Shareholder Sues BP Directors
May 10, 2010 4:10 AM
BP shareholder Katherine Firpo is suing the company, alleging the company ignored safety concerns that caused the explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20. The explosion resulted in 11 deaths and an oil spill that is leaking 5,000 barrels of crude per day into the Gulf.
Firpo is claiming that BP directors ignored safety concerns that arose from a 2005 blast at BP's Texas City refinery and leaks at its Alaska pipeline in the pursuit of profits. Firpo has been a BP shareholder since 2007, but press reports did not detail how many shares she owns.
Kahn, Swick & Foti LLP filed the suit last Friday in a New Orleans court. The filing says BP directors made "purely cosmetic changes at the corporate level while ignoring the substance of the safety violations and the threat they posed to the entirety of the Gulf, commercial and private property, and the company’s own survival as a going concern," according to Bloomberg News.
BP (NSYE: BP) is facing at least 100 civil suits related to the spill. One analyst said last week the company could face up to $15 billion in cleanup and legal costs. BP has yet to comment on the pending litigation.
