In what appears to be a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, big oil companies – including ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP and Shell – are facing a climate change wrongful death lawsuit from the family of a Seattle woman.
The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court on May 28, alleges the oil companies knowingly fueled climate change and misled the public about the risks and consequences that the suit claims contributed to the record-high temperatures that blanketed western Washington in the final week of June 2021.
Julie Leon died of hyperthermia on June 28, 2021, Seattle’s hottest day on record, when temperatures soared to 108 degrees…