EAST PALESTINE A federal judge has approved a request by the attorneys for East Palestine train derailment victims to change the legal timeline for holding the former settlement administrator, Kroll Settlement Administrator, LLC, accountable for errors that delayed payments.

U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson issued an order on Tuesday, allowing Class Counsel—the victims' lawyers—to proceed with a civil contempt action against Kroll in two phases. Kroll was removed from its role in June 2025 after the court found sufficient reason to believe it had not adequately administered the $600 million settlement and related court orders.

Class Counsel argued the new, two-step approach was necessary to inform both the court and the community about the ongoing review and to explain why the full process was taking so long. The judge's order allows the attorneys to file the first motion immediately, despite Kroll’s argument that the change was unfair and premature.

The dispute centers on the timing of a contempt motion. The court's original orders required Class Counsel to hire a qualified auditor to review Kroll's work, with the contempt motion to be filed only after that audit report was completed and submitted.

However, Class Counsel and the new administrator, Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, Inc., have continued to uncover errors and fundamental violations by Kroll as the review progresses. The attorneys asserted that the problems are more complex than simple math errors, including applying incorrect multipliers and improperly denying claims.

To address the delays and provide the community with current information, Class Counsel requested permission to split the legal action.

The first step, or "Step One Motion to Show Cause," allows the attorneys to immediately seek the return of all fees and costs paid to Kroll for violating the court’s Plan of Distribution. The second step, or "Step Two Motion," will be filed later, after the full audit is completed, to seek precise financial penalties against Kroll once the total financial harm to the class is calculated.

Kroll opposed this change, arguing that it shouldn't be forced to respond to serious contempt accusations without first seeing the full, detailed audit report on which the allegations are based. The judge, however, noted that Kroll had previously filed its own proposed response to the court's earlier order, which suggested a schedule much like the one Class Counsel was now suggesting.

Judge Pearson granted the request, ordering Class Counsel to file their Step One Motion to Show Cause on or before this Thursday. The motion must be supported by a declaration from Epiq detailing its findings of Kroll's violations.

To ensure fairness, Judge Pearson granted both Class Counsel and Kroll permission to file legal memoranda. Furthermore, because the motion is to be filed before the auditor’s report, the parties will be given 21 days to conduct discovery related to Epiq’s findings.

A hearing on the Step One Motion to Show Cause is scheduled for Dec. 5, at 1:30 p.m.

To protect the privacy of the claimants, Class Counsel must publicly file a redacted version of examples of claims and file an unredacted version under seal with the court.

The court stated it will address the requirements for the Step Two Motion in a future order.

The decision signals the court's acceptance that the review of Kroll’s work is taking longer than anticipated, and it allows the legal process to move forward while the comprehensive audit continues.