The federal district court for the Central District of California allowed a consumer plaintiff to proceed with claims for damages under the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act against  Delta Air Lines Inc. (Delta) for alleged misrepresentations that Delta was a carbon-neutral airline. The court found that there was a genuine dispute of material fact regarding whether the plaintiff relied on Delta’s carbon-neutral representations and suffered an economic injury from buying Delta flights in 2021 and 2022. The court further found, however, that because the plaintiff did not have current plans to fly Delta in the future and because Delta had pivoted from carbon-neutral advertising to a “net zero by 2050” goal, the plaintiff allege the imminent threat of future harm necessary to establish standing for injunctive relief under the CLRA. The court noted that the plaintiff had not pleaded Delta’s “net zero by 2050” representations in the operative complaint and that it therefore was not necessary to address whether there was genuine issue of material fact regarding the plaintiff’s standing regarding these representations. The court also denied Delta’s motion to strike a “sham declaration” submitted by the plaintiff in support of a motion for class certification. The court found that the declaration and the plaintiff’s deposition testimony did not clearly contradict each other on various issues raised by Delta regarding the plaintiff’s statements about her awareness and understanding of and reliance on the carbon-neutral representations. The court also declined to strike the plaintiff’s errata changes to the deposition transcript.

Greenwashing class action lawsuit alleging that Delta misrepresented itself as a carbon-neutral airline.

Berrin v. Delta Air Lines Inc.

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California District Court Allowed Damages Claim to Proceed Against Delta in Climate Washing Case

Filed

United States of America

California

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Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

California District Court Allowed Damages Claim to Proceed Against Delta in Climate Washing Case

Target

Policy instrument

Economic sector

Finance