Gulf oil spill settlement should be open to those with Gulf Coast Claims Facility deals, Mississippi official says | NOLA.com

Mississippi A.G.Jim Hood

 Gulf oil spill settlement should be open to those with Gulf Coast Claims Facility deals, Mississippi official says | NOLA.com:
by Mark Schleifstein - The Times Picayune

"Businesses and individuals that agreed not to sue BP in exchange for early payments from Kenneth Feinberg's Gulf Coast Claims Facility should be allowed to participate in the proposed private claims settlement with the company, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said in papers filed in federal court Thursday. Hood asked U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier to rule on motions filed by him and others more than a year ago that contend Feinberg's settlement agreements violated federal and state law by requiring victims to promise not to sue in exchange for quick payments.
The claims facility release forms "are unconscionable, contrary to public policy and entered in violation of federal and state law," he said.
Hood asked that all those who settled be allowed to at least receive payments for future damages and any increased damage payments resulting from a finding that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the result of gross negligence by BP or other parties."

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