Arab Americans

Edward Masry

Edward Louis Masry (July 29, 1932 – December 5, 2005) was a partner in the law firm of Masry & Vititoe and a city councilman.^[1]

Biography

Edward Masry was Syrian American, and was born on July 29, 1932, in Paterson, New Jersey.

Masry attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California Los Angeles and University of Southern California. Although he never received a bachelor’s degree, Loyola Law School accepted him on an exemption due to high placement scores. He graduated with a Juris Doctor degree in 1960. Thereafter, he was admitted to the State Bar of California.

His firm was instrumental in bringing about the multi-plaintiff direct action suit against Pacific Gas & Electric Company, alleging contamination of drinking water withhexavalent chromium in the southern California town of Hinkley. The case was settled in 1996 for $333 million, the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit^{[citation needed]} in American history. The case was adapted into the highly successful film, Erin Brockovich, with Albert Finney portraying Masry. Ed Masry has a non-speaking cameo in the film Erin Brockovich as a diner patron sitting behind Julia Roberts, the same diner that cameos Erin Brockovich as a waitress.

Masry died on December 5, 2005, in Thousand Oaks, California at age 73. His death was due to complications relating to diabetes. He died one week after resigning from the Thousand Oaks city council because of his condition.

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