Kansas City, Kansas - Dow Chemical has seen its fin fall by $100m to $1.1bn following a judge's decision on 26 July 2013.
Dow, which has been contesting the level of the fine imposed by a Kansas jury in February gained a $139m reduction in the level of fine. Judge John Lungstrum, took account for payments made by other companies to avoid going to trail in the decision. The new fine is $1,060,847,117.
The court said that apart from people and companies that have excluded themselves, "the settlement applies to all the people and companies that purchased polyether polyol products from a defendant at any time from 1999 through 31 December 2003 in the United States and its territories (excluding any government entity, defendants, their employees and their respective parents; subsidiaries and affiliates).Polyether polyols products are: propylene-oxide derived polyether polyols; monomeric or polymeric diphenlmethane diisocyanates (MMDI or PMDI - collectively MDI); toluene diisocyanates (TDI); MDI-TDI blends; or propylene oxide polyether polyolsystems (except those that contain polyester polyols)".
Additionally, the judge ordered that a plan of allocation, decided on 26 July 2013 would be activated unless Dow appealed. The plan will give claimants a slice of the fine depending on how much the court-appointed claims administrator decides they were overcharged.
