Friday, February 04, 2011
Kenneth Feinberg (photo: Samuel Wantman)
The administrator of the $20 billion fund established by BP to compensate victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill should not claim he is independent of the oil company, which is paying his salary, ruled a federal judge.
The ruling by Judge Carl Barbier of the Federal District Court in New Orleans came about after attorneys representing plaintiffs suing BP said fund administrator Kenneth Feinberg had been proclaiming his independence of the petroleum giant, and telling litigants that settling claims through his fund was superior to lawsuits.
Barbier ordered Feinberg to make clear to potential litigants that he is “acting for and on behalf of BP in fulfilling its legal obligations.” He added that Feinberg’s claim of complete neutrality “is a direct threat to this ongoing litigation.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Fund Official Not Neutral, Judge Rules (by John Schwartz, New York Times)
Court Decision (U.S. District Court, Eastern Louisiana) (pdf)
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