“Oil companies are facing the first-ever climate change wrongful death lawsuit”, 30 May 2025

In what could become a landmark case for climate accountability, a Washington state woman has filed a wrongful death lawsuit believed to be the first of its kind against major oil companies, claiming they contributed to her mother’s death during the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave.

The suit, filed Thursday in King County Superior Court by Misti Leon, alleges that seven oil companies — ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, and Olympic Pipeline (a BP subsidiary) — knowingly fueled climate change, misled the public about the risks, and failed to warn consumers about the deadly consequences. Leon’s mother, Julie, died of hyperthermia on Seattle’s hottest day on record.

The filing says “Julie is a victim of Defendants’ conduct.”…

The filing adds that “the extreme heat that killed Julie was directly linked to fossil fuel-driven alteration of the climate.” Scientists from the World Weather Attribution said the heat dome event that led to Julie’s death would have been “virtually impossible” without “human-caused climate change.”…

In a statement, Chevron counsel Theodore Boutrous Jr. 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.”

None of the other named oil companies immediately responded to a request for comment. The defendants have not yet filed legal responses…

Still, legal experts say Leon’s case could mark a turning point. While more than two dozen states and cities have sued oil companies for climate-related damages, this appears to be the first attempt to hold the fossil fuel industry liable for an individual death allegedly caused by a climate disaster…