WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined a request from shareholders to revive their class action lawsuit against BP claiming the British oil company misrepresented its safety procedures prior to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The court left in place a September 2015 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that refused to certify the lawsuit filed by investors who bought shares two-and-a-half years before the spill. BP’s share price plummeted after the disaster, which has cost the company more than $55 billion.
BP said in court papers the lawsuit should not be allowed to proceed because the plaintiffs were improperly seeking damages for the entire decline in stock price as a result of the spill.
The appeals court said some of the investors might have bought the stock even knowing the risk, and these investors may still sue BP individually.
In the same ruling, the appeals court allowed claims by investors who bought shares after the spill to move forward.
