McClendon, et al v. Continental Can Co., et al

Filing 24

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS of Special Master; Raymond Fett, Jr. shall be admitted as a member of the class and shall be paid the full settlement award given in the Plan of Distribution approved by the Court; Raymond Fett,Jr. shall not be awarded interest, attorneys' costs and fees beyond the fee and cost awarded to the class attorney. Signed by Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise on 8/25/11. (jd, )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY

cLENDON. et al..

CECIL

Plaintiffs,

Civ. No. 83-1340 (DRD)

:

v.
THE CONTINENTAL GROUP, INC., et al.,:
Defendants.

ALBERT J. JAKUB, et al.,

Civ. No. 89-4009

:

Plaintiffs,
V.

THE CONTINENTAL GROUP, INC.. et al..:
Defendants.

ROBERT GAVALIK. et al..

:

Civ. No. 89-4066

Plaintiffs,
v.
THE CONTINENTAL GROUP, INC.. et al..:

ORDER APPROVING AND ADOPTING
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION
OF SPECIAL MASTER

Defendants.

It appearing that:
1. Raymond Fett. Jr., has claimed that he is a member of the class in this litigation, and it
appeared that he was not acknowledged as such because of a mistake made with respect to his

address at the outset of class member identification.
2. By reason of the ambiguity of the records of Continental Can, class member settlement
monies to which Raymond Fett, Jr., was entitled were mistakenly sent to Robert Fett, Sr., and
Edna Fett, who misappropriated the funds. They were the uncle and step-aunt of Robert Fett, Jr.
3. The Court entered an Order of June 20, 1997 terminating new claims against the
Settlement Fund. Raymond Fett, Jr., did not identify himself or file a claim for class membership
prior to that date. He did not file a claim until contacted by the Special Master’s Office, through
whose efforts he had been identified.
4. The Special Master reviewed Raymond Fett, Jr.’s claim and issued a Report and
Recommendation dated July 7, 2011. The Report and Recommendation contains a detailed
description of the circumstances of the original inability to locate Raymond Fett, Jr. and the
manner in which he was finally located.
5. The Report and Recommendation found that the available evidence supported

Raymond Fett, Jr.’s claim and that the appropriate shares should have been sent to him. The
Report and Recommendation recommended that i) Raymond Fett, Jr. be admitted as a member of
the class and be paid the full settlement award given in the Plan of Distribution approved by the
Court and ii) Raymond Fett, Jr., shall not be awarded interest, attorneys’ costs and fees, beyond
the fee and cost awarded to the class attorneys.
6. Copies of the Report and Recommendation were mailed on July 7, 2011 to Raymond
Fett, Jr.’s attorney, Joseph T. FitzSimmons, Esq., and to the attorneys for the class. They were
advised that they had one month from the date of receipt, presumably July 8, 2011, to file an
objection to the Report and Recommendation.
7. Counsel for the class, Rose A. Wehner, Esq., Roslyn M. Litman, Esq., and Martha S.

Helmreich, Esq., each responded that she had read the Report and Recommendation of the
Special Master, had reviewed the underlying facts and advised that she had no objections. No
objections were filed by any party, including Mr. Raymond Fett, Jr.
It is, therefore, this

2

day of August, 2011 ORDERED as follows:

1. The Court approves and adopts as its own the Special Master’s Report and
Recommendation.
2. Raymond Fett, Jr., shall be admitted as a member of the class and shall be paid the full
settlement award given in the Plan of Distribution approved by the Court.
3. Raymond Fett, Jr., shall not be awarded interest, attorneys’ costs and fees beyond the
fee and cost awarded to the class attorneys.

DICKINSON R. DEBEVOISE
U.S.S.D.J.