SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
--------------------------------------------
Date of Report (Date of Earliest Event Reported) September 9, 1997
GATX CORPORATION
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
New York 1-2328 36-1124040
(State or other jurisdiction (Commission file number) (I.R.S. employer
of incorporation) identification number)
500 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois 60661-3676
(Address of principal executive offices)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code (312) 621-6200
<PAGE>
Item 5. Other Events
Yesterday, GATX Corporation issued the following press release:
"Responding to a jury verdict issued in New Orleans, Louisiana, today,
GATX Corporation stated that it will seek relief from the trial court and, if
necessary, appeal what it considers to be excessive compensatory damages and
unwarranted punitive damages.
"The jury verdict arises out of a lawsuit against nine defendants,
including two subsidiaries of GATX Corporation, relating to a leak of butadiene
from a railcar which resulted in a fire that occurred in New Orleans in
September 1987. The fire resulted in no deaths or significant injuries and only
minimal property damage, but resulted in the overnight evacuation of a number of
residents of the surrounding area.
"The jury awarded compensatory damages totaling approximately $1.9
million, plus interest from the date of the accident, to twenty individual
plaintiffs, approximately one-third of which would be borne by General American
Transportation Corporation and GATX Terminals Corporation. In addition, the jury
made five separate punitive damage awards against five defendants totaling $3.4
billion of which $190 million is against GATX Terminals; the other four awards
were against non-GATX companies. While the punitive damage award covers the
entire class of plaintiffs, the case is the first of many that must be tried to
determine the compensatory damages, if any, allocable to each of the remaining
plaintiffs who claim to have been affected by the incident.
"Although 8,000 claims have been made, GATX believes that damages, if
any, awarded to the remaining plaintiffs should average substantially less than
those awarded to the initial twenty plaintiffs.
"GATX believes that the compensatory damages awarded to the twenty
plaintiffs are excessive. GATX further believes that there is absolutely no
basis for the award of punitive damages against GATX in any amount. GATX will
ask the trial court to review and vacate or appropriately limit the judgment
and, if necessary, it will vigorously appeal any final judgment."
1
<PAGE>
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, duly authorized.
GATX Corporation
September 9, 1997 By: /s/ David M. Edwards
--------------------
David M. Edwards
Vice President Finance and
Chief Financial Officer
2
<PAGE>
