TOKYO —— Toyobo Co. is paying $29 million to settle class-action litigation in the United States that sought damages from the Japanese textile manufacturer for bulletproof vests suspected of defects, the company said Wednesday.
Toyobo received a preliminary approval for the settlement from the Mayes County District Court in Oklahoma. The pact covers class-action suits in seven states —— West Virginia, Missouri, Louisiana, New Jersey, California and Michigan, in addition to Oklahoma, according to Toyobo.
The case involves some 150,000 bullet-resistant vests.
Other lawsuits are still pending against both Toyobo, which supplied a fiber called Zylon for the vests, and Michigan-based Second Chance Body Armor Inc., which supplied the vests.
Among the outstanding suits is one filed by the widow of Tony Zeppetella, a rookie Oceanside police officer shot to death in June 2003 while wearing the vest.
Earlier this month, the U.S. government sued Second Chance and Osaka-based Toyobo, contending they conspired to hide evidence the vests could be defective.
Toyobo and Second Chance have blamed each other.
