A federal judge has ruled that oil spill cleanup workers who developed serious medical conditions after an oil spill have the right to make their case before a jury. After the ruling by the judge, there are possibilities that petroleum company BP will face a number of trials in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.

About three years ago, the oil spill medical settlement was set up to pay the company's cleanup workers who developed certain illnesses during the immediate aftermath of oil spill. According to reports, the settlement in 2012 was designed to keep medical claims by the workers out of the courtroom. But the settlement also offered an option to cleanup workers, who developed serious diseases like cancer and some other chronic ailments, to file a lawsuit against the petroleum giant BP.

On Monday, the United States District Judge Carl Barbier said the settlement terms do not specify whether the cases, which are called 'back-end litigation option', must be tried before a jury. According to the judge, if any claimant wants a jury trial, the individual can ask for one.

As per BP, which is among the world's six 'supermajor' oil and gas companies, federal laws prevent such cases from going before a jury. The company headquartered in London sought to limit the cases to bench trials. Such trials require a single judge to make a decision. The recent decision by the judge could impact a number of existing claims under a new interpretation of the settlement.

Earlier, the judge, Barbier, ruled that the settlement required workers claiming chronic medical problems to be diagnosed by a health expert before April 16, 2012. According to BP, the date outlined in the agreement was a hard deadline for diagnoses.