“AIG is pleased that the court stated today that it will grant preliminary approval of the proposed settlement,” Mark Herr, a spokesman for New York-based
AIG, said in an e-mailed statement. The order couldn’t be immediately confirmed in court records. A clerk for U.S. District Judge Sidney Schenkier in Chicago declined to comment.
The settlement reached by AIG in January is less than a third of the amount requested by Liberty Mutual Holding Co. AIG was accused underreporting the amount of premiums it collected on workers’ compensation policies to reduce payments to an industry-funded backstop.
“We want to evaluate the judge’s written opinion before offering any comment,” said John Cusolito, a spokesman for Liberty Mutual, which sued AIG in 2009.