| Erin
Brokovich, the youngest child of
Frank and Betty Jo Pattee (he was an
industrial engineer, she was a
journalist), grew up in Lawrence,
Kansas. After graduating from Lawrence
High School in 1978, Brockovich spent
one year at Kansas State University,
then transferred to a business college
in Dallas, Texas, where she earned her
Associates in Applied Arts degree.
In 1981, Erin took a job as a
management trainee for K-Mart in Orange,
California. She left after a few months
to take a job at Fluor Engineers and
Constructors to work and study to become
an electrical design engineer. While
working at this job, she tried her luck
in the beauty pageant world. Although
she met with almost immediate success,
winning the title of Miss Pacific Coast
she dropped off the circuit the
following year and married restaurant
manager Shawn Brown.
Shawn and Erin moved back to Kansas
where over the course of four years Erin
gave birth to her two older children,
Matthew and Katie Brown and eventually
settled in Reno, Nevada. In 1987, she
and Shawn divorced. Now a single mom
with two children to support, Erin took
a job as a secretary at E.F. Hutton, a
Reno brokerage. There she met
stockbroker Steven Brockovich , whom she
married in 1989.
Though it produced her youngest
child, daughter Elizabeth, Erin's
marriage to Steven Brockovich ended.
They were divorced in 1990, and again
Erin Brockovich was forced to fend for
herself, this time with three children
to provide for.
After being seriously injured in a
traffic accident in Reno, Erin
Brockovich moved back to Southern
California with her children. In 1991,
she hired the law firm of Masry and
Vititoe to handle her car accident case.
Although she received $17,000 in
settlement money, it did not begin to
cover her debts. Unable to find work,
she soon begged Masry and Vititoe to
hire her as a $1,200.00 a month file
clerk. It was not long after she started
to work at the law firm that some
medical records she found in a file on a
pro bono real estate case piqued her
curiosity. After getting permission from
the firm's principal, Ed Masry , Erin
Brockovich began to look into the
matter.
Erin Brockovich's solo investigation
eventually established that the health
of countless people who lived in and
around Hinkley , California in the
1960's, 70's and 80's had been
devastated by exposure to toxic Chromium
6. The Chromium 6 had leaked into the
groundwater from the nearby Pacific Gas
and Electric Company's Compressor
Station. In 1996, as a result of the
largest direct action lawsuit of its
kind, spearheaded by Erin Brockovich and
Ed Masry , the giant utility was ordered
to make the largest legal settlement in
U.S. history, paying out some $333
million in damages to more than 600
Hinkley residents.
The story of Erin Brockovich's
investigation, legal triumph and
personal issues were dramatized in the
hit movie "Erin Brockovich ". Released
in March 2000 by Universal Studios, it
starred JULIA ROBERTS as Erin Brockovich
and ALBERT FINNEY as Edward Masry .
No longer a file clerk, Erin
Brockovich now serves as director of
environmental research at Masry and
Vititoe , where she is currently
involved in other major environmental
lawsuits that she put together.
Remarried in 1999 to actor Eric Ellis,
she lives with her husband and children
in Agoura Hills, California.
Erin Brockovich has been with Masry
and Vititoe for ten years and has
spearheaded other cases: 1) Another
Chromium 6 case against PG&E for
groundwater contamination in Kettleman ,
California, 2) A TCE groundwater
contamination against Lockheed Martin in
Redlands, California, 3) A DBCP and EDB
groundwater contamination against Dole
and Delmonte Foods, 4) A DDT groundwater
contamination in Fresno, California, 5)
Chromium 6 case against Betz/Dearborn
(settled) and numerous other cases in
Pennsylvania, Idaho, California, Montana
and other states. Masry and Vititoe also
spearheaded the largest MTBE litigation
against all oil refineries US wide.
Erin Brockovich has received a number
of awards and honors for her work with
the environment:
· Subject of the hit movie "Erin
Brockovich " starring Julia Roberts
· "Consumer Advocate of the Year" -
Consumer Attorneys of California
· County of Los Angeles - Courageous
and Unflagging efforts for work in
Hinkley
· "Profile in Courage" Award from
Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers
Association
· "Scales of Justice" Award from
Court TV
· Justice Armand Arabian Law and
Media Award - San Fernando Valley Bar
· "Presidential Award of Merit"
Consumer Attorneys of California
· California Legislature - Assembly
Resolution No. 1621 for her personal
commitment to insuring the environment
is free of toxic pollution
· "Special Citizen Award" for noble
efforts in protecting children. The
Children's Health Environmental
Coalition
· "Walk the Talk" Award from Heal the
Bay
· "Champion of Justice" Award from
the Civil Justice Foundation of ATLA
· City of Barstow - Proclamation of
"Erin Brockovich Day"
· President's Award - Oregon Trial
Lawyers Association
· Mother's & Shakers Award - Redbook
Magazine
· "Consumer Advocate of the Year" -
Themis Capital Corporation
· Glendale Kiwanis Club - Dedication
To Helping Others Fight Injustice
· "Best use of Public Records" -
First Amendment Beacon
· The Debbie Cole Award - Silicon
Valley Toxics Coalition
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