In the cases brought by Shoalwater Bay and Makah Indian Tribes seeking to hold fossil fuel companies liable for harms cause by climate change, a Washington Superior Court granted Exxon Mobil Corporation and ExxonMobil Oil Corporation’s request for disqualification of the judge. The disqualification occurred one month after the judge denied a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and a motion to stay proceedings while the U.S. Supreme Court considers Suncor Energy (U.S.A.) Inc. v. County Commissioners of Boulder County. Washington law provides that any party to a lawsuit may disqualify a judge, subject to several limitations, including that no party may disqualify more than one judge in any matter and the notice of disqualification must be filed before the judge makes any discretionary ruling in the case. In the order granting the request for disqualification, the court noted that all parties seemed to agree that the judge had not made any discretionary rulings. The court concluded that although Chevron defendants previously exercised their statutory right to disqualification in the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe’s case prior to the administrative consolidation of the cases for pre-trial proceedings, no defendant had yet exercised their collective right to disqualify a judge in the Makah Indian Tribe’s case. The court therefore granted the request for disqualification in the Makah Indian Tribe’s case. Because of the consolidation for pre-trial proceedings, the order also operated, “at a minimum,” to disqualify the judge in the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe’s case during such proceedings.

Tribe's lawsuit seeking to hold fossil fuel companies liable for climate change harms allegedly resulting from the companies' "climate deception campaign."

Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe v. Exxon Mobil Corp.

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Washington Court Granted Exxon Request for Disqualification of Judge in Tribes’ Climate Cases

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United States of America

Washington

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