Jury Finds Mobil Unjustly Fired Environment Officer

A federal jury in Newark, N.J., found Wednesday that Mobil Chemical Co. unjustly fired a top environmental officer who claims he was discharged in 1986 for opposing an alleged cover-up of environmental problems at the firm’s refinery in Torrance.

Jurors awarded Valcar Bowman $375,000 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. They also rejected two counterclaims that Mobil filed against Bowman.

Bowman said he was fired as Mobil’s No. 2 environmental officer because he refused to sanitize reports documenting Mobil’s problems and opposed removal of records from a company plant targeted for a law enforcement raid.

Mobil’s lawyers attacked Bowman in final arguments as a “fraud” and a “liar.” They later announced intentions to appeal the jury’s findings.