MIAMI, Feb. 2 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Netwo…

MIAMI, Feb. 2 - LAWFUEL - The Law News Network -- Federal District Court Judge Alan Gold has granted preliminary approval of the settlement of a long-running dispute between Exxon Corporation and a class of its service station dealers under which Exxon will pay $1.075 billion and end its opposition to dealer claims in the claims process established by the Court. The lawsuit, filed in 1991, arose out of Exxon's Discount for Cash program in effect between 1983 and 1994 in which Exxon had promised its service station dealers a discount in the wholesale price of motor fuel. After a lengthy trial in February 2001, a jury found that Exxon had breached its obligation to provide the discount, and had fraudulently concealed the breach. Exxon appealed the verdict all the way to the United States Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court denied Exxon's last appeal in June 2005. The settlement was achieved as a court-appointed Special Master was in the process of assessing damages against Exxon on individual dealer claims. Nearly 11,000 class members will be mailed a notice scheduling a hearing date on April 5, 2006 for the Court's consideration of final approval of the settlement. The $1.075 billion payment represents payment in full of all compensatory damages and prejudgment interest through October 31, 2005 on all valid claims filed by December 19, 2005. After the settlement payment is made to a court-appointed financial institution, the claims process before the Special Master will continue without Exxon's further involvement, which is anticipated to accelerate the approval and payment of individual dealer claims. "This is an extraordinary achievement for the dealers," said Miami attorney Eugene Stearns of Stearns Weaver Miller, who represented the Class at trial and on appeal. "After 14 years of litigation, Exxon has exhausted its appeals and has finally realized that its continued opposition in the claims process is fruitless. This will allow acceleration of the process to put the money in the hands of the dealers. While many class actions result in little real benefit to class members, in this case we have basically achieved near one hundred percent recovery of every dealer's damages, and because of our efforts to locate everyone, almost all the dealers entitled to payment will share in the recovery." Additional information about this case is available at the web-sites of the court-appointed Claims Administrator, the Garden City Group, http://www.exxondealerclassaction.com and Class counsel, http://www.exxondealerattorneys.com .

MIAMI, Feb. 2 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Netwo…

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