From the pages of
Sublette Examiner
Volume 2, Number 38 - December 19, 2002
brought to you online by Pinedale Online

Lawsuit Briefs

Class action against ExxonMobil

A class action lawsuit was filed in Ninth Judicial District Court Tuesday against ExxonMobil Corporation. The case was filed by Mitchell Royalty, an Oklahoma limited partnership that owns interests that entitled it to receive overriding royalty payments from ExxonMobil's gas produced from the Lake Ridge Unit, according to the complaint filed with the court.

The class action lawsuit alleges ExxonMobil improperly calculated and paid royalties on gas from its Lake Ridge, Fogarty Creek, and Graphite units.

The complaint alleges Exxon has violated the Wyoming Royalty Payment Act by charging the various costs of production to the class members and improperly claimed these were "processing" costs allowed by law. Through these actions, according to the complaint, "Exxon has failed to pay the true royalties and/or overriding royalties owned to the plaintiff and the class members, and the plaintiff and the class members have been and continue to be damaged in an amount to be proven at trial."

The complaint reports that while the exact number of persons represented by the action isn't known at this time, it is believed to exceed several hundred.

Local counsel for the class action group is Robert Bundy of the Elizabeth Greenwood law firm, joined by six attorneys from across the nation.

White Pine lawsuit

Karla Holloway filed a motion in Ninth Judicial District Court to intervene as a plaintiff in Gayle Kinnison's lawsuit against Wind River Resorts Inc.

Holloway's motion claims she is the owner of 28,000 shares of Wind River Resorts stock and that the corporation owes her $58,026.

The court has granted time for Kinnison and Holloway to file an amended complaint with the court so the two women can jointly file one complaint.

In August, Kinnison filed suit against Stuart Thompson and his business partners, and the outcome of the case could determine who controls the fate of the White Pine Ski Area and Resort: Thompson and his associates, or Kinnison.

The lawsuit was filed against Thompson; Stanley and Claire Birge; Max Lundberg; Wind River Resorts (which owns and holds the permit for the ski resort near Pinedale); WRR Equipment Corporation; Logcrafters, Inc. (owned by Thompson); and Five Seven Bar Ranching Company Inc (also owned by Thompson).

Wind River Resorts Inc. has also filed a motion to dismiss, but that will be heard later by the court.

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