Top Class Actions
You Know the Drill…? Apparently not if you’re one of the shareholders who allege, among other things that when Canadian Superior Energy drilled off the shores of Trinidad (the “Intrepid” Block 5(c)) their execs didn’t disclose that the discovered reserves were below the economic threshold for development. Canadian Superior Energy, Inc. got hit with a securities class action this week. The allegations? That certain of Canadian Superior’s former executives violated federal securities laws.
The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on behalf of anyone who purchased the common stock of (NYSE Amex: SNG) between January 14, 2008 and February 17, 2009, inclusive. If you have this stock as part of an employee shareholder package—you may also be eligible for the class action under something known s ERISA…
Top Settlements
This Land is Your Land, but… The US government has announced that it will pay (or pay back?) $3.4 billion to settle allegations that it mismanaged money in American Indian trust funds.
Apparently, the feds got creative with their accounting practices, which the lawsuit referred to as ‘accounting irregularities,’ resulting in the mismanagement of funds generated from the lease of 56 million acres of Indian Trust land. One thinks that might have required at least some forward planning…
The plaintiffs will receive $1.4 billion as compensation for government ‘accounting irregularities’. Each member of the class will receive a check for $1,000, with the rest of the money being distributed based on land owned.
An Asbestos Retirement Package… for 54-year Richard Pullman was approved recently. Well, it wasn’t exactly a retirement package—certainly not one Pullman had wanted. Pullman worked at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum as an exhibits specialist for 28 years.
During that time he was exposed to asbestos as a result of drilling into walls in the museum that contained asbestos. But he, and many other employees at the institution, weren’t aware that the interior walls contained asbestos.
Unfortunately, he developed asbestosis, which is non-reversible and can lead to asbestos mesothelioma. So, the Smithsonian agreed to pay him a lump sum of $154,000 followed by $79,000 in severance pay. The Smithsonian also agreed to pay 65 percent of his health insurance for nine months.
That’s it for this week. See you at the bar!