in the Ottoman Empire,
which has evolved into modern Turkey but which, at the time, controlled
most of the Middle East. Most historians, including the International
Association of Genocide Scholars, agree that from 1915 to 1920, Ottoman
Turks killed more than 1.5 million men, women and children of Armenian
heritage and drove millions more from their homes during the conflict.
However, the Turkish government disputes the historical accounts,
and some countries -- including the United States, United Kingdom,
and Israel -- do not formally recognize the period as a "genocide."
However, the period is acknowledged as a genocide by the governments
of Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia,
and Greece, as well as 39 of the 50 U.S. states.
Founded in 1845, New York Life began selling policies in Europe in
the 1870s, and had sold about 8,000 policies in the Ottoman Empire
by 1915, when the company pulled out of Europe as World War I began
to rage. However, the company's review of its records showed only
about half of the Ottoman policies were purchased by Armenians. The
company believes about one-third of its Armenian claims were paid in
the war's aftermath, when the company hired an Armenian attorney in
Constantinople to adjust claims and search for heirs.
By R.J. Lehmann, Washington bureau manager
BestWire
November 14, 2006
NEW YORK (BestWire) - Nearly $8 million in settlement checks are
going out this month to more than 2,500 descendents of victims of the
Armenian Genocide, part of a multinational class-action settlement
with New York Life Insurance Co. over unpaid life insurance benefits
owed to the families of genocide victims.
Approved in February 2004 as a $20 million global settlement, the
agreement called for the life insurer to pay inflation-adjusted
benefits, administrative costs, and plaintiffs' attorneys fees for
more than 2,000 pre-1915 life insurance policies that were held by
Ottoman Armenians and that company records still listed as outstanding.
The disbursements come after settlement board reviews of thousands of
claims verified 2,515 that could be traced legitimately to policies
sold by New York Life. U.S. descendents will collect $2.6 million of
the settlement proceeds, while descendents living in Armenia will
receive $3.4 million. The remaining $2 million will be distributed
among descendents living in 24 other countries.
"We are thrilled that thousands of Armenians will finally get the
insurance compensation they deserve," said Brian Kabateck, one of the
lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, in a statement. "Armenians don't
give up easily and this settlement is a testament to that."
In January 2005, a fund representing "unclaimed or heirless"
policies previously distributed $3 million in benefits to Armenian
civic organizations. Groups that collected from the fund included
the Armenian Church of North America's western and eastern dioceses;
the Armenian Apostolic Church's western and eastern prelacies; the
Armenian Apostolic Catholic Exarchate; Armenian Missionary Association
of America; the Armenian General Benevolent Union; Armenian Educational
Foundation, and the Armenian Relief Society.
(BestWire, Jan. 26, 2005)
The Armenian Genocide, also known as the Armenian Holocaust, refers
to events that took place during World War I in the Ottoman Empire,
which has evolved into modern Turkey but which, at the time, controlled
most of the Middle East. Most historians, including the International
Association of Genocide Scholars, agree that from 1915 to 1920, Ottoman
Turks killed more than 1.5 million men, women and children of Armenian
heritage and drove millions more from their homes during the conflict.
However, the Turkish government disputes the historical accounts,
and some countries -- including the United States, United Kingdom,
and Israel -- do not formally recognize the period as a "genocide."
However, the period is acknowledged as a genocide by the governments
of Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia,
and Greece, as well as 39 of the 50 U.S. states.
Founded in 1845, New York Life began selling policies in Europe in
the 1870s, and had sold about 8,000 policies in the Ottoman Empire
by 1915, when the company pulled out of Europe as World War I began
to rage. However, the company's review of its records showed only
about half of the Ottoman policies were purchased by Armenians. The
company believes about one-third of its Armenian claims were paid in
the war's aftermath, when the company hired an Armenian attorney in
Constantinople to adjust claims and search for heirs.