American environmental activist and law clerk Erin Brockovich. For her law firm Masry & Vititoe, she is best known for developing the 1993 Pacific Gas and Electric Company litigation case. Her winning lawsuit resulted in a payout of US$333 million, which remains the highest settlement ever made in an American direct-action lawsuit. Her involvement in the case served as the basis for the biographical film “Erin Brockovich” in 2000. Erin Brockovich is now a well-known television broadcaster, serving as the host of several programs, including ABC’s “Challenge America with Erin Brockovich.” She currently holds the position of president of Brockovich Research & Consulting and works as a consultant for Girardi & Keese. Brockovich received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Lewis & Clark Law School in Oregon as reward for her environmental work.
The Hinkley Groundwater Contamination Case v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company litigation case concerned the alleged hexavalent chromium (Cr-6) poisoning of drinking water in the southern Californian town of Hinkley. The California Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) employed Cr-6 in a cooling tower system to prevent corrosion between 1952 and 1966. During the procedure, some of the wastewater seeped into the groundwater and was discharged into nearby unlined ponds. This damaged a region close to the plant that was roughly 2 by 1 mile (3.2 by 1.6 km) in size.
Despite not having a formal law degree, Brockovich developed the case while serving as the legal clerk at Masry & Vititoe at the time. Masry & Vititoe received US$133.6 million of the $333 million settlement that was reached in the lawsuit in 1996. Brockovich also received a $2.5 million bonus. Since it resulted in the highest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in the United States, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company litigation case has gained a lot of attention.
Other Lawsuits of Erin Brockovich
Erin Brockovich became involved in a number of more anti-pollution litigation while working with a lawyer by the name of Edward L. Masry. In one instance, the Whitman Corporation was charged with chromium contamination in the Californian city of Willits. In a different complaint, contamination claims were made close to a PG&E compressor station in Kings County, California. The latter action was resolved for $335 million in 2006.
In 2003, Brockovich received settlements totaling US$430,000 from two parties and an undisclosed sum from a third party to resolve her claim that her home in Agoura Hills, California, contained poisonous mold. The Beverly Hills Unified School District was sued that year by a legal assistant who claimed that the district had endangered the health and safety of its pupils by allowing a third party to run a number of oil wells on the school grounds. The school district requested $450,000 from the state in 2007 to cover its legal costs.
Brockovich brought a claim against the Missouri-based Prime Tanning Corporation in April 2009. She claimed that in one instance, the company gave farmers sewage sludge to use as fertilizer on their fields. High quantities of Cr-6 were present in this leather manufacturing waste sludge. In that same year, the American law clerk also began looking into a Texas case involving polluted water.
In a mysterious case involving 14 teenagers from LeRoy, New York, who complained of puzzling medical issues like speech problems and tics, Brockovich got involved in 2012. Brockovich claimed that the 1970 Lehigh Valley Railroad derailment caused environmental damage. Even after doing numerous tests, she was unable to identify any environmental reasons in the region. The student’s health eventually got better, and the case was resolved.
She filed a lawsuit against The Southern California Gas Company at the beginning of 2016 because of a significant methane leak from one of their underground storage facilities.
Various Works of Erin Brockovich
She worked for Kmart as a management trainee in 1981. She took part in a number of beauty pageants after quitting her job and even took home the Miss Pacific Coast crown. Brockovich quickly stopped competing in pageants because she thought they were “shallow”.
‘Take It From Me: Life’s a Struggle But You Can Win’, written by Brockovich, was released in 2001. She made an appearance in the 2012 film “Last Call at the Oasis.” The overall issue of water scarcity in the United States was also a major topic of this documentary, in addition to water contamination.
Individual Life of Erin Brockovich
On June 22, 1960, in Lawrence, Kansas, USA, Erin Pattee, who would later become Erin Brockovich, was born. Her mother Betty Jo worked as a journalist, while her father Frank Pattee played football and was an industrial engineer. She was brought up with a sister named Jodie, two brothers named Frank Jr. and Thomas, and Brockovich. Thomas, her brother, perished in 1992.
She completed her high school education at Lawrence and then enrolled at Kansas State University. She then enrolled at Wade College in Dallas, Texas, where she earned an Associate in Applied Arts degree before enrolling there again.
In terms of her romantic history, she wed actor Shawn Brown in 1982. The couple got divorced in December 1987 after having a son named Matthew and a daughter named Katie. After marrying Steven Michael Brockovich in 1989, Erin Pattee changed her name to Erin Brockovich. Despite being extremely brief, their marriage gave birth to one daughter. From 1998 through 2012, Erin was wed to her third husband, actor Eric L. Ellis.
Erin Brockovich’s Net Worth
American legal assistant and environmental activist Erin Brockovich has a $10 million fortune. The Californian attorney Erin Brockovich is best recognized for her work on a lawsuit she filed against the Pacific Gas & Electric Company. In the case, it was claimed that Hinkley, a community in southern California, had drinking water that had been contaminated with hexavalent chromium. The case was settled for $333 million in 1996, which at the time was the highest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in American history.
Trivia
Five Academy Award nominations were given to the 2000 biopic “Erin Brockovich,” which was based on Brockovich’s life.