| Class action suit by royalty owners expands
By David Hedges, Publisher
Times Record-Roane County Reporter
What is most likely the biggest civil case in the history of the Roane County court system got a little bigger this week.
A Fortune 500 company has been added as a defendant in a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of thousands of royalty owners of Columbia Natural Resources.
The case, believed to be the first class action suit in Roane County, was filed in February 2003 and alleges CNR made improper deductions that cheated oil and gas royalty owners out of the full amount of payments due them. Millions of dollars are potentially at stake.
At a hearing Monday in Roane Circuit Court, Judge Tom Evans granted a motion by the plaintiffs to expand the suit to include Columbia Energy Group (CEG), the parent company of CNR, and also NiSource Inc., which was the lone stockholder in CEG.
Defense attorneys objected to expanding the suit to include NiSource and the other firms, arguing that stockholders could not be responsible for the actions of the companies they own. Evans rejected that argument and allowed the companies to be added.
That decision significantly raises the stakes for both sides. NiSource, a Fortune 500 firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange, reported $6.7 billion in revenue last year. NiSource is the third largest gas distribution company and the fourth largest gas pipeline company in the U.S.
Over 10,000 royalty owners have been identified as plaintiffs, according to one of the lawyers involved, retired circuit judge George Scott. The class includes anyone due royalty payments from CNR since July 31, 1990.
Read more www.thetimesrecord.net
Earlier Herald Stories: SEARCH ENGINE "Columbia"
- COLUMBIA GAS ROYALTY HOLDERS CLAIM THEY WERE CHEATED - "Common Fraud" Alleged In Suit
- ROYALTY OWNERS SUING COLUMBIA GAS - Roane Residents Claim They Were Cheated
- MAJOR LAWSUIT HEARING SHIFTED TO GRANTSVILLE - Columbia Gas Accused Of "Common Fraud"
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