Top bar

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 »

Exxon Mobil

Exxon Valdez Class Action (Punitive Damages)

Date: 06/25/2008 (Date of Supreme Court Decision)

Misconduct Type: Environment

Enforcement Agency: Non-Governmental

Contracting Party: None

Court Type: Civil

Amount: $507,500,000

Disposition: Judgment Against Defendant

Synopsis: "On September 24, 1996, the United States District Court for the District of Alaska entered a judgment in the amount of $5 billion in punitive damages to a class composed of all persons and entities who asserted claims for punitive damages from the corporation as a result of the Exxon Valdez grounding. ExxonMobil appealed the judgment. On November 7, 2001, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated the punitive damage award as being excessive under the Constitution and remanded the case to the District Court for it to determine the amount of the punitive damage award consistent with the Ninth Circuit’s holding. The Ninth Circuit upheld the compensatory damage award which has been paid. On December 6, 2002, the District Court reduced the punitive damage award from $5 billion to $4 billion. Both the plaintiffs and ExxonMobil appealed that decision to the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit panel vacated the District Court’s $4 billion punitive damage award without argument and sent the case back for the District Court to reconsider in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Campbell v. State Farm. On January 28, 2004, the District Court reinstated the punitive damage award at $4.5 billion plus interest." In May 2007, the Ninth Circuit set punitive damages at $2.5 billion. In June 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that the punitive damages award was excessive as a matter of maritime common law and reduced the award to an amount equal to the District Court's calculation of the total relevant compensatory damages, or $507.5 million. In June 2009, Exxon was ordered to pay interest on the punitive damages award. [NOTE: Compensatory damages are not included in the FCMD because they were awarded prior to Jan. 1, 1995.]