Nigerian Times

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan Judge Lewis A. Kaplan continues to slide in Chevron's farcical "declaratory judgment" trial currently scheduled for November 14, 2011. We have provided the copies of two important motions that were filed in the SDNY before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. The motions demonstrate how Judge Kaplan is failing to provide a fair trial which comports with basic notions of due process or fairness. The first motion, filed by the Ecuadorian plaintiffs who recently won an $18.2 billion judgment against Chevron for systematically poisoning Ecuador's Amazon, systematically demonstrates how Judge Kaplan's expedited schedule for the trial is not only "unfair to the Ecuadorian plaintiffs but would also not be consistent with procedures compatible with due process." The motion asks Judge Kaplan to continue the trial so that the Ecuadorian plaintiffs will have a reasonable amount of time to prepare a proper defense to Chevron's baseless allegat...

Alex Thorne: Husband of Chevron Employee Poses as “Journalist” to Undermine Environmental Group Critical of Oil Giant’s Ecuador Catastrophe Oil Giant Continues To Use Cover of Independent Journalism To Escape $18 Billion Court Judgment Amazon Defense Coalition 30 May 2011 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE San Francisco, CA – Alex Thorne, the husband of a senior-level Chevron employee, has been posing as an independent “journalist” to send e-mails designed to intimidate funders of a small environmental organization that has been critical of Chevron’s management for refusing to pay the company’s court-ordered $18 billion liability in Ecuador. The stunning revelation about Thorne’s e-mails comes just days after several large Chevron shareholders blasted Chevron CEO John Watson for displaying "poor judgment" in Ecuador which “has led investors to question whether [Chevron’s] leadership can properly manage the array of environmental challenges and risks that it faces. The investors critical...

FOR RELEASE: Immediately May 25, 2011 DiNAPOLI TO CHEVRON: RESOLVE AMAZON LAWSUIT Standoff on Poor Ecological Record Bad for Business New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and a coalition of investors today released a letter to oil giant Chevron urging the company to settle its 20-year legal battle with indigenous populations in the Amazon rainforest. The long-running court case alleges that Texaco, which merged with Chevron 10 years ago, destroyed huge tracts of the rainforest by dumping billions of gallons of oil waste products over several decades. Citing the “grave reputational damage” Chevron has suffered due to the lawsuit, DiNapoli and other investors called on the company to promptly negotiate a reasonable settlement to prevent further shareholder damage. “It’s time for Chevron to face reality,” said DiNapoli, trustee of the $140.6 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund (Fund), which owns 7.5 million Chevron shares worth an estimated $7...