In a Massachusetts Public Records Act (PRA) case brought by Exxon Mobil Corporation (Exxon) and a lawyer who submitted a PRA request to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (Mass DEP) on Exxon’s behalf, a Massachusetts Superior Court denied a motion by the plaintiffs to compel production of documents withheld as privileged. The lawyer submitted the request in January 2025 for records related to Mass DEP regulations under the Global Warming Solutions Act related to Executive Office carbon dioxide emissions. The parties agreed that the requested records overlapped, “at least in part,” with discovery requests made by Exxon and denied by the court in <a href="https://www.climatecasechart.com/collections/commonwealth-v-exxon-mobil-corp-_5d9aaf">Commonwealth v. Exxon Mobil Corp.</a>, in which Massachusetts alleges that Exxon deceived investors and consumers regarding its products’ role in causing climate change. Mass DEP initially denied Exxon’s PRA request on the grounds that Exxon impermissibly sought to circumvent the order denying discovery. After the PRA suit was filed, Mass DEP “changed course and produced what it maintains are all records responsive.” In a March 2026 decision, the court deferred a decision on Mass DEP’s motion to dismiss and allowed limited discovery on whether “there is any reason to believe that there are documents responsive” to Exxon’s request that Mass DEP had not produced. In the order denying the plaintiffs’ motion to compel, the court said the plaintiffs failed to show that communications on the privilege log concerned the scope of Mass DEP’s initial search for documents or the existence or lack of existence of additional documents. The court also agreed with Mass DEP that the agency did not waive privilege by initially relying on the discovery order as a reason for denying the PRA request. The court also found that documents were shielded from production by attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine.

Case brought by Exxon Mobil Corporation to compel Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection's disclosure of records related to regulations under the Global Warming Solutions Act related to Executive Office carbon dioxide emissions.

Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

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Massachusetts State Court Denied Exxon’s Motion to Compel Production of Privileged Documents in Public Records Act Suit Seeking Department of Environmental Protection Records

Filed

United States of America

Massachusetts

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