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Dayton
Business Journal…
Ohio AG files
class-action lawsuit against BP
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has filed a class action lawsuit
against British Petroleum on behalf of Ohio’s public pension funds.
Dewine authorized the filing Monday in U.S. District Court in Houston
alleging that BP plc was wholly unprepared to prevent and deal with the
BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Lead plaintiffs include the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System
(OPERS), State Teachers Retirement System (STRS), School Employees
Retirement System (SERS), and Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund
(OP&F). DeWine represents class leaders along with Thomas P.
DiNapoli, comptroller of the state of New York, who represents the New
York State Common Retirement Fund for investors who bought either BP
common stock or American depositary receipts between January 16, 2007
to May 28, 2010.
“In the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill, in addition to the
tragic loss of life and environmental damage, pension systems providing
retirement benefits for current and future retirees who invested in BP
in good faith were adversely affected when stock prices plummeted,”
Dewine said in a statement.
While no dollar amount is listed in the suit, officials say Ohio’s
losses were more than $100 million.
The complaint alleges multiple BP executives had assured the investing
public that sound and adequate safety plans would be put in place as a
result of a series of safety issues BP had experienced prior to the
Deepwater Horizon spill and those promised safety procedures were never
put in place.
The misstatements made by BP regarding safety precautions and
procedures lowered the company’s risk profile and inflated its stock.
As a result, investors around the world, including Ohio’s pension
funds, suffered tremendous financial losses when the truth emerged
following the massive oil spill in April of 2010, the statement said.
Read it in the Dayton Business Journal
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