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Attorneys for 59-year-old Diane Schachner announced the settlement Friday, more than three years after Schachner suffered serious leg injuries when she was dragged nearly 30 feet by the bus.
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The company said in a statement that settling the remaining Illinois lawsuits was in the best interest of its owners. It attributed the decision to “years of biased media coverage in the greater Chicago area,” the cost of appealing a record jury verdict and the time and money needed to defend hundreds of other claims.
An Illinois resident won her case against the company Sterigenics – but other sufferers’ lawsuits hang in the balance
On the heels of a record $363 million jury verdict, a ruling by a Cook County judge will speed progress of some 800 lawsuits over Willowbrook plant’s alleged toxic emissions.
The company’s Willowbrook facility was closed in 2019, months after an EPA report discovered people living within 1.5 miles of the plant were 10 times more likely to develop cancer due to a gas called ethylene oxide that was used at the facility.