New York, NY: A lawsuit has been filed related to the "BP Claims Process" established in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill is moving forward in Louisiana Federal Court. The suit, which requests class action status, names the ACE Group subsidiary ESIS as a co-defendant and seeks damages for racketeering, conspiracy, and mail fraud.
According to the complaint, shortly after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill began, BP engaged ESIS and others to help administer the process of settling claims with oil spill victims. The manner in which ESIS handled its task became the subject of some controversy following media reports of delayed and denied claims payments. Prior to ESIS's removal from its position by the Obama appointed claims czar, a class action was filed in Alabama Federal Court on behalf of the State of Alabama claiming that BP, ESIS, and others conspired to "delay and reduce the payment of legitimate legal damages by lulling class members into a false understanding of the availability of recoverable damages at law."
In September 2010, a motion to stay the ESIS/BP RICO class action complaint was granted pending transfer of the matter to Louisiana Federal Court. Ten months later, on July 6, 2011, the matter was transferred to the Eastern District of Louisiana and it now appears the racketeering case is proceeding towards trial. The RICO action will join at least 291 other Deepwater-related lawsuits that are being heard as part of a consolidation of complaints by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multi District Litigation.
