Judge orders railway to pay Washington tribe nearly $400 million for trespassing with oil trains
Judge orders railway to pay Washington tribe nearly $400 million for trespassing with oil trains
A federal judge has ruled that BNSF Railway must pay nearly $400 million to a Native American tribe in Washington state. U.S.
Good on them! This is how it's supposed to work.
Do the math on how much they made breaking the deal/law. Then round up and have them pay that back.We'll see how much they're able to collect. Appellate courts love to throw settlements like this out or drastically shrink damages.
It took 18 years for the Exxon Valdez case to reach a verdict. Another 2 years after that, the SCOTUS reduced damages from $2.5B to $500M
"For the people who were harmed, they will recover approximately $15,000 apiece," said David Frederick, who filed a friend of the court brief in the case for the state of Alaska. He called it "a pittance compared to the devastation the oil spill wreaked on their lives."
And, needless to say, the fine was not adjusted for inflation.
Plus ongoing amounts right? Otherwise what's the chances this wasn't figured in as just a cost of business?
They wouldn't have been allowed to win otherwise
These tracks were laid illegally in the first place. The tribe should just go remove that shit from their land and tell the rail company to get fucked.
$400M ought to fuck them somewhat, but I guess in oil bucks, it’s probably not going to sting for long…
I learned the word "disgorge" from this article.