Communications
Aug. 20, 2002
Nigerians' Rights Case Against Chevron May Expand
SAN FRANCISCO - ChevronTexaco, already facing a federal human rights lawsuit over its oil development activities in Nigeria, may face new accusations, including racketeering and a state unfair business practices claim based on the company's public statements.
Attorneys representing a group of Nigerians who are suing the oil giant said Friday the company's actions, including cooperating with the military to put down protests and then "spinning" their public statements, all were part of a pattern of actionable activity. Bowoto v. ChevronTexaco Corp., 99-2506SI.
"It is all designed to keep the oil flowing," said San Francisco lawyer Cindy Cohn.
An attorney for the company said the additions "would allow a vast expansion of issues" in the case and amount to an infringement of the company's right to communicate.
The counts would be added to a lawsuit filed in 1999 that accused Chevron Corp. of involvement in a series of violent incidents to suppress local opposition to the company's environmental policies. Chevron's name changed when it merged with Texaco last year.
U.S. District Judge Susan Ilston said Friday she might allow attorneys representing a group of Nigerian citizens to add a cause of action under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Ilston also said she was leaning toward allowing the plaintiffs to make an additional claim under the state's Business and Professions Code Section 17200.
That latter accusation would cite statements the company has made about the underlying incidents, which the plaintiffs say are false. Those include the company's assertions that some of the protesters who stormed a Chevron oil platform in 1998 were armed and that the company had no role in an alleged attack on the demonstrators that left two dead.
Ilston also indicated she would not allow plaintiffs to add a cause of action against a Chevron subsidiary for state tort claims. She made no final ruling on any of the motions after hearing arguments from both sides Friday but said she would issue a written opinion soon.
The plaintiffs moved to beef up their lawsuit, based chiefly upon the 18th-century Alien Tort Claims Act, after two unrelated court rulings earlier this year.
In the first case, in February, U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood allowed a case including a RICO claim to proceed against another oil company doing business in Nigeria. That case, Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, 2002 WL 319887, accuses the company of aiding in the torture and murder of Nigerian activists, including writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed in 1995.
Then, in May, the California Supreme Court held 4-3 that Nike's public defense of its treatment of Asian workers is commercial speech that can be subject to lawsuits for false advertising or fraud. The ruling, Kasky v. Nike Inc., 27 Cal.4th 939, allowed a 17200 case against the company to go forward.
In written arguments, the plaintiffs cited public statements by Chevron or its subsidiaries to justify both the claims. For example, officials of a Chevron division encouraged the military in two of the incidents and carried out "a knowingly false media campaign" to deflect criticism, attorneys for the Nigerians charged in support of the RICO claim.
Chevron attorney John Grenfell argued that the new claims do not relate to actions taken by the company in Nigeria. He added that there exist "very high standards" preventing prior restraint of communications, and he accused the plaintiffs of stretching the meaning of the state Supreme Court ruling.
"Even if you think [Kasky] is right, it doesn't reach this far," said Grenfell, of Pillsbury Winthrop.
Theresa Traber, an attorney representing the Nigerians, said the reputations of people in that country were harmed by the company's statements, which she said were still posted on the company's Web site. She said any injunction restricting Chevron's public statements could be made very specific.
Dennis Pfaff
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