AAJ Statement on BP’s Campaign to Evade Accountability
The following is a statement from American Association for Justice (AAJ) President Mary Alice McLarty in response to BP’s latest moves to evade accountability and delay justice for Gulf Coast small business owners:
“BP pled guilty to causing the worst environmental disaster in US history that resulted in the loss of Americans lives and American business. Now they have launched a PR campaign to evade accountability for the damage they caused and restrain continued shareholder frustration.
“Instead of dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into a PR campaign, BP needs to stop the backpedaling and live up to the settlement its corporate lawyers negotiated and agreed to. BP is not a victim of small businesses, judges or even trial lawyers; they are still just a corporate felon who pled guilty to killing 11 rig workers, polluted the Gulf and ruined the livelihoods of thousands of Americans.”
Key Facts
As the world's largest trial bar, the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) works to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others—even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations. Visit http://www.justice.org/newsroom.
“BP pled guilty to causing the worst environmental disaster in US history that resulted in the loss of Americans lives and American business. Now they have launched a PR campaign to evade accountability for the damage they caused and restrain continued shareholder frustration.
“Instead of dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into a PR campaign, BP needs to stop the backpedaling and live up to the settlement its corporate lawyers negotiated and agreed to. BP is not a victim of small businesses, judges or even trial lawyers; they are still just a corporate felon who pled guilty to killing 11 rig workers, polluted the Gulf and ruined the livelihoods of thousands of Americans.”
Key Facts
- BP pled guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter and lying to the Federal Government, stemming from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy.
- BP is a convicted felon.
- BP was on probation for three prior disasters at the time of the blowout.
- BP has been suspended from doing business with the US government for a lack of corporate integrity.
- For nearly two years BP’s team of corporate lawyers negotiated, co-authored, agreed to, and sought Court approval of every word in the Settlement Agreement.
As the world's largest trial bar, the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) works to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others—even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations. Visit http://www.justice.org/newsroom.