Law department seeks committee approval for $300,000 wrongful-death settlement and authorization to join opioid settlements

The Department of Law presented two separate legal items to the Agenda Review Committee.

Jeff Charles of the law department requested passage of an ordinance to settle a wrongful-death claim for $300,000. The item was presented as a routine settlement request; the committee recorded a recommendation of SCP.

Separately, Steve Spitler of the law department presented legislation authorizing the mayor and director of law to enter into settlement agreements with opioid companies as part of ongoing multidistrict litigation in which the City of Toledo is a plaintiff. Spitler said outside counsel Napoli Shkolnik PLLC and Climaco Wilcox were advising the city and that there is a pending settlement for which participating jurisdictions must elect to participate by Sept. 30. He said the particular settlement includes jurisdictions from all 50 states; Spitler said outside counsel advised not to disclose participation details or an amount until the parties have set the number and distribution dates, but that the legislation would authorize the mayor and director of law to execute agreements as advised by outside counsel.

The committee recommended SCP for the wrongful-death settlement and SEP for the opioid-authorizing legislation as presented.

The transcript records that staff said the opioid litigation is ongoing, that multiple settlements are likely in the future, and that the administration will report back to council committees when details are available. No settlement amounts for the opioid litigation were provided in the committee presentation.