Today, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court’s judgment that bars Steven Donziger and two others from receiving any of the proceeds of the Ecuadorian judgment against Chevron arising from pollution in the Oriente region of Ecuador. The District Court concluded that Donziger procured the Ecuadorian judgment through bribery, coercion, and fraud. It barred him from seeking to enforce that judgment in the United States and imposed a constructive trust in favor of Chevron on any property received or to be received by Donziger produced by executing on that judgment.
On appeal, Donziger did not challenge the District Court’s factual findings, so the Second Circuit accepted them. It then rejected a number of legal challenges to the judgment.