MovieChat Forums > Erin Brockovich (2000) Discussion > PGE had to pay $333million because

PGE had to pay $333million because

posted 19 years ago by lilkunta3
23 replies | jump to latest

i love the movie it is great.

however, all the hatred here on the boards towards the movie, i think r misdirected & should be directed @ the real Erin B (if she did do wrong doing).

i have read a few different things by googling Erin'sname.

Maybe Erin did lie about her research. I think she did do some, but maybe she did not find 200 articles. Maybe she was wrong is saying that the PGE ch6 contamination is responsible for all the ailements of the Hinkley residents. But 1 woman had 5 miscarriages..another had her breast & ueterus removed, and still her cancer came back!...all the nosebleeds..

....I think PGE gave the $333mill b.c they realised that some of those ailments they were responsible 4; BUT EVEN MORE B/C THEY LIED AND COMMITED OTHER CRIMES. By settling, they may have shielded themselves from charges for the lies & other false info they gave the Hinkley residents.
---They withheld info that is public record,
---they shredded info( remember Chris Embry character from the movie),
---they lied by telling the Hinkley residents all about general Chromium (so if the Hinkley residents did do research they would not come up with anything bc they were looking up the wrong element) when the poisonous chemical was actually chr6.

Sadly, I have read that many residents feel they were unfairly compensated. That if you really close to Erin, you got alot of $$$. One person rec'd on $25,000( personally I'd be happy with that, but I am a healthy young person), but I don't know the extent of that resident's medical problems.

quote from http://www.mold-help.org/content/view/218/
Many of the residents had a hard time reconciling the small amount of their checks with the enormous legal fees. Arbitrated cases are supposed to be quicker and cheaper than court trials. In this case, Masry, Girardi and Lack took 40 percent, or $133 million. The residents, of course, had agreed to this.
That left $196 million for the plaintiffs, or an average of about $300,000 per victim. The amounts varied. Dorothea Montoya received $60,000; Christine Mace got $50,000; Lynn Tindell $50,000; Tiffany Oliver got $60,000. All of these people were longtime residents who had suffered presumably documented medical problems. "It didn't make sense why my husband, who's had 17 tumors removed from his throat, got only $80,000," said Smith.

Lastly, as this post is quite lengthy now, it seems CA residents paid Hinkley, not PGE:
In July 96 Hinkley was awarded $333billion from PGE. "A few months later in after PG&E settled the Hinkley case, in October 1996, the California Legislature gave the utility $500 million to improve the "safety and reliability" of its distribution system. ...so yeah they paid Hinkey $333million, but they got $500million from CA...so they ended up $167million.

things to read:http://archive.salon.com/ent/feature/2000/04/14/sharp/index.html?pn=5
http://dir.salon.com/story/ent/feature/2000/04/14/sharp/index.html
http://www.mold-help.org/content/view/218/ The Real Erin Brockovich Story

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[–] ash24m 18 years ago

I find it kind of shady that the Lawyers got %40 when they weren't the ones suffering from the contamination. I can see them paying Girardi and Lack all of the expenses they endured plus maybe as much as maybe 20 million. 133 million though? that's so much money that the victims will never see and probably need.
I also don't know if it was true that Erin got a 2 million dollar bonus but I don't know how she can sleep at night taking almost 7 times more money then the average victim that he was "trying to help".

[–] lilkunta3 18 years ago

i never thougth about it. the lawyers already have millions from their other clients. did they really need $133 million. they were probably in the mind that the simple ppl of hinkly didnt need millions, which is sad bc what is the price of a lady's ovaries? the money that was dispersed varied from $50000 to $300000. I asked a farmer and he said $50000 will burn reall quickly on farm equipment, so it isnt alot of money. so sad.

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] lilkunta3 18 years ago

The lawyers r just that LAWYERS. They have firms, 401k, they have degrees which no 1 may take from them. They have a backup plan. Teh hinkley residents have water: dirty water, barren ladies, cancer stricken moms, repeated miscarriages, etc.

There was no way hinkley was going to loose bc the ch6 poison was dumped and the documents shredded. Not 2 mention the fact that hinkley residents were purposely deceived when the company LIED to them by telling them ch6 chem is good for them.

& lets just say they did loose on a technicality or something, I dont know if there is a statute of limitations, but 2day in 07 with even better tech & tests, the payout may have been larger than the $33mill.

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Re: @ash by - vup on Sat Mar 31 2007 20:32:03
What about the other perspective. If they had lost, would you feel bad that the lawyers had to pay for the medical reports, legal costs, attorney fees for the other side (a possibility), arbitration costs, etc?

They take a risk.

The people were told about the 40%. They didn't have to sign up if they didn't want to.

[–] DizzyLizard444 18 years ago

The lawyers wouldn't have firms or 401k's and their degrees don't do much for them if they don't charge for their services. Masery would have gone bankrupt if he'd lost on this case so he took a huge risk. And if it wasn't for Masery and Brockovitch, the townspeople would have no idea that anything had been done to them. And if they had lost they wouldn't be able to retry PG&E anyways as far as I know. And there is no such thing as a sure thing anyways.

[–] satviewer2000 17 years ago

I am in complete agreement with this comment. Without Masery & Brokovich, the residents would have continued to suffer in ignorance and would have gotten nothing at all. The legal fees charged are "market rate", nothing more, nothing less. The resident(s) had the choice of signing on or not. They could have just as easily refused to sign the contract with the lawyer, or perhaps gone to another lawyer to see if they could get a "better deal", so really, they've got nothing to complain about.

As well, whether or not Cr6 can or cannot cause all of the ailments that the residents suffered from is irrelevant. They were successfully sued because of the cover-up, not because of the toxin itself. Just as Nixon did not setup the Watergate break-in, but he was impeached because of the cover-up of the break-in.

[–] deem714 17 years ago

~~ I am in complete agreement with this comment. Without Masery & Brokovich, the residents would have continued to suffer in ignorance and would have gotten nothing at all.~~

I agree with this they were ignorant being that not many of them went to that meeting to begin with. Even Donna Jensen believed the water guy when he told her that the water is fine and the doctors (paid for by PG&E -- hint hint!!) told her that the medical probs had nothing to do with the other. Dolts.

You're laborers, you're supposed to be laboring! That's what you get for not having an education!!

[–] kdy_9 16 years ago

This is simply just biased if you say lawyers weren't entitled to what they got. They take a lot of risk, watch "A Civil Action", you'll see.

"With great power. . comes . . . great responsibilty".

[–] lilkunta3 13 years ago

As well, whether or not Cr6 can or cannot cause all of the ailments that the residents suffered from is irrelevant. They were successfully sued because of the cover-up, not because of the toxin itself.
satviewer: well said!
However Nixon wasnt impeached. Andrew Johson & William Clinton were.
Nixon was going to be impeached & found guilty thus removed from POTUS so he resigned.

OT: impeach only means to bring chares against a high rank official.
The word has such a strong connotation.
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[–] iaskedalice09 15 years ago

Law is an incredibly demanding field. Lawyers often work very long hours. See this article - http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article2045254.ece

A case takes a lot of time, money, and effort - the firm certainly devoted that much, and they are entitled to the proper repayment.

As these people said, 40% is a standard rate, and folks are informed of it beforehand.

It's rather disappointing to see such high job dissatisfaction among lawyers, but it definitely doesn't surprise me. In addition to long hours, it's also high stress, and the clients are often under- or un-appreciative.

[–] SeisCinemaSeis 15 years ago

PG&E had to pay those millions (still a minuscule figure for such a huge corporation) because they literally killed people because of their greediness and lack of respect for human lives.
Now talking about the amount of money that the lawyers firm got, 40% from 333 million. IMO that was too much, I mean I suppose Masry and his associates had to pay a lot of bills and gave bonuses to most of their employees, yet 167 millions is too much. They could have donated let's say 67 millions to the victims and still they would have ended with lots of money in their hands. But of course in capitalism that's not how things works.

[–] marcchanois 15 years ago

But 1 woman had 5 miscarriages

that woman uses drugs, you think she is a good example a representive of those who deserve the money?

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] lilkunta3 14 years ago

hank: this movie prooves how PGE was awful not every11 in this country.
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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] lilkunta3 14 years ago

hank this movie prooves how PGE was awful not every1 in the country
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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] lilkunta3 13 years ago

ooh a RED post. here is mine
hank this movie prooves how PGE was awful not every1 in the country

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] lilkunta3 13 years ago

hank this movie prooves how PGE was awful not every1 in the country

The lawyers didnt exploit Hinkley.The town was told up fron that the fee was 40%. They didnt have to agree.
Erin wasnt neglectful. Yes there were things she missed, but she def did care and raise her kids.

So I guess you are not in the USA or if you are you are getting out ASAP?
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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] lilkunta3 13 years ago

amount the people got back, after a bail out from their own tax dollars
YOU are equating the 2.
Did or does the part of Cali govt that accounts see it as that way?

and the amount the people got back...is the equivalent of getting their tax money returned for a few years.
definitely NOT.
THey got a lump sum.
If you total all their income tax refunds for life i think the amoucnt would be less thatn what they got from PGE.
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[–] 15 years ago

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