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About POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD)

The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. We believe that it will lead to improved contracting decisions and public access to information about how the government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer money each year on goods and services. Report an instance of misconduct »

Valero Energy Corp.

Wrongful Death (John Ferguson)

Date: 02/06/2006 (Date of Filing)

Misconduct Type: Labor

Enforcement Agency: Non-Governmental

Contracting Party: None

Court Type: Civil

Amount: Undisclosed

Disposition: Settlement

Synopsis: An accident in 2005 at Valero Energy Corp.'s Delaware City refinery killed John J. Ferguson and John A. Lattanzi. Their families filed federal wrongful death lawsuits in February 2006 claiming Ferguson and Lattanzi suffocated inside a refinery unit filled with nitrogen gas due to Valero’s negligence and/or recklessness in running the refinery and failure to adequately protect workers. In July 2010, it was reported that Valero settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed amount. See related Valero Energy Corp. instance, “Wrongful Death (John Lattanzi).”