When Crowell & Moring convinced a jury in February that Signal International mistreated five Indian guest workers brought in to repair oil rigs after Hurricane Katrina, the win was also good news for more than 200 workers who had filed 11 similar cases and were awaiting trial. But their prospects dimmed when the marine services company stated that it might be headed for bankruptcy, endangering the plaintiffs' potential recovery.

Now, with the company filing for Chapter 11 on Monday, those workers look closer to getting some compensation. In a filing in Delaware federal bankruptcy court, Signal proposed that $20 million be set aside to resolve the guest workers' claims. This plan must be approved by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath.

Signal was accused in a 2008 lawsuit of luring hundreds of Indian workers to aid in Katrina cleanup efforts under false promises that they'd get permanent residency in the U.S. When the workers arrived, they were allegedly forced to live in squalid and cramped conditions in guarded facilities along the Gulf Coast.