The unprecedented litigation over Chevron’s alleged contamination of the Ecuadorian rainforest took a stunning turn Tuesday when Manhattan federal district court judge Lewis Kaplan granted Chevron’s request for a 14-day temporary restraining order against the Ecuadorian plaintiffs suing the company in the Provincial Court of Justice of Sucumbios, as well as the plaintiffs’ Ecuadorian and U.S. lawyers.
The TRO enjoins the Ecuadorians and their lawyers from in any way advancing enforcement of an Ecuadorian court judgment, or an attachment based on such judgment, until Judge Kaplan can rule on Chevron’s request for a preliminary injunction to the same effect. A hearing on the preliminary injunction is scheduled for Feb. 17.
