The Federal Appeals Court in Denver has upheld more than $24 million in settlements of lawsuits where oil companies and gas stations were accused of overcharging consumers for gasoline on hot days.
In a ruling this week, the U.S. 10th Circuit sided with the settlements of the $24.5 million in multidistrict litigation.
“We affirm the district court’s approval of the 10 settlement agreements,” wrote the judges in their ruling.
The cases were beneficial for attorneys who were paid millions. One of the defendants, Valero agreed to pay $4,000,000 in attorneys fees according to the ruling. Costco agreed to pay attorney’s fees in whatever amount the court awarded.
Of the 8 remaining settlement agreements, the defendants agreed not to oppose attorney’s fees. BP agreed to pay $1.5 million while ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell each agreed to make the same payment. CITGO will pay $270,000; Chevron $637,500; Sinclair $240,000 and Sunoco $18,300.
It was a long-running lawsuit that focused on heat causing gasoline to expand and how it resulted in consumers getting gasoline that didn’t provide as much energy. It was last summer when Kansas federal judge Kathryn H. Vratil approved $18.9 million in attorneys’ fees over the 29 settlements.
Under the settlements, the energy companies agreed to install automatic temperature compensation equipment.
