Overview

• Misti Leon filed the first-ever wrongful death claim against fossil fuel companies after her mother, Juliana Leon, died of hyperthermia during the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave linked to human-driven warming.
• The complaint names ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66 and the Olympic Pipeline Company as defendants, accusing them of decades of climate deception and failure to warn the public.
• Advocates from Public Citizen argue the civil suit could pave the way for criminal homicide charges by showing that companies foreseeably caused lethal climate disasters.
• Richard Wiles of the Center for Climate Integrity says the case represents a novel legal strategy to compensate victims of fossil fuel–driven extreme weather events.
• This individual lawsuit builds on a broader trend of climate accountability litigation brought by states and cities but is the first to tie oil industry negligence to a single death.