“The best way to keep one’s word is not to give it.”
~Napoleon Bonaparte
Earlier this month, BP sought to stop payments for certain claims under the class action settlement. There have been severa
l attempts by BP to narrow the Claim Administrator’s application of the settlement terms and significantly reduce claim payments. Once again, the court denied BP’s request and ordered the corporation to keep its promises and abide by the 1,000-plus page settlement its undoubtedly highly educated and experienced team of attorneys and CPA’s negotiated over the course of over a year.
Importantly, BP’s attorneys acknowledged in writing that the settlement agreement could produce “false positives,” and that such results are an “inevitable concomitant of an objective, quantitative, data-based test.” The situation reminds me of this quote from Napoleon Bonaparte. Had BP not wished to be held to these terms, it should not have negotiated the deal. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: A deal’s a deal.
For further details on BP’s efforts to limit the settlement terms, check out this Washington Post article.
