Gulf Coast Rental Property Owner Sues BP For Economic Losses From Gulf Oil Spill

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The owner of a Gulf Coast vacation home has filed a class action lawsuit against BP, alleging economic losses caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and resulting oil spill (Carden Simcox, et al. v. BP PLC, et al., No. 3:10-cv-00514, M.D. Tenn. [Nashville]).

Carden Simcox, a Nashville resident and owner of beachfront property in Panacea, Fla., brought the class action on behalf of herself and all Tennessee residents who own property on the Gulf coast in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

Defendants named in the complaint include BP PLC and BP America Inc., which owns the oil well, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling Inc., which leases the oil rig to BP, Halliburton Energy Services Inc., which was engaged in cementing operations at the well, and Cameron International Corp., which supplied the blowout preventer valves for the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that have failed to activate.

The complaint was filed May 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville. The complaint charges that defendants failed to employ necessary safety measures and technologies to prevent the spill and damage to marine and coastal environments.

Representing the plaintiffs are Elizabeth A. Alexander and Mark P. Chalos of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP in Nashville, Elizabeth J. Cabraser of Leiff Cabraser in San Francisco, Steven E. Fineman, Wendy R. Fleishman and Annika K. Martin of Leiff Cabraser in New York, Charles Barrett of Barrett & Associates in Nashville, Dewitt M. "Sparky" Lovelace and Alex Peet of the Lovelace Law Firm in Miramar Beach, Fla., Don Barrett, David McMullen and Brian Herrington of Don Barrett, P.A. in Lexington, Miss., and Richard R. Barrett of Law Offices of Richard A. Barrett in Lexington, Miss.

Download the complaint here.