A U.S. District Court judge in Muskogee has denied Sunoco’s request for a new trial after awarding nearly $155 million in damages to the owner of a well who sued over late payments. In doing so, he also denied the company’s claims with a stinging rebuke.
Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. issued his denial after making the original ruling last August in a lawsuit brought by Perry Cline and others against Sunoco, Inc. and Sunoco Partners Marketing and Terminals, L.P.
In the August ruling, the judge entered a judgment against the company of $80,691,486 in actual damages and $75 million in punitive damages.
This month, he denied Sunoco’s motion for a new trial and another to alter the judgment.
Sunoco had argued it “did not have a fair trial” but in his ruling, Judge Gibney found “Sunoco’s surprise insincere” and said the company’s “claim rings hollow.”
Click here to view court ruling.