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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
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FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report: December 20, 1999
(Date of earliest event reported)
FEDERAL-MOGUL CORPORATION
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Michigan
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(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
1-1511 38-0533580
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(Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification Number)
26555 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, Michigan 48034
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(248) 354-7700
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(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
The total number of pages is 3
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INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN THE REPORT
Item 5. Other Events
Federal-Mogul Corporation announced today that on Monday, December 20, 1999, the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas vacated, subject
to possible reinstatement, a $1.63 billion default judgment entered in favor of
Owens-Illinois, Inc. against T&N. Ltd., a UK corporation and wholly-owned
subsidiary of Federal-Mogul. The Court's action was taken pending a full
hearing scheduled for February 2000 on the merits of T&N's motion to permanently
set aside the default judgment. T&N believes it has legally sufficient grounds
to prevail in its motion to permanently set aside the default judgment.
T&N first received notice of the existence of this default judgment when it was
served with a Notice of a Final Judgment on December 13, 1999. Neither T&N nor
Federal-Mogul have any record of ever having received the underlying complaint,
which the Notice indicates was allegedly served at the T&N offices in
Manchester, England on or about July 14, 1999. As a consequence, T&N did not
respond to the filing by Owens-Illinois. The Notice received on December 13,
1999 indicated that the Court had entered the default judgment against T&N in
August 1999 because of the failure to respond to the complaint. The Court's
ruling vacating the default judgment follows T&N's first appearance before the
Court in this matter.
The underlying complaint filed by Owens-Illinois, alleges that T&N, as a former
supplier of asbestos fibers, is liable to Owens-Illinois for Owens-Illinois' own
indemnity and defense costs pertaining to asbestos related personal injury
claims. T&N believes it has meritorious defenses to such allegations and has
successfully defended against similar underlying claims in the past.
This Current Report on Form 8-K contains certain forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the
"Act"). Such statements are made in good faith by Federal-Mogul pursuant to the
"Safe Harbor" provisions of the Act. Forward-looking statements include
estimates and statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations of
Federal-Mogul and its management, including, without limitation, statements
regarding the Owens-Illinois litigation and the potential to permanently set
aside the default judgment or prevail in the underlying litigation. While it is
likely that T&N will be successful, there can be no assurance that T&N will
succeed in permanently setting aside the default judgment or in ultimately
prevailing in the underlying litigation.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
Dated: December 20, 1999
FEDERAL-MOGUL CORPORATION
By: /s/ Thomas W. Ryan
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Name: Thomas W. Ryan
Title: Executive Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer
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