As you are aware, the first of four payments to each of you is scheduled to be disbursed October 8. Please keep in mind that this is when disbursements will commence, and not necessarily the date that your payment will be disbursed. Over seven hundred checks will be disbursed each period, one year apart.
We have instructed Rust Consulting to send a specific statement to each of you explaining what the payment represents. This statement will be customized to explain your specific payment in as much detail as is possible, including an explanation of the net settlement amount to be distributed for the period to the class, and the number of work weeks MSA has reported for you from which the payment was calculated. For the reasons explained in my prior emails, it was not feasible to get this information to you beforehand, but it will accompany your first payment.
While the payments can only be as accurate as the payroll records we have been provided with, please know that MSA has represented to us, by contract, that they are accurate. While that does not necessarily guarantee that they are, we have established a modest "reserve fund" in the settlement to account for any errors that might occur. If you believe that any error was made, you can report this to me, Paul Aloe, Fran Curran, or Rust Consulting at (877) 906-1609. We have consistently reported changes of address to Rust, and we do not anticipate that any major errors will occur. However, keep in mind that we will all be monitoring this for the next three years in order to ensure that any errors are corrected.
The first payment MSA was obligated for has already been received and is being held in escrow. All future payments have also be secured by a Letter of Credit in excess of 10 million dollars.
Be aware that Rust Consulting has thousands of clients it is servicing, so don't be surprised if your emails to Amanda are not automatically responded to, or if you have to send information more than once. You will find that I will be responsive to any of your inquiries, as will Paul or Fran.
Regards,
David Aboulafia
