BP Directors Sued by Investors Over Gulf Spill Costs

[sabra]

Source: Bloomberg

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Directors of BP Plc, the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the Gulf of Mexico, were sued by investors who contend they were negligent in failing to monitor safety operations before a massive, continuing spill.

The April 20 wellhead explosion and fire in the Gulf claimed the lives of 11 workers and “threatens to be the worst oil spill disaster in history,” shareholder Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority claims in a Delaware Chancery Court lawsuit filed May 21 in Wilmington.

Directors violated their duties to the company, causing “enormous economic harm for failure to act in the interests of BP and its shareholders” and exposing the company to liabilities in the billions of dollars, Septa lawyers contend.

The lawsuit lists potential damage claims of about $2.5 billion to the Gulf fishing industry; $3 billion to tourism; $700 million in remediation efforts so far; $6 million a day in continuing costs and “incalculable damages to BP’s reputation.”

The complaint also says BP’s stock-drop has wiped out about $40 billion in market value.

Read more: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-24/bp-directors-sued-by-investors-over-gulf-spill-costs-update1-.html

[MineralMan]

1. Yup. And yet there are still people posting here on DU

that BP is deliberately not trying to seal this well. Some have claimed that they're doing it on purpose, just to anger environmentalists. I've even read someone claiming that they're letting it leak so it will destroy the Gulf of Mexico so that unlimited drilling will be allowed.

There's an amazing amount of bad thinking going on.

I suspect that BP will never recover from this incident.

[joanmj]

4. Hope BP NEVER recovers.

Thanks for the info.

[gateley]

2. Good for them! Fuck BP. nt

[Downwinder]

3. You pay your money, you take your chances. n/t

[joanmj]

5. BP and it's investors are imploding!

[arikara]

7. Good. These corporations need to be accountable

for the evil they do.

[charlesg]

6. They should have divested

It's not like this is the first "accident" BP has ever had/caused.

[joanmj]

8. But it IS the biggest!

And blows anything away in comparison. Let them implode!

[proudohioan]

9. Good to hear this! Thanks for posting.

Maybe this will signal the beginning of the end of an excessively greedy era.

Now, both BP and shareholders will be/have been punched where it really hurts; in the pocketbook.

[marions ghost]

10. boo hoo

Complicit. :shrug: Now they object? What timing. A month ago...they were :pals:

I hope they lose. But they think they can pay the right lawyers to get a piece of it.

That's the risk you take, investors. You bet on the wrong horse.

[tomm2thumbs]

11. maybe the lawyers can open up a vein on these corporate pigs

like the vein BP opened up a mile under our oceans

[Jamastiene]

12. + a zillion

Well said.

[FailureToCommunicate]

13. Sorry investors. Get in line. You already profited off an irresponsible company.

You all don't get a dime till every beach is white again, every bird and sea life is cleaned up, and the families of the dead workers are taken care of...

[marions ghost]

14. yep, go to the end

of the line. Totally agree. :thumbsup:

[wordpix]

17. agree but still look at this as good news---at least those at the top being held accountable

[wordpix]

15. Law Office Investigation on Behalf of Current and Former Employees of Transocean Ltd.

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith Announces Investigation on Behalf of Current and Former Employees of Transocean Ltd. Who Invested in the Company's 401(k) Savings Plans

78 minutes ago - Businesswire
Related Companies
Symbol Last %Chg
RIG 53.96 -8.91%
As of 4:00 PM ET 5/24/10

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith announces that it is investigating potential claims against Transocean Ltd. ("Transocean" or the "Company") (NYSE:RIG) concerning whether the Company's 401(k) savings plans (the "Plans") imprudently invested in Transocean stock and whether the Plans' administrators breached their fiduciary duties to the Plans' participants in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The investigation concerns public statements issued by Transocean between August 5, 2009 and May 7, 2010.

According to a shareholder lawsuit pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, during the foregoing period Transocean and certain of its executive officers failed to disclose and/or misrepresented the effectiveness of Transocean's safety protocols, recurring problems with blowout preventers ("BOP") -- including BOPs installed on the Deepwater Horizon mobile drilling platform which is currently at the center of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- and the Company's operating and safety record. The investigation concerns whether Transocean and other administrators of the Plan failed to prudently and loyally manage the Plans' investments in Transocean stock by continuing to offer Company stock when the stock was no longer a prudent investment for participants' retirement savings.

If you are a current or former employee who participated in, or continues to participate in, Transocean's 401(k) savings plans and have information or would like to learn more about these claims, please contact Howard Smith, Esquire, of Law Offices of Howard G. Smith, 3070 Bristol Pike, Suite 112, Bensalem, Pennsylvania 19020, by telephone at [phone], Toll-Free at [phone], by email to [e-mail] or visit our website at www.howardsmithlaw.com.

SOURCE: Law Offices of Howard G. Smith

Law Offices of Howard G. Smith
Howard G. Smith, Esquire
[phone]
[phone]
[e-mail]
www.howardsmithlaw.com

[wordpix]

16. good, about time investors hold these people accountable

OTOH, they did invest in Dirty BigOil