As part of their delaying tactics, BP and the other companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are claiming that fishermen, restaurant and hotel owners and others harmed by the disaster should not be allowed to sue for damages until they have first sought compensation from the special fund created by the oil company.

 

In court documents filed by BP, Transocean Ltd. and Halliburton, the defendants have made the case that victims of the nation’s worst oil spill should be required to file claims with the federal government, which now oversees the $20 billion fund financed by BP. By postponing the more than 400 lawsuits filed against them, the companies hope that the civil trials will take place so long after the spill that the anger associated with their involvement will have receded from the news and from the public’s attention, and that the resulting judgments will be less harsh.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

BP, Partners Say Most Victims Not Yet Entitled To Sue (by Tom Hals, Reuters)