Erin Brockovich is an American legal clerk, consumer advocate, environmental activist, and consultant who rose to fame when she took over the case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the alleged contamination of water with hexavalent chromium in 1993. Despite not having a formal law education, she won the case which resulted in a $333 million settlement in 1996; the biggest direct-action lawsuit the U.S. had seen.
Inspired by her life story, a movie was released titled “Erin Brockovich”(2000) starring Julia Roberts just four years later the incident. Since then Erin has become a popular media personality as she also has been hosting the TV series, “Challenge America with Erin Brockovich” on ABC and “Final Justice” on Zone Reality. Apart, she also serves as the president of Brockovich Research & Consulting.
In her recent 20/20 special, she was interviewed alongside her only daughter with ex-husband Steven named Elizabeth Brockovich who herself has grown up to a 30-year-old mom with kids of her own. Both the mother-daughter appeared in the special “The Real Rebel: The Erin Brockovich Story” which aired on ABC on Thursday, June 10, 2021.
Elizabeth was only 9 when the movie came out following which she struggled against drug addiction which she shared while in one of her interviews. With Erin’s growing popularity, she has surely managed to have a healthy fan following with over 171k followers on her verified Twitter account: @ErinBrockovich and over 38k followers on Instagram: @the_real_erin_brockovich.
What is Erin Brockovich Famous for?
- Famous as a legal clerk, consumer advocate, environmental activist.
- Known for winning the 1993 Pacific Gas and Electric Company case.
Where is Erin Brockovich From?
Erin Brockovich was born on June 22, 1960, in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Her birth name is Erin Pattee. Her nationality is American. Erin belongs to WHite ethnicity while Cancer is her zodiac sign.
Born as one of the four children of her parents; Betty Jo(mother) and Frank Pattee(father), Erin grew up alongside her two brothers, Frank Jr. and Thomas, and a sister, Jodie in their hometown. Her brother Thomas died in 1992. Her mother, Betty was a journalist while her father, Frank was a well-known football player who was a star footballer at his high school and college. Her paternal grandparents; Addie and John Walter Pattee.
She did her high schooling at Lawrence High School, following which she went on to attend Kansas State University, in Manhattan, Kansas. She then got graduated with an Associate in Applied Arts Degree from Wade College in Dallas, Texas.
At age of 21, she began working as a management trainee for Kmart, which she however quit after working for just a few months. She then entered a beauty pageant at the same age of 21 where she won the Miss Pacific Coast title and left the beauty pageant after the win.
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Erin Brockovich’s Career Highlights
- Erin Brockovich started her career when she began working as a legal clerk for the law firm Masry & Vititoe.
- It was the time when she was handed over the 1993 Pacific Gas and Electric Company case that alleged contamination of drinking water with hexavalent chromium in the town of Hinkley, in southern California.
- Despite lacking formal law education, she built the case which was then settled for $333 million in 1996 which became the biggest direct-action lawsuit the U.S. had seen.
- Following the win, the company which she was working for Masry & Vititoe received US$133.6 million of that settlement and Erin got a bonus amount of $2.5 million.
- While working with a lawyer named Edward L. Masry, Erin got involved in several other anti-pollution lawsuits now being the case that accused the Whitman Corporation of chromium contamination in the city of Willits, California.
- Another lawsuit alleged contamination near PG&E’s compressor station in Kings County California which was settled for $335 million in 2006.
- She and Masry filed suit against the Beverly Hills Unified School District in 2003 which they however lost and the school district demanded $450,000 as reimbursement for legal expenses.
- She then assisted in the filing of a lawsuit against Prime Tanning Corp. of St. Joseph, Missouri in April 2009. Two months later, she began investigating a case of contaminated water in Midland, Texas.
- In 2012, she became involved in the mysterious case of 14 students from LeRoy, New York, who reported perplexing medical symptoms such as speech difficulty and tics. Erin alleged that the reason behind the situation was the environmental contamination from the 1970 Lehigh Valley Railroad derailment.
- However, she couldn’t find any environmental causes and the case was closed when the student’s health improved. She then got involved in potential litigation against Southern California Gas for a large methane leak from its underground storage facility in 2016.
- Besides, her work in bringing litigation against Pacific Gas & Electric became the focus of the 2000 feature film, “Erin Brockovich”, starring Julia Roberts. The movie earned a total of 5 Academy Awards in which Erin herself had a cameo role as a waitress.
- She then appeared in the 2012 documentary, “Last Call at the Oasis” which not only focused on water contamination but also the overall state of water scarcity in the United States.
- Inspired by her life story, a television series titled “Rebel” was released on April 8, 2021, which concluded on June 10, 2021.
- She also has written books first being titled ‘Take It From Me: Life’s a Struggle But You Can Win’ which was published in 2001.
- Her second book titled “Superman’s Not Coming” was released on August 25, 2020.
- Recently in 2021, she wrote about hormone-disrupting chemicals (such as PFAS) decimating human fertility at an alarming rate.
- She is also the founder of Brockovich Research & Consulting and the Erin Brockovich Foundation, which is focused on clean water.
Awards and Honors
- Honorary Doctor of Laws and commencement speaker at Lewis & Clark Law School
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters and commencement speaker at Loyola Marymount University
- Honorary Master of Arts, Business Communication, from Jones International University
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Erin Brockovich’s Family Husband
Erin Brockovich is a married woman and has been married thrice to date. Her first marriage was with Shawn Brown with whom she was married for 5 years from April 1982 to 1987. The couple had two children together Matthew and Katie.
Just two years after her first divorce, she started dating Steve Brockovich and got married in 1989 however their marriage was very shot that ended just a year after their marriage. After the divorce, it was found that she was pregnant with Steve’s child, Elizabeth.
Her daughter, Elizabeth had a rough childhood as she was only 9 years old when “Erin Brockovich” film came out because of which she was gone all the time either appearing in interviews or lectures. It was the time when Elizabeth began ditching school, stealing money, and even drug addiction.
Following her second divorce, she got married to her third husband, an actor and country music DJ, Eric L. Ellis in 1998. Their marriage however lasted for just 14 long years until their divorce in 2012. Currently, she is single and resides in Agoura Hills, California, in a house, she purchased in 1996 with her US$2.5 million bonus after the Hinkley settlement.
Erin Brockovich’s Net Worth
Erin Brockovich has quite good earnings from her professional career as a legal clerk, consumer advocate, environmental activist. Having her career started initially as a management trainee for Kmart, Erin went on to become one of the celebrated personalities for wining the lawsuit of the 1993 Pacific Gas and Electric Company case.
Working as one of the legal clerks for the law firm Masry & Vititoe, Erin built the case settling later for $333 million in 1996 which became the biggest direct-action lawsuit the U.S. had seen. The company for which she was working also received US$133.6 million of that settlement and Erin got a bonus amount of $2.5 million.
Apart from her career as a legal clerk, she also has appeared in several shows, has given several speeches, and now serves as the founder of Brockovich Research & Consulting and the Erin Brockovich Foundation. Her net worth is estimated to be around $10 million.
Erin Brockovich’s Height
Erin Brockovich is a beautiful lady with her well-maintained body physique in her 60s. She stands tall with a height of 5ft. 10inch. while her body weighs around 65kg. She has a fair complexion with blonde hair and hazel eyes.
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