Last November, lawyers representing Bayview Hunters Point residents filed a settlement motion in a class action lawsuit against housing developers Lennar Corp. and FivePoint Holdings. But in December, the judge reviewing the settlement motion rejected it.
Under the settlement agreement, the developers would have paid $5.4 million to resolve claims that they failed to properly mitigate dust and particulates while redeveloping the former Navy shipyard and Superfund site in Bayview Hunters Point.
U.S. District Court Judge James Donato denied the motion, the San Francisco Business Journal reports. He said the settlement motion provided insufficient details about the more than 9,000 listed plaintiffs. He could not assess whether the settlement – which would have released the developers from all claims, including wrongful death – would be "fair and reasonable.”
Judge Donato also said the settlement failed to provide enough distinction between long-time residents, and those who only lived in the area for a short time.
He also said the motion failed to explain how Arieann Harrison, local environmental justice advocate and founder of the Marie Harrison Foundation, is a qualified class representative.
The judge invited the claimants to revise and refile the motion for settlement, if they could address what he called deficiencies.
