Lawmakers Urge Texaco’s Right to Appeal

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. —  More than a dozen lawmakers from all over the country have urged a federal judge to grant Texaco a “meaningful right to appeal” a record judgment won against Texaco by Pennzoil, according to documents filed Friday in U.S. District Court.

Letters, telegrams and briefs have come from Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.), Sen. Russell B. Long (D-La.) and others.

“The uncertainty of Texaco’s future could have an adverse effect on the entire American society,” wrote Rep. Joseph J. DioGuardi (R-N.Y.), in whose district Texaco’s White Plains headquarters is based.

Last month, a Houston jury ruled that Texaco had wrongly interfered with a merger agreement between Pennzoil and Getty Oil Co. and then acquired Getty itself. The jury awarded Pennzoil $10.53 billion in damages.

Rep. Hamilton Fish Jr. (R-N.Y.) wrote: “The destruction of the fifth-largest industrial company in the United States without the opportunity to complete the appellate process would be tragic for our country, both domestically and internationally.”

Also writing were Reps. Jerry Lewis (R-Highland), Glenn M. Anderson (D-Harbor City) and William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), all of California.