MISSISSIPPI JURY: PLAINTIFFS’ LAWYERS COMMITTED FRAUD

IN ASBESTOS CLAIMS AGAINST ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD

Guy and Brock Must Refund $210K

for Claims Paid and Pay $210K in Punitive Damages

A federal jury in Natchez, Mississippi, on March 8, 2010, found that Mississippi plaintiffs’ attorneys
William Guy and Thomas Brock committed fraud and breached the duty of good faith and fair
dealing in asbestos claims they filed against Illinois Central Railroad. The plaintiffs’ lawyers filed
lawsuits on behalf of two individuals who had already received compensation for asbestos-related
injuries in a previous lawsuit.

The jury found that Guy & Brock of McComb, Mississippi, submitted fraudulent information to Illinois
Central Railroad to conceal their clients’ involvement in the earlier case, which would have barred
their clients’ claims against Illinois Central. The jury awarded Illinois Central full repayment of the
$210,000 Illinois Central paid on those claims plus an additional $210,000 in punitive damages.

“Illinois Central is pleased that a Mississippi federal jury held these plaintiffs’ lawyers liable for fraud
in asbestos claims against us,” said Karen Phillips, Vice President of Public and Government Affairs
for Illinois Central. “Our company will continue to aggressively pursue all suspected fraud or
litigation abuses.”

Background

In 1995, the two individuals at issue, Willie Harried and Warren Turner, Jr., became part of the David
Cosey v. E.D. Bullard Co., a mass action for asbestos-related injuries originally filed in Jefferson
County, Mississippi. The first trial in Cosey resulted in a massive plaintiff verdict and was widely
considered a driving factor that led to tort reforms in Mississippi.

The jury found that Guy and Brock tendered false statements to Illinois Central by failing to disclose
the previous involvement of Harried and Turner in the Cosey case. After Illinois Central entered into
a settlement process agreement with Guy & Brock in 2002, Harried and Turner received $90,000
and $120,000, respectively. In the March 2010 trial, both Harried and Turner stated that they had
clearly told Guy and Brock about their involvement in Cosey.

Fraud and abuse in asbestos and toxic tort cases remain a contentious issue. In 2005, a federal
judge in Texas determined that thousands of silica cases, primarily originating in Mississippi, were
based on fraudulent misdiagnoses. A California plaintiffs’ firm lost privileges to practice law in a
Cleveland, Ohio, court after the judge in Kananian v. Lorillard Tobacco found that the lawyers had
been dishonest in their handling of an asbestos claim. CSX currently has a RICO action against a
Pittsburgh plaintiffs’ law firm and medical screeners for alleged fraud in asbestos litigation.

Danny Mulholland and Tanya Ellis, Forman Perry, Jackson, Mississippi, represented Illinois Central.
John Corlew and Kathy Smith, Jackson, represented Guy and Brock. Wayne Dowdy of Magnolia,
Mississippi, represented Harried and Turner.

For more information, please contact Karen Phillips with Illinois Central at (202) 347-7816.