Washington woman sues oil companies over 'climate change' she says caused mother's death

A Washington state woman has filed a wrongful death claim against multiple fossil fuel companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Shell, alleging that they contributed to global warming, caused the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat dome, and therefore her mother's death.

The case, Leon v. ExxonMobil Corp. et al., filed in King County Superior Court, is the first known lawsuit to argue that a single climate-related death is the direct legal responsibility of oil and gas companies.

The plaintiff, Misti Leon, filed the case in King County Superior Court on behalf of her late mother, Juliana Leon, claiming that the unprecedented heatwave was not just a tragic natural event but the predictable consequence of the fossil fuel industry’s “decades-long campaign of deception” regarding the dangers of greenhouse gas emissions. The suit alleges that on July 28, 2021, Julia Leon drove almost 100 miles from her Ferndale home to a doctor’s appointment in Seattle, following up after undergoing bariatric surgery two weeks prior. According to the suit, “It was the third consecutive day above 100°F and record nighttime temperatures prevented the built environment from being able to dissipate the heat it had absorbed throughout the day. In effect, Seattle had turned into an oven."

“On that day, Julie was overcome by heat while driving through Seattle with her windows rolled down,” the suit explained, adding that the air conditioning in the vehicle was broken. “She managed to safely pull off the highway and onto a residential street before losing consciousness.” The suit stated a good Samaritan found Julie in her car about two hours later, unresponsive, and first responders were unable to revive her.

According to the complaint, the defendant companies “knew since at least the 1950s that their fossil fuel products would cause dangerous global warming,” but “engaged in a coordinated, multi-decade effort to manufacture doubt about climate science.” The suit accuses the companies of negligence, failure to warn, design defect, wrongful death, and creating a public nuisance.

The lawsuit also includes an in-state defendant, Olympic Pipeline Company, in an apparent effort to keep the case in Washington’s court system and avoid federal jurisdiction.

While climate-related lawsuits have become increasingly common in recent years, often brought by state governments, cities, or environmental coalitions, Leon’s complaint is attempting to assign personal blame for a specific death to corporate emissions.

Critics have already raised concerns that the sweeping implication of such litigation is the legal equivalent of blaming Ford for a car crash caused by bad weather.

The 2021 heat dome shattered temperature records across the Pacific Northwest, "peaking around 108° F," the day Julie died. The lawsuit blames the event for hundreds of deaths in Washington and Oregon.

In a statement to KOIN 6, counsel for Chevron Corporation, Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr. of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP 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.”