Korean Claimants v. Dow Silicones Corporation, et al.

This petition arises from a decades-long mass tort settlement administered under federal court supervision in which over 2,600 South Korean nationals received formal approval of their claims against Dow Corning Corporation for personal injuries caused by silicone gel breast implants—yet received nothing, or far less than they were owed. The Settlement Facility imposed an address confirmation requirement that proved impossible for Korean Claimants to satisfy, denied premium payments to all Korean Claimants and basic payments plus premium payments to some Korean Claimants, and refused all meaningful communication with their counsel. When Petitioners sought judicial scrutiny of the Claims Administrator's conduct and neutrality, the district court refused without briefing, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed in three pages. Subsequently, the district court terminated and dissolved the positions assigned for the settlement facility, and the Sixth Circuit affirmed in three pages. The questions presented are: 1. Whether a federal court discharges its duty to supervise a court-administered mass tort settlement when it permanently extinguishes the formally approved claims of more than 2,600 foreign nationals—relying exclusively on declarations submitted by the claims administrator whose neutrality is disputed, refusing without briefing a claimant-funded independent audit, and never independently examining whether the administrative process that produced 100% denial of an identifiable national group complied with due process