Oil workers’ class certified in pipeline lawsuit

A group of oil workers made significant progress in suing a pipeline company after a federal judge agreed to certify their class.

U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez granted certification on Feb. 9 to a subclass of individuals in the oil industry who lost their jobs following a 2015 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara. Andrews et al. v. Plains All American Pipeline LP et al., 15-CV4113 (C.D. Cal., filed June 1, 2015).

Four subclasses are joined in a lawsuit against Plains All American Pipeline LP, which owned a pipeline that ruptured, releasing thousands of gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean.

The spill resulted in the closure of seven offshore platforms and three onshore facilities, which had provided stable jobs and income for families along the central coast, according to plaintiffs' counsel A. Barry Cappello.

Cappello noted that the first subclass Gutierrez certified last year included fish industry workers significantly affected by the spill.

"While a few of them could find work in the Gulf of Mexico, most of them are just taking out loans, moved in with their relatives, and are doing work where their income is half or less than what they had before," Cappello said.

Certification of the oil worker subclass is an enormous boon for the overall litigation, Cappello added.

"This was a major step in getting to a conclusion with Plains," said Capello, of Cappello and Noel LLP. "This litigation has been intensive. ... It's been aggressive litigation from both sides."

Counsel from Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, representing Plains, did not respond to a request for comment.

Gutierrez's ruling wasn't a total win for the plaintiffs. The judge denied certification to a subclass of real property owners near oil-soiled beaches.

The Los Angeles-based judge noted that while the plaintiffs presented a narrower definition of the subclass than in a previous iteration, there were still too many individualized issues to assess for property owners along the 165 miles of affected coastal land.

However, unlike the subclass of tourist businesses that proved too broad for the court to accept, Gutierrez indicated there may be a way forward for the property owner class. The plaintiffs could apply further limiting factors, such as the actual walking distance to the water or establishing whether there is a view of the beach, the judge wrote.

Efforts to resurrect the local oil industry in Santa Barbara have spawned a related set of legal actions.

Cappello noted that Plains is getting government approval to reopen the pipeline, which triggered a separate class action by property owners whose lands sit on the oil infrastructure.

"We've been talking to Plains for over a year now about potential settlements," Cappello said, quickly adding they are nowhere near settling the case.

The plaintiffs are also represented by attorneys from Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, Hyde & Swigart APC and Keller Rohrback LLP.