Where this was said
Settlement, No Apology, and a President's Monstrous Statement
At 1:09:08 · chapter starts 1:06:55
Vice Chancellor Backus ultimately ruled that the statute of limitations didn't apply until the period of injury ended, and suggested the women file a new suit. But with two women already bedridden and their health declining by the day, the Radium Girls accepted U.S. Radium's settlement: $10,000 lump sum plus $600 per year for the rest of their lives [1] — Alaina Urquhart "Settlement offer: $10,000 + $600/year: U.S. Radium's settlement offer to the five Radium Girls was $10,000 lump sum plus $600 per year for …" 1:06:59 . The company admitted nothing. Their president, Clarence Lee, issued a statement to the press claiming the company had 'unfortunately gave work to a great many people who were physically unfit to procure employment in other lines of industry' and that this 'act of kindness' had been 'turned against' U.S. Radium [2] — Alaina Urquhart "We unfortunately gave work to a great many people who were physically unfit to procure employment in other lines of industry. Cripples and …" 1:09:08 . It is one of the most staggering examples of corporate gaslighting in American industrial history. By the mid-1930s, all five Radium Girls were dead — without ever receiving a word of apology.
The five Radium Girls accepted a settlement of $10,000 plus $600 per year — far less than they'd asked for — because they knew they would die before a full trial concluded. U.S. Radium never admitted wrongdoing. Their president's statement to the press: the company had generously employed 'cripples and persons similarly incapacitated' as an act of kindness.
U.S. Radium's settlement offer to the five Radium Girls was $10,000 lump sum plus $600 per year for the rest of their lives — far less than the $125,000 they had sued for.
