BP Plc employees can't sue managers of the company's retirementsavings plan over losses related to the 2010 oil spill in the Gulfof Mexico, a judge ruled.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison in Houston yesterday threw outleast eight employee lawsuits that sought to recover millions ofdollars in losses that BP's employee retirement plans allegedlysuffered from the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Thesuits questioned plan managers' investments in BP's shares.

“Examining the fluctuations in BP's stock price suggests thatplaintiffs' losses were only temporary,” Ellison wrote in his42-page ruling. “BP's steady revenue stream and expansive worldwideoperations belie plaintiffs' contention that the Deepwater Horizonexplosion and subsequent spill were a threat to the viability ofthe company going forward.”