The New York State Common Retirement Fund filed a class action lawsuit against the BP oil giant in relation to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The fund provides benefits to more than 1 million active and retired state and local government employees, police and firefighters.
The suit alleges BP’s poor safety practices exposed by the Deepwater Horizon, one of the largest oil disasters recorded. The drilling platform was destroyed during the accident and eleven people died. Plaintiffs allege VP misrepresented its ability to prevent oil spills and misrepresented the company’s safety protocols. The class action lawsuit alleges the company misleads investors of its ability to contain and clean up the oil spill.
These actions led to decline in shareholder value, as the oil spill was one of the worst environmental catastrophes in U.S. history. The name “BP” became a black sheep on the stock market and its stock prices plummeted approximately 40 percent. The New York State Common Retirement Fund held 19 million shares of BP at the time. Plaintiffs allege pension fund loss and decline in value that allegedly directly resulted from BP’s poor and misleading business practices.
New York’s pension fund class action lawsuit joins the state of Ohio’s five public funds. Ohio’s five public retirement funds lost collectively more than $200 of their worth due to BP common stock loss of value. The state of Ohio’s public funds are similar to New York’s, with shareholders including state and municipal employees and retirees.
Stanley Iola – Dallas litigation lawyers