Tampa, FL (April 23, 2015) - Clint Guidry, the president of the Louisiana Shrimp Association, recently said many fishermen who were BP oil spill victims took Ken Feinberg’s "Quick Payments," settlements that required no additional documentation from the claimants but also required them to sign away any further claims against BP, under duress.
But Feinberg refuses to believe that. Feinberg incredulously states,
"I've never seen any evidence of duress." "I can either get a great deal more money with documentation, or I don't even need documentation and I can get a check in the next couple of weeks or months. I'm not surprised at all, human nature being what it is. I see no duress. I see each fisherman making the decision of what's best for the fisherman."
“…when it comes to compensating innocent people, I think that what we [Feinberg Rozen, et al.] did and what BP did deserves a great deal of praise."
I believe Kenneth meant to say,
“I was never under any financial duress. I think that I deserve a great deal of praise for limiting BP’s liability.”
The purpose of the Feinberg payment methodology was to generate as much financial duress as possible in order to maximize the number of signed releases.
Under the “Quick Payment Final Claim,” a claimant who had received a prior EAP or Interim Payment from GCCF could receive, without further documentation of losses caused by the BP oil spill, a one-time final payment of $5,000 for individuals and $25,000 for businesses. Claimants seeking a Quick Payment were required to submit with their claim form a “Release and Covenant Not to Sue.”
Feinberg cannot justify limiting payments under the “Quick Payment Final Claim” program to just $5,000 for individuals and $25,000 for businesses. There is no evidence that these amounts even remotely represent adequate consideration to compensate claimants for the damages that claimants did or will suffer as a result of the BP oil spill.
The GCCF status report data indicates that a total of 574,379 unique claimants filed claims with the GCCF during the period from approximately August 23, 2010 to March 7, 2012. The GCCF paid only 221,358 of these claimants. In sum, the GCCF denied payment to approximately 61.46% of the claimants who filed claims; the average total amount paid per claimant was a paltry $27,466.47.
The GCCF status report data further indicates that the GCCF:
(a) paid a total of 230,370 claimants who filed claims with the GCCF during the “Phase II” period;
(b) of these, 195,109 were either Quick Pay or Full Review Final payments; and
(c) only 35,261 were Interim payments.
In sum, Kenneth R. Feinberg forced 84.68% of the claimants to sign a “Release and Covenant Not to Sue” in which the claimant agreed not to sue BP and all other potentially liable parties; only 15.31% of the claimants were not required to sign a “Release and Covenant Not to Sue” in order to be paid.
Enough is enough.
Let’s be very clear:
(a) Kenneth R. Feinberg was BP’s defense attorney. He was not a “Fund Administrator.” BP paid Feinberg Rozen, LLP a sum of $1.25 million per month to have Ken Feinberg limit its liability;
(b) Kenneth R. Feinberg was appointed due to his political connections and his willingness to do whatever was necessary to limit BP’s liability; and
(c) Kenneth R. Feinberg is not the “Master of Disasters.” Kenneth is a “Master of Deception” and a “Master of Self-Promotion.”
Kenneth R. Feinberg’s latest self-promotional video is hosted by David Hammer on WWL-TV.
The above article may be viewed in its entirety here.
Click here to read "Gulf Victims Suing BP Disaster's Compensation Czar" by Dahr Jamail.
Note: Before you read the comments on this article, I advise you to visit: BP Oil Spill: BP Pays PR Trolls to Threaten Online Critics
UPDATE:
Plaintiffs File Motion to Nullify Every GCCF Release and Covenant Not to Sue