BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A federal jury has awarded Birmingham-based Drummond Co. $256 million in a long-running defamation and racketeering case over allegations that the coal company backed violent paramilitary groups in Colombia and was tied to killings and human rights abuses there, claims the company has repeatedly denied.
Jurors in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama on Jan. 15 found that attorney Terrence P. Collingsworth and his nonprofit International Rights Advocates made false and defamatory statements accusing Drummond of financing or working with the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a designated terrorist organization, and of involvement in murders and other abuses in Colombia. The jury also found the defendants liable under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, concluding they engaged in a yearslong scheme that included witness bribery, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, wire fraud and extortion as they pursued cases and public campaigns targeting the company.
The panel awarded Drummond $52 million in damages on the defamation claim and $68 million on the RICO claim, which is automatically tripled under federal law, bringing the total judgment to $256 million. Drummond has said in court filings that it spent millions of dollars on legal fees and public outreach to counter what it described as an “extrajudicial smear campaign” that damaged its reputation and business relationships in the United States and abroad.
The verdict caps more than a decade of litigation in Alabama federal court over accusations that date back to lawsuits first filed in the early 2000s, when Colombian plaintiffs and their advocates alleged Drummond worked hand in glove with paramilitary groups during the country’s long civil conflict. Some of those earlier human-rights lawsuits were ultimately dismissed on jurisdictional grounds or other legal issues, and Drummond has consistently denied having any role in paramilitary violence or human rights abuses in Colombia.
Collingsworth and International Rights Advocates have continued to assert that Drummond bears responsibility for serious abuses in Colombia and have portrayed their efforts as an attempt to hold the company accountable in U.S. courts and international forums. The Alabama jury’s finding, however, means a panel of citizens concluded there was clear and convincing evidence that key accusations against Drummond were false and that the defendants either knew that or recklessly disregarded the truth when they made their claims.