Overview
Steptoe’s win for BP PLC in a long-running stock drop case was covered by Law360 in an article titled “Judge Tosses Long-Fought BP Employee ERISA Suit.” On March 8, the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas dismissed all claims made by BP employees who alleged damage to their BP-invested retirement funds from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In issuing his decision, Judge Keith Ellison said the employees’ argument that BP violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by investing retirement funds in its own stock without accounting for risks that led to the disaster didn’t meet the high standard set by precedent. The plaintiffs’ request to submit an amended complaint was denied and their claims were thrown out.
The Steptoe ERISA litigation team was led by Paul Ondrasik and Morgan Hodgson, who have been on the case since its inception. Others who have worked on the case include Eric Serron, Andrew Sloniewsky, Kate Riggs, Ryan Jenny, Ben Watson, and Chris Re, all based in the firm’s Washington office.
The full article can be read at Law360 (subscription required).
