§30.615. What type of tort suits filed against beryllium vendors or atomic weapons employers may disqualify certain claimants from receiving benefits under Part B of EEOICPA? — Inbound Citations

(a) If a tort suit described in § 30.615 was filed prior to October 30, 2000, the claimant or claimants will not be disqualified from receiving any EEOICPA benefits to which they may be found entitled if the tort suit was terminated in any manner prior to December 28, 2001.

(a) If a tort suit described in § 30.615 was filed during the period from October 30, 2000 through December 28, 2001, the claimant or claimants will be disqualified from receiving any benefits under Part B of EEOICPA unless they dismiss all claims arising out of a covered Part B employee's employment-related exposure to beryllium or radiation that are included in the tort suit on or before the last permissible date described in paragraph (b) of this section.

(a) If a tort suit described in § 30.615 was filed after December 28, 2001, the claimant or claimants will be disqualified from receiving any benefits under Part B of EEOICPA if a judgment is entered against them.

The type of tort suits described in § 30.615 may be filed by more than one individual, each with a different cause of action. For example, a tort suit may be filed against a beryllium vendor by both a covered Part B employee and his or her spouse, with the covered Part B employee claiming for chronic beryllium disease and the spouse claiming for loss of consortium due to the covered Part B employee's exposure to beryllium. However, since the spouse of a living covered Part B employee could not be an eligible surviving beneficiary under Part B of EEOICPA, the spouse would not have to comply with the termination requirements of §§ 30.616 through 30.618. A similar result would occur if a tort suit were filed by both the spouse of a deceased covered Part B employee and other family members (such as children of the deceased covered part B employee). In this case, the spouse would be the only eligible surviving beneficiary of the deceased covered Part B employee under Part B of the EEOICPA because the other family members could not be eligible for benefits while he or she was alive. As a result, the spouse would be the only party to the tort suit who would have to comply with the termination requirements of §§ 30.616 through 30.618.