NEW ORLEANS (CN) - BP "specifically demanded" that the companies overseeing its Vessels of Opportunity oil spill clean-up program not hire Vietnamese- and Cambodian-Americans, a class estimated at 4,000 professional fishermen claims in Federal Court.
The fishermen say in their complaint that BP's co-defendants "DRC Emergency Services LLC and Danos and Curole Marine Contractors LLC colluded in this despicable order by limiting the number of Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans that they hired."
In a separate lawsuit, in Pinellas County, Fla., a retired engineer says BP needed his help to cap its broken wellhead, but never paid him the $2 million in promised.
Forty-one named Vietnamese- and Cambodian-American plaintiffs filed the class action in New Orleans.
They claim that before the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which killed 11 and set off the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, "the Gulf Coast seafood industry was a vibrant and lucrative business employing more than 213,000 people and producing more than $10.5 billion to the local economy. The force behind this vibrant industry was the more than 13,000 commercial fishing vessels in the Gulf."
The class claims that "according to a study performed by Dr. David D. Burrage, Extension Professor of Marine Resources at Mississippi State University, one-third of the boats with Gulf of Mexico federal shrimp permits, and over one-half of the boats actually fishing, belonged to Vietnamese-Americans. Vietnamese-Americans operated 62 percent of all Mississippi licenses for vessels over 45 feet, 75 percent of all Louisiana licenses for vessels over 50 feet, and 65 percent of Alabama licenses for vessels over 45 feet. This number does not include a smaller, but significant percentage belonging to Cambodian-Americans."
The class claims that "the oil spill devastated the commercial fishing industry in the Gulf of Mexico, causing suffering and financial burdens to hundreds of thousands of people, especially to commercial fishermen. Over half of all active commercial fishermen affected by the BP oil spill were Asians of the Vietnamese and Cambodian origin."
BP set up a Vessels of Opportunity (V.o.O) program, through which it hired the fishermen to use their boats in the clean-up. Boat-owners who signed up have filed numerous lawsuits against BP, claiming it did not live up to its promises, including paying them at all after putting them on call, or decontaminating their boats.
BP hired DRC Emergency Services and Danos and Curole Marine Contractors to manage the Vessels of Opportunity program, according to the class action.
The complaint states that "even though over half of all active commercial fishermen affected by the BP Oil Spill were Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans, less than 10 percent of all the vessels hired for the V.o.O program were owned by Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans. It is estimated that of the 5,000 marine vessels hired, only around 350 vessels belonged to Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans."
The class claims this was directly attributable to BP's discrimination.
"During the implementation of the V.o.O. program, BP sent out e-mail messages to DRC Emergency Services LLC and Danos and Curole Marine Contractors LLC that specifically demanded that they not hire vessels owned by Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans," the complaint states.
"Based on information and belief, DRC Emergency Services LLC and Danos and Curole Marine Contractors colluded in this despicable order by limiting the number of Vietnamese and Cambodian Americans that they hired."