They haven't settled yet. You don't pay out while the case is being worked out, and paid to the claimant's what?

In a sense, the claimants are becoming shareholders of this company. That is, like shareholders, they have a claim to a certain portion of future cash flows. Like shareholders, they should be hoping that the business continues to thrive so that their claims can be paid out.

The decision not to cut dividends in the face of an earnings shock is a pretty common one and not generally a sign of an executive team attempting to enrich themselves. It's more of a sign to shareholders that the executive team has faith in the robustness of the business, which helps if the goal is to survive the present difficulties.

Are you proud of your ignorance? Seems like you're not interested in understanding, just in continuing to feel outraged.