EAST PALESTINE Attorneys representing victims of the 2023 East Palestine train derailment have asked a federal court to shorten the timeline for holding the settlement’s former administrator accountable, a move intended to address community frustration over continued payment delays.

In a recent filing with the U.S. District Court, the lawyers representing the victims requested permission to pursue a civil contempt action against Kroll Settlement Administration in two phases. The approach aims to move immediately against Kroll to recover its fees, rather than waiting for a court-ordered, comprehensive audit that the lawyers contend is prolonging the distribution of the $600 million fund.

The request to bypass the standard process acknowledges the ongoing distress felt by residents who are still waiting for compensation, more than a year after the settlement was announced and months after it received final court approval.

The attorneys stated in the motion that proceeding with a preliminary action now would "inform the Court and the impacted community of the progress of the review, [and] explain why this process is taking the amount of time it is taking".  The motion states that the explanation is critical for thousands of individuals who are wondering why their promised payments have stalled following what was intended to be a speedy resolution.

The payment delay followed a June 11, 2025, order by U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson, who removed Kroll as the court-appointed administrator. This removal came after Class Counsel reported errors in Kroll’s work and reported numerous complaints about the timing of payments.

Judge Pearson’s order found "sufficient reason to believe" that Kroll had not properly carried out its duties in managing the settlement. Specifically, the court found Kroll may have failed to correctly implement the "Plan of Distribution," the detailed rulebook for dividing the settlement money.

The alleged errors include Kroll possibly not having accurately figured out the dollar value of each "point" in the program for victims exposed to chemicals.

In addition, the motion suggests that Kroll might have made mistakes by not treating the Village of East Palestine differently from the larger area covered by the 44413 zip code, as the plan required.

The court concluded that these "likely mistakes" meant Kroll may have overpaid certain claims to the detriment of other participating class members and the total Qualified Settlement Fund.

Following Kroll’s removal, Judge Pearson appointed Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, Inc., as the new administrator. The judge also directed Class Counsel to immediately hire an "independent expert, called a 'qualified auditor,' to thoroughly review Kroll's past payment calculations".

“Unfortunately, because the review process continues to uncover additional errors by Kroll and multiple failures to follow the Court’s order, the process of reviewing Kroll’s work is taking longer than anticipated and longer than the parties want,” according to the document filed by the victim’s attorneys.

Under the original court order, Class Counsel was required to wait for the auditor’s report to be completed before filing a motion to hold Kroll in contempt of court. The attorneys are now requesting to amend that order to allow for a two-step filing process, acknowledging the lengthy nature of the ongoing review and its impact on the community.

The motion asserts that the ongoing review reveals errors that go beyond “mathematical errors”, including "improper denial of claims, errors in Kroll's underlying data, and applying multipliers that are not contained in the Court's Order". Lawyers say the problems make the current review time-consuming, which is why the attorneys say they are seeking partial, immediate legal action to address the delay.

The lawyers propose to break the contempt action into two parts:

Phase One: Immediate Disgorgement: Class Counsel would file a motion for civil contempt now, based on evidence that Kroll violated the Plan of Distribution. This initial motion would seek only the return of all fees and costs paid to Kroll, a preliminary measure. The attorneys believe this will provide the community with valuable information about the settlement's progress.

Phase Two: Monetary Sanctions: A second motion would be filed later, after the qualified auditor and Epiq have fully completed their review. This final action would seek monetary sanctions against Kroll, since lawyers assert that the precise financial penalties cannot be calculated until all of Kroll’s errors are fully analyzed, and the corrected value of a single point in the compensation plan is determined.

The lawyers requested that, if the court grants permission to restructure the process, they be allowed to file the first phase of the contempt motion within two days of the court’s ruling.

The attorney’s move reflects pressure from a community that has spent months waiting for the promised funds. The $600 million settlement, which resolved claims for individuals and businesses within a 20-mile radius of the derailment, was intended to deliver compensation quickly after final approval in September 2024.

However, the payment process, especially for personal injury claims, was slow even before Kroll’s removal. Residents reported receiving confusing or denial letters based on alleged faulty criteria from Kroll. In contrast to the community's wait, millions of dollars in legal fees were paid to lawyers within two weeks of final approval.

The attorneys' new motion is the latest attempt to move the process forward, seeking to convert the frustration over the review delay into a faster legal action against the administrator allegedly responsible for the settlement's initial missteps.

Kroll has yet to file a response to the motion or respond to 21 News’ request for comment.