Chevron on Trial

Charges of Intimidation as Corporate Executives “Freak Out” at Houston Marathon

SAN FRANCISCO--(January 26, 2010)--Chevron is facing charges that its aggressive defense of a $27 billion environmental liability in Ecuador is crossing the line into violating the free speech rights of its critics in the U.S., according to news reports and publicly available court filings.

Legal papers filed earlier this month in federal court in San Francisco accuse Chevron of trying to create a “chilling effect” by using lawsuits to silence critics of its misconduct in violation of free speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Chevron is accused of orchestrating the ejection by the City of Houston of runners from the Houston Marathon Expo Center – where the oil giant was the main sponsor – because the runners wanted to call attention to human rights problems in Ecuador that are the subject of the lawsuit.

“The tactics Chevron is now using have gone beyond what is reasonable in a litigation context and are clearly meant to intimidate its opponents into silence, implicating Constitutional rights in the process,” said Laura Garr, an American advisor to the Amazonian communities.

In Houston, Chevron attracted unwanted headlines earlier this month when members of a team of runners from the Rainforest Action Network participating in the Chevron Houston Marathon were forcibly removed from the marathon’s Expo. The runners had paid for a table to distribute “I’m Running for Human Rights” stickers and information about Chevron’s refusal to clean up the environmental disaster in Ecuador, where a lawsuit accuses the company of dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest to cut costs.

Steven Karpas, director of the marathon, told the runners from RAN that “higher ups at Chevron are freaking out” and threatened to arrest them if they didn’t leave. Police then ejected the runners from the city-owned and operated building for exercising their right to free speech, giving rise to First Amendment claims against both the city of Houston and Chevron, according to RAN.

The ejection received wide coverage in the Houston media.

“It is a sad day when the Chevron Houston Marathon - which raises awareness and money for many important causes - would deny the legal rights of participants to appease a corporate sponsor that is clearly ashamed of its human rights record,” said Maria Ramos, one of the RAN runners.

In San Francisco, the separate, legal case accuses Chevron of violating a California law that prevents corporations from threatening lawsuits to silence its critics. The case was brought by a lawyer, Cristobal Bonifaz, who has been a longtime critic of Chevron’s malfeasance in Ecuador and who was once involved in the underlying environmental litigation in that country.

House Members Express “Concern” About Oil Giant’s Effort to Use Trade Policy to Deny Due Process in Environmental Lawsuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 15, 2009)--Chevron has been dealt a major setback in the Congress as more than two dozen representatives have signed a letter urging that the United States Trade Representative reject efforts by the oil giant to cancel Ecuador’s trade preferences.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 4, 2009)-- The Los Angeles Times editorial page has blasted Chevron by urging Congress to ignore the company’s multi-million dollar lobbying campaign to deny trade preferences for Ecuador in retaliation for the $27 billion oil contamination lawsuit brought by Amazon communities.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, Environmentalist Trudie Styler, and Human Rights Activist Kerry Kennedy Challenge Oil Giant to Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 3, 2009) – Three leading female environmental and human rights advocates have issued independent calls for Chevron to clean up the company’s Ecuador environmental disaster on the eve of a court judgment where the oil giant faces a potential $27 billion liability.

Lobbyists Mac McLarty, John Breaux, Trent Lott, Mickey Kantor, Carla Hills and Others Charged with Misrepresenting Facts

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 20, 2009) – Chevron has retained at least twelve public relations firms and lobbyists to discredit claims of Amazon indigenous groups...

Oil Giant’s Attempts to Evade Justice in Ecuadorian Rainforest Criticized Before Congressional Ways & Means Hearing

WASHINGTON, DC (November 17, 2009) -- U.S. Congresswoman Linda Sanchez of California today urged Congress to reject Chevron’s attempts to co-opt US foreign trade policy and programs so that the company could gain an advantage...

Daughter of RFK Appalled by “Chevron’s Chernobyl”

Quito, Ecuador (November 6, 2009) – The massive oil contamination for which Chevron faces a potential $27 billion liability in Ecuador’s courts is a “clear violation” of the rights of indigenous peoples to life