On August 22, 2018, the federal district court for the District of North Dakota dismissed the defendant “Earth First!” (EF) from a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit brought by the developers of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The court dismissed for failure to effect service. The court had issued an order to show cause on July 23, 2018, requiring that the plaintiffs show cause as to why EF should not be dismissed. The court noted in the order to show cause that the plaintiffs had served Earth First! Journal (Journal), which claimed that EF was a movement not affiliated with Journal. On August 3, the court ruled that Journal was not a proper party to the suit and denied leave to conduct discovery on Journal. The court further ruled that the plaintiffs’ service of another nonparty on July 27 was “wholly insufficient to provide notice to an entity subject to suit that allegedly provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund an international terrorist, drug-smuggling RICO enterprise.” In its August 22 order, the court said the plaintiffs’ amended complaint (filed on August 6, 2018) did not establish that Earth First! was an entity subject to suit but granted the plaintiffs 30 days to identify John and Jane Doe Defendants who allegedly operated as associates of, or held themselves out as representatives, of EF. In a motion on September 4, the plaintiffs asked for limited discovery on John and Jane Does.

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) action by Dakota Action Pipeline developers against Greenpeace and other organizations.

Energy Transfer Equity, L.P. v. Greenpeace International

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Earth First! Dismissed from Dakota Access Pipeline Developers’ RICO Lawsuit

Filed

United States of America

North Dakota

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