Lawsuit Sanity

Here's hoping this becomes a trend:

RIVERVIEW -- In an era in which billions of dollars are awarded in class-action settlements nationwide each year, some Downriver residents have said "no." At least 30 have rejected up to $550 per family member, which is their share of a $1.2 million settlement prompted when about 2,500 residents evacuated their homes during a July 2001 chemical leak.

To be eligible, all they had to do was sign a form that said they been home in the affected areas of Grosse Ile, Wyandotte, Riverview or Trenton at the time of the leak. While some acknowledged that they weren't home, several others said they didn't support the lawsuit or deserve the money.

"I look at it this way: Nothing happened to me, and when I left home the birds and squirrels with their little tiny lungs were fine and when I got back, they were still fine," said Thelma Diemer, a Trenton retiree who lives on Social Security and dividends from Ford Motor Co. stock.

"I didn't feel I was being honest accepting the money and you have to think about the hereafter, especially when you're 86."...