$100.3 Million Judgment Sought Against BP, According to The Buzbee Law Firm

/PRNewswire/ -- A Texas federal court was asked late Tuesday to enter a $100.3 million judgment against BP (NYSE:BP) after a federal jury rejected the company's denials about a series of allegedly toxic emissions in 2007 at its Texas City refinery, according to The Buzbee Law Firm.

On Dec. 18, a jury in Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt's court in Galveston, Texas awarded $100 million in punitive damages to 10 contract workers who alleged that they were exposed in a series of toxic emissions in early 2007 at the BP Texas City refinery. The trial was for the first 10 of at least 160 plaintiffs with pending claims related to the emissions. The Buzbee Law Firm intends to ask the court to select 10 more plaintiffs for trial as soon as possible.

Trial evidence showed that more than 100 people, including the 10 trial plaintiffs, were sent by BP to hospitals for medical treatment after the emissions. Hospital records confirmed the toxic exposure.

At trial, BP repeatedly denied that a leak had occurred. The company then claimed that the leak came from another source. However, BP could not identify the source, or explain why no other energy facilities in the area experienced emissions problems. Also, the company "suggested to the press that the entire incident may be a hoax by 'disgruntled workers,'" according to the workers' complaint. Trial testimony from industry experts confirmed that a leak did occur.

Also, the jury heard evidence that:

-- In the five years before the trial, more than 500 releases, spills,
leaks, and odor events have occurred at the refinery.
-- More than 45 unlawful pollutant emissions occurred at the refinery
during this same time period.
-- According to BP's former Fire Chief, the refinery averages one fire
per week.
-- An average of 200 leaks occur each year in valves, pumps, and
connectors at the refinery.
-- About 70 percent of the "odor events" at the refinery are either not
investigated by or not sourced by BP.
-- In recent months, BP was cited for hundreds of "willful and egregious"
federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
violations related to process safety deficiencies at the refinery.



In trial, the judge presented the jury with a series of instructions and questions - including whether punitive damages should be awarded. The instructions stated that, if the jury found that "BP's conduct was so shocking and offensive as to justify an award of punitive damage," it should consider making such an award.

Tony Buzbee, the lead trial attorney for seven of the 10 trial plaintiffs, said, "After disparaging the claims of workers at the Texas City refinery, BP then rejected the verdict of a federal jury. This was a jury of sensible people with no ties to the workers or to BP. They were shocked and offended by BP's conduct. We hope the court's entry of this judgment will force BP to finally improve workplace safety at the Texas City refinery. Far too many workers have been killed or injured there through the years. BP employees and contractors deserve much better."

The judgment request includes $325,536 in actual damages, which the jury awarded the 10 trial plaintiffs, plus $14,184 in prejudgment interest and the $100 million in punitive damages.

The case is "Garner, et al., v. BP Products North America, Inc.," Civil Action No. G-07-221, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division.

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OK, who do YOU think is at fault here?

Alright, here's the scenario. A 31 year old woman driving with an expired car registration. When they check it turns out this will be her 76th ticket. Yep, 76th. She owes close to $19,000 in fines. Yep, nineteen thousand in unpaid fines and court fees.

How does anyone get away with 76 traffic tickets and still end up driving? I know when I was younger I walked away from being ticketed a few times just because the cop either liked me or felt sorry for me, not sure which. I know how just having the lights pop on behind my car filled me with extreme trepidation. OK, they scared me half to death.

So I'll ask again... how in the world do you walk away from 75 tickets? Texas is supposed to be tough on crime. Somehow I think that this woman is going to pay her current bail, go out, grab a drink and get behind the wheel of a car again.

Yep. 76 tickets will land you in jail
HARLINGEN, Texas - Tickets for expired car registration usually don't result in jail time. Unless, of course, that ticket is a driver's 76th. Valerie Ortiz Sanchez, 31, was arrested Monday during a routine traffic stop when officers discovered she had 76 outstanding traffic warrants and nearly $19,000 in unpaid fines and court fees dating back nine years.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080116/ap_on_fe_st/odd76_warrants

Bible Reading Mom Kicked Off Bus

Snapshot: A mother in Texas was reading to her children from the Bible on a bus. They were headed to church. The bus driver asked her to stop. She refused. They called another bus, kicked her off the main bus, took her to church in a separate bus.

Toxic. I think, based one what little is included in the full story below, this is toxic.

Unless the woman was reading at the top of her lungs, I have a serious problem with anyone going to the extremes the bus company went to stop this woman from reading the Bible to her children.

Have you ever been on a bus where some obnoxious boor was waxing eloquent about his or her exploits? Have you ever had a mentally challenged individual sing? Have you been entertained by someone who decided to read their poetry verse out loud? Have you been on a subway where someone played their boom box loud enough for others to hear?

Do ya think that the bus would stop and provide another means of transportation for any of the individuals above?

I think that every member of every church in the town in Texas should start riding the buses. And reading. Anything. Bibles, their kids school books, the newspaper... How many buses can the company provide for people choosing to read to their children?

Maybe people should start requesting a separate bus, forwarn the bus company that they were going to be reading to their children thus they needed a separate conveyance to avoid bugging the bus driver.

There is common courtesy that should be employed on any public transportation. But it isn't. For every decent person who respects the right for peace in public there is one who believes they have the right to get in their face. If they're obnoxious they get bumped or arrested.

Most people would be thrilled that a parent was willing to read to her children... that she was doing something with them,... that she would spend her money on bus fare to take them to church.

At a minimum the bus company over-reacted. In my estimation, they were flat out wrong.

Here's the stories:

Texas Woman Forced to Leave Bus After Reading Bible Out Loud
A Texas woman is demanding an apology from her city’s mass transit system after she was booted off a bus for reading the Bible aloud, MyFoxDFW.com reported Monday.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319346,00.html

Bible-Reading Woman Kicked Off Fort Worth Bus
FORT WORTH -- A Fort Worth woman wants an apology from the city's mass transit system because of how she was treated Saturday while on her way to church. Christine Lutz claimed she was kicked off The T for reading the Bible aloud to her children.
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5358343&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1