Sayles Werbner, Provost Umphrey Announce Lawsuit Against Chesapeake Energy Corp....

Sayles Werbner, Provost Umphrey Announce Lawsuit Against Chesapeake Energy
Corp. Over Minority Contract Discrimination
Minority business shut out of airport contract, Barnett Shale proceeds,
lawsuit says

DALLAS, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorneys from the law firms of Sayles
Werbner, PC, and Provost Umphrey, L.L.P., are announcing a lawsuit filed in
Texas state district court on behalf of Dallas-based ICC Energy Corp. against
Oklahoma City-based energy giant Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) claiming
that Chesapeake reneged on a commitment to partner with ICC Energy on the
marketing of gas from the Barnett Shale at Dallas/Fort Worth International
Airport.
The lawsuit, filed yesterday in Judge Bruce Priddy's 116th District Court
in Dallas, includes claims of discrimination, breach of fiduciary duty, breach
of contract, misrepresentation, and fraud against Chesapeake as well as
several company subsidiaries and individuals.
According to the lawsuit, Chesapeake approached ICC Energy in May 2006
about partnering on a bid for an oil and gas lease covering 18,000 acres of
land owned by D/FW Airport. The land is part of the Barnett Shale, the
second-largest on-shore domestic natural gas field in the United States. ICC
Energy is the largest African-American-owned marketer of natural gas in Texas.
During the bidding process, Chesapeake sought the participation of
minority-owned partners and subcontractors in order to win the lease as a
result of D/FW Airport's longstanding policy of awarding contracts only to
those companies that commit to utilizing minority- and women-owned businesses.
ICC Energy invested more than $3 million in the bid process based on
Chesapeake's promise that if it won the lease bid, then ICC Energy would
market 20% of the natural gas recovered at D/FW Airport. Chesapeake filed
three separate bids with the D/FW Airport board where the company touted its
relationship with ICC Energy and highlighted minority involvement in the
marketing of the natural gas.
However, according to the lawsuit, once Chesapeake won its bid and was
awarded the right to drill, Chesapeake never permitted ICC Energy to market
the gas that was found, and instead moved the work in house in violation of
the earlier agreement and despite the company's representations to the D/FW
Airport Board.
Attorney Joe Kendall of Provost Umphrey, a former federal judge and
co-counsel to ICC Energy, says he believes Chesapeake pulled a classic "bait &
switch," causing his client to lose millions of dollars.
"Chesapeake was eager to involve ICC Energy during the bidding process,
but when the company saw the dollar signs they decided that they no longer
needed a minority partner," he says. "Chesapeake is not only defaulting on
their agreement with ICC Energy, but they're trying to deceive the airport
board as well."
Attorney Mark Werbner of Sayles Werbner, co-counsel to ICC Energy, says
his clients "have worked too hard to be ordered to the back of the bus" by
Chesapeake.
"Karl and Kris Butler have built ICC Energy into one of the top
minority-owned companies in the state," Mr. Werbner says. "They have proven
themselves again and again as one of the industry's top marketers of natural
gas and other fuel products, and they are not going to stand aside while
Chesapeake exploits their minority status."
Mr. Butler, president of ICC Energy and a Vietnam-era veteran of the Army
and Navy, says his company believes there may be as much as one trillion cubic
feet of natural gas on the D/FW Airport leased property, which is expected to
yield substantial daily production for more than 40 years.
For more information, please contact Bruce Vincent at 800-559-4630 or
bruce@androvett.com.
SOURCE Sayles Werbner, PC; Provost Umphrey, L.L.P.

Bruce Vincent, 1-800-559-4630, bruce@androvett.com, for Sayles Werbner, PC and
Provost Umphrey, L.L.P.