National Underwriter, NJ
Feb 25 2005

Armenian Groups To Get $330,000 From N.Y. Life
NU Online News Service, Feb. 24, 2005, 3:59 p.m. EST

A large insurer is starting to implement a settlement with a class of
plaintiffs that includes descendants of the victims of the 1915
Armenian genocide.

The insurer, New York Life Insurance Company, will send a
representative to Pasadena, Calif., Feb. 28 to donate $330,000 to an
Armenian relief group, an Armenian educational group and 2 Armenian
religious groups.

New York Life agreed to the settlement to resolve a suit filed in
1999 in a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on behalf of Martin
Marootian and other descendants of victims of the Armenian genocide.

New York Life acknowledged during litigation that about 2,400
policies sold to Armenians before the genocide remained unpaid.

The settlement fund is open to claims from descendants and heirs of
Armenians who bought New York Life policies before 1915.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs note that the Marootian case is the oldest
resolved case in U.S. history and that it is the first recorded case
that addresses the Armenian genocide.

Descendants of victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide have March 15 to
file settlement claims.

More information about the claims process is on the Web at