BP PLC’s investors are the latest plaintiffs to go to court over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, alleging the company has long put profits ahead of safety and now faces potentially billions in losses because of the ongoing disaster.
The first such lawsuit — Firpo v. Hayward, a shareholder derivative suit brought by a Pennsylvania investor — was filed on May 7 in New Orleans federal court. It alleges BP executives and its board of directors “recklessly disregarded accidents and safety warnings for years” related to the Deepwater Horizon rig. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of breaching their fiduciary duties by, among other things, causing BP to violate safety and environmental laws, exposing the company to criminal and tort liability, and subjecting BP to adverse publicity and impaired earnings.
