Anadarko Defeats Severance Pay Suit Over Occidental Acquisition

Anadarko Petroleum Corp.‘s severance committee validly denied benefits to a former employee who didn’t experience a significant or permanent reduction in job responsibilities after the company’s acquisition by Occidental Petroleum Corp., a federal judge ruled.

The committee thoroughly considered the worker’s claim for benefits and validly determined that he wasn’t eligible because his job changes were either temporary, insubstantial, or driven by outside factors like declining oil prices and the Covid-19 pandemic, Judge Lee H. Rosenthal said in a March 7 order granting the committee’s motion for summary judgment.

Brad Miller, who resigned from Anadarko in 2020 after a ...