Sea Hawk Seafoods, Inc. v. Exxon Corp.

*150 MEMORANDUM *

When this Exxon Valdez litigation was young, Sea Hawk Seafoods became a party to agreements among the plaintiffs providing for the allocation of damages. The Plan of Allocation divided recoveries among groups of plaintiffs. The Distribution Plans allocated recoveries among individual plaintiffs within each group. In February 2002, the district court approved amended versions of these agreements, and Sea Hawk Seafoods, apparently satisfied with the agreements, did not appeal.

In 2008, the main litigation in this case culminated in the Supreme Court’s ruling that Exxon’s liability for punitive damages is limited to a ratio of 1-to-l with respect to compensatory damages. Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, — U.S. -, 128 S.Ct. 2605, 2634 , 171 L.Ed.2d 570 (2008). The Supreme Court did not consider or discuss the allocation of punitive damages among the plaintiffs. Sea Hawk Seafoods now contends that the Supreme Court’s decision controls that allocation and that Sea Hawk Seafoods is entitled to more damages than provided in the agreements.

The district court correctly ruled that the Supreme Court’s decision with respect to the extent of Exxon’s liability to the plaintiffs…