In what could become a landmark case for climate accountability, a Washington state woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit believed to be the first of its kind against major oil companies, claiming they contributed to her mother’s death during the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave.
The suit, filed Thursday in King County Superior Court by Misti Leon, alleges that seven oil companies — ExxonMobil (XOM-3.05%), Chevron (CVX-2.86%), BP (BP-2.21%), Shell (SHEL-1.85%), ConocoPhillips (COP-3.65%), Phillips 66 (PSX-2.59%), and Olympic Pipeline (a BP subsidiary) — knowingly fueled climate change, misled the public about the risks, and failed to warn consumers about the deadly consequences. Leon’s mother, Julie, died of hyperthermia on Seattle’s hottest day on record.
The filing says “Julie is a victim of Defendants’ conduct.”
“For most of Julie’s life, Defendants knew the unabated use of their fossil fuel products was altering the climate, which would result in catastrophic harm to the planet and humanity, and lead to deaths like Julie’s,” the complaint states. “Instead of warning the public and consumers about the dangers of their products, Defendants launched a campaign of deception to downplay and discredit the risks of climate change and ensure growing demand for their fossil fuel products.”
The filing adds that “the extreme heat that killed Julie was directly linked to fossil fuel-driven alteration of the climate.” Scientists from the World Weather Attribution said the heat dome event that led to Julie’s death would have been “virtually impossible” without “human-caused climate change.”
The heat dome event lasted about a week from late June to early July, and there were 100 heat-related deaths, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
“I would never have in a million years guessed that a heat dome and climate change would be what killed my mother and what took her from me,” Leon told the New York Times. “There’s no way to comprehend that and to kind of even rationalize it.”
In a statement, Chevron counsel Theodore Boutrous Jr. said: “Exploiting a personal tragedy to promote politicized climate tort litigation is contrary to law, science, and common sense. The court should add this far-fetched claim to the growing list of meritless climate lawsuits that state and federal courts have already dismissed.”
None of the other named oil companies immediately responded to a request for comment. The defendants have not yet filed legal responses.
Industry groups, including the American Petroleum Institute, have consistently argued that climate change is a complex global issue requiring coordinated policy responses, not courtroom battles. Many such lawsuits have faced procedural setbacks, with some dismissed by judges citing federal jurisdiction or the Clean Air Act. But others are advancing: The Supreme Court earlier this year allowed climate cases brought by Honolulu and several states to move forward.
Still, legal experts say Leon’s case could mark a turning point. While more than two dozen states and cities have sued oil companies for climate-related damages, this appears to be the first attempt to hold the fossil fuel industry liable for an individual death allegedly caused by a climate disaster.
“This case puts a human face on the consequences of climate inaction,” Yale Law School professor Douglas Kysar told NPR. “It’s not just rising seas or disappearing glaciers — it’s the death of a mother.”
The Center for Climate Integrity, a nonprofit that supports climate litigation efforts, worked with Leon to file the lawsuit.
“Big Oil companies have known for decades that their products would cause catastrophic climate disasters that would become more deadly and destructive if they didn’t change their business model,” Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said in a statement. “Big Oil’s victims deserve accountability. This is an industry that is causing and accelerating climate conditions that kill people.”
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