Queens County, Surrogate's Court: June 25, 2021

Surrogate Kelly

ESTATE OF RUDOLPH JOHNSON, A/K/A RUDOLPH W. JOHNSON A/K/A RUDOLPH WASHINGTON JOHNSON, Deceased (18-38/A) — In this proceeding for leave to compromise causes of action for conscious pain and suffering and wrongful death, and to judicially settle an account of the proceedings as administrator, petitioner moves for an order permitting the six settlement agreements at issue to be filed under seal with the court. Specifically, petitioner seeks an order redacting the individual settlement amounts and all identifying information regarding the settling parties. Petitioner does not seek an order of the court redacting the total amount of the settlement obtained. The underlying action arose out decedent’s alleged exposure to harmful levels of defendants’ benzene-containing products while he performed work on numerous vessels in navigation. The complaint alleged, among other things, that as a result of his exposures to benzene, the decedent contracted myelodysplastic syndrome which transformed to acute myeloid leukemia. Decedent and his surviving spouse, the petitioner herein, were named as plaintiffs in the action brought in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, State of Pennsylvania. Upon decedent’s death in 2017, petitioner became the administrator of the her late husband’s estate and continued to prosecute the underlying action. After extensive motion practice, eight of the original nineteen defendants, as well as one non-party entity, entered into six separate settlement agreements with the petitioner.