Chevron claims that a lawyer involved in a $51 billion lawsuit against the company concealed backing for climate change research.
In an unprecedented move, Chevron has filed an unconventional motion in Multnomah County Oregon Circuit Court, requesting the court to disregard two climate change studies and review the research's influence by Roger Worthington, a top lawyer in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against fossil fuel companies.
The motion, filed on Friday, alleges that Worthington failed to disclose his involvement with two scientific papers published in the journal Nature that were cited by the plaintiff side in this $51 billion climate change lawsuit. Instead, he signed as owner of a local brewery, leading Chevron to suggest that his interest in the case "is as a mere local brewery owner, when in truth he stands to make millions of dollars" if the county prevails.
Chevron's attorneys noted that in one incident, a disclosure was added to an op-ed after a reader pointed to the omission, raising ethical concerns about misleading readers and eroding trust in the public discourse. The company contends that before filing briefs in the case, Worthington wrote op-eds in Oregon newspapers promoting the lawsuit without disclosing he was lead counsel.
The plaintiffs, led by Multnomah County, accuse Exxon Mobil, the American Petroleum Institute, McKinsey & Co., and hundreds of other defendants of contributing to a deadly 2021 heat wave. The lawsuit seeks $51 billion from the industry.
In addition to the studies in question, Chevron's motion also cites a May article that researched how anthropogenic climate change contributes to wildfire particulate matter and related mortality in the United States. The company alleges that the county did not disclose Worthington's involvement when citing the May article as evidence.
Theodore Boutrous, a lawyer for Chevron, stated that the company "has no knowledge of - or involvement in - that public records request activity." It's unclear who hired Argus Insight, the conservative research firm, to make at least 10 public records requests for documents related to the Multnomah lawsuit. One of Argus's partners is also employed by the conservative public affairs firm CRC Advisors, whose clients have included Chevron and groups funded by the fossil fuel industry.
Worthington declined to comment on Chevron's move but said the firm looks "forward to challenging Chevron's motion to strike" with a "robust reply." Chevron asks Circuit Judge Benjamin Souede to strike references to the two studies and considers a hearing "to determine the full extent of plaintiff's counsel's misconduct."
This development comes amidst a broader context of legal battles over climate change. In April, the Trump administration sued Michigan and Hawaii to prevent the states from filing climate lawsuits, and the Department of Justice asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the cases last week.
As the Multnomah County lawsuit progresses, this motion could set a significant precedent for the disclosure of researchers' involvement in legal cases, particularly in high-stakes litigation involving climate change and fossil fuel companies.
Read also:
- Potential Consequences of Dismantling FEMA Vary Across States
- Railway line in Bavaria threatened by unstable slope - extensive construction site at risk
- Wind Farm Controversy on the Boundary of Laois and Kilkenny
- Puerto Rico's Climate Lawfare Campaign experiences another setback with the dismissal of its deals.
