The lead plaintiff in a lawsuit on compensation to survivors of the Armenian Genocide victims died at his home in San Diego.

Retired pharmacist Martin Marootian was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit that resulted in a $20-million settlement from New York Life Insurance Co. for failing to honor claims on policies sold to thousands of Armenians, the Los Angeles Time reported.

Martin Marootian was not interested in money but in the restitution of Armenian history, says Vartkes Yeghiayan, the Glendale attorney who spearheaded the lawsuit.

Yeghiayan says Marootian opened the floodgates to compensation for thousands of heirs of genocide victims. The newspaper recalls to date insurance companies in the U.S., France and Greece have agreed to settlements totaling $52 million.