Arabie, et al. v. CITGO Petroleum Corporation, et al.

NCLC filed twice in this case: once to support review and once at the merits stage.

NCLC urged the Louisiana Supreme Court to review and reject a punitive damages award arising out of an oil spill and air release at one of CITGO's Louisiana refineries. NCLC argued that Louisiana law explicitly forbids punitive damages unless they are authorized by the law of the state in which the injury occurred. Because Louisiana law does not permit punitive damages for this type of oil spill and the injuries occurred in Louisiana, the plaintiffs are not entitled to punitive damages. NCLC warned that allowing punitive damages under another state's law will contravene Louisiana's strong public policy against punitive damages.

The Louisiana Supreme Court ruled that CITGO is not liable for punitive damages because the company's domicile for the purposes of this statute is the state of Louisiana.

Amicus brief supporting review filed 11/24/10. Review granted 2/4/11. Amicus brief on the merits filed 2/28/11. Decided 3/13/11.