The long-running legal brawl between Chevron and a group of indigenous people from the Lago Agrio area of Ecuador is in full swing on Canadian soil since the plaintiffs filed suit against Chevron Canada Ltd. in May. The plaintiffs hope that an Ontario Superior Court judge will rule that Chevron must use its Canadian assets to cover the $18.3 billion judgment handed down by their country's court system last year, according to
The Globe and Mail.
The latest court contest, which is scheduled for December, will focus on company structure, as Chevron Canada asserts that it is independent and should not have to pay for a judgment leveled against its U.S. parent. Last week, Chevron's legal team in Ontario filed affidavits claiming that the company's Canadian branch operates without financial help from its U.S. counterpart, though they said they are "overseen" by the San Ramon-based headquarters in California.
Meanwhile, the
AP reports that the Manhattan judge who once called the Ecuadorean trial fraudulent issued a ruling in late July stating that it's too soon to say that the judgment can't be enforced in New York.
